researcher, teacher and a curious person...
keywords: storytelling, stories, scientific creativity, scientific images, serious games, storytelling games
LABBOOK is a collaborative storytelling game for biologists and their images. It is played by a group of players on a tablet computer shared among the players. The aim of the game is to collectively narrate a story around a collection of research images. Stories unfold image by image with the players taking turns in the same story: The player whose turn is due draws the next image that she attaches with her narration to the ongoing story. The game should be understood as a platform that creates opportunities for storytelling in a shared and social context.
LABBOOK was motivated by an interest in the qualities of stories and storytelling. Stories and storytelling have been extensively used as a means to probe articulation, to invite creative play and to impose coherence and structure. Stories provide humans with a mechanism to synthesize parts into an intelligible whole and a faculty to articulate about their experiences or their ideas. LABBOOK implements a way to literally play with images that challenges the users/players to imagine connections and devise explanations for the needs of the game. The game is also an invitation for social exchange and conversation.