STUTTERBOX is a transdisciplinary platform to tell stories with. Its aim is to be impulsive and participatory, and provides a “no man’s land” between author and audience, in which the very act of narration becomes one with the performance.

Orchestration of a performance happens on multiple levels. The table itself hosts a horizontal surface in which a large display is contained. The display not only shows the user and audience an outcome of a narrative, but also acts as the instrument interface which users play so that a story may unfold.

Counterpart to the virtual narrative environment is a physical condition. In order to manipulate aspects contained within the surface of the display table, real-life, three dimensional objects must be used. These “Tangibles” house fiduciary symbols that act as triggers which activate elements that appear on the display.

Tangibles can be any object so long as they contain a fiduciary symbol. This means that physical props arranged on the surface of the table can narrate a story in parallel and even interact with one another in real-time, affecting the virtual narrative displayed in the table. This synchronicity between virtual and tangible is an essential part to the interaction in STUTTERBOX.

When a person places a Tangible on the table, it activates elements of the narrative that are either characters or environments. Other Tangibles can be placed on the surface to effect the mood and disposition of each element. Not only does each element of the narrative act in accordance to the whim of the author, but they are also programmed to be generative. Combinations of characters, environments and disposition Tangibles produce new forms of output, each element building upon another in a semantic fashion.

STUTTERBOX effectively blurs the dichotomous relationship between author and audience. Both author and audience of the story constructed on STUTTERBOX become subject to each others influence, which in turn affects the story in unexpected and dynamic ways.

This project was a collaboration between myself, Jan Berkel, Crystal Campbell, Martin Dittus and Adam Krause. You can now find it residing in the London Hackspace.