Tell Me That Bit Again... Bringing Interactivity to a Virtual Storyteller

Abstract. Stories and storytelling are a constant presence in our lives since very early childhood. Who does not remember a story narrated by a good storyteller? However, real human storytellers do not always tell the story the same way. They observe their “audience ” and adapt the way they are telling the story to better respond to their reactions. This paper focuses on how to bring interactivity to a virtual storyteller by allow-ing users to influence the story. The storyteller is a synthetic 3D granddad that uses voice, gestures and facial expressions to convey the story content to be told. The character’s behaviour and the way the story is narrated, is influenced by the user’s input. Such input is done by a tangible interface (a kind of mail box) where children put the cards they want in order to influence what will happen in the story being told. A preliminary usability test was made with sixteen children, with ages between nine and ten years old. The results showed that the way interactivity is introduced was quite successful.