TapeStory: Exploring the Storytelling Potential of Interactive Tapestries
Laura Santos, Mara Dionísio, Pedro Campos · Creativity and Cognition · 2024
Our ancestors communicated stories through tapestries, using them to adorn both public and private spaces. Traditionally, these tapestries were static artworks hanging on walls without any interaction from the audience. Nevertheless, textiles offer a versatile medium, which can be crafted from various materials and colours and manipulated to produce unique, touch-responsive textures. Our vision is to integrate the tactile capabilities of weaving with capacitive sensor technology to create a media-immersed interactive art installation that explores the negative impact of noise pollution on marine life ecosystems. Marine animals, particularly cetaceans, heavily rely on sound for communication, navigation, and hunting, and noise pollution can disrupt these essential functions. By harnessing the storytelling potential of tapestries and the power of capacitive sensors connected to microcontrollers, we developed a storytelling experience with a unique embodied interface that aims to educate the general audience about pressing issues such as marine noise pollution.