Title: ALICE's adventures in cultural computing

Authors: Jun Hu, Christoph Bartneck, Ben Salem, Matthias Rauterberg

Addresses: Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Abstract: In the paradigm of cultural computing, different cultures need different approaches to address the cultural determinants that strongly influences our way of thinking, feeling and worldview in general. For the western culture, our answer to this need is an artistic and interactive installation (ALICE) based on the narrative |Alice|s Adventures in Wonderland|. To address the western culture characteristics highlighted in the narrative, six stages were selected and implemented as an interactive experience. From start to end, the user undergoes an immersive environment that integrates embodied and virtual agents, real and nature mimicking, and both virtual and augmented reality. Every stage challenges the hardware and software design to provide the intended experience, which at the overall system level yet have to be seamlessly integrated. A distributed and multi-layered architecture is designed to accommodate this need. After several pilot tests, the installation is ready as a cultural computing platform for the experiments that address the western cultural determinants.

Keywords: Alice|s Adventures in Wonderland; western culture; cultural computing; human-computer interaction; HCI; art installation; interactive installation; virtual agents; virtual reality; augmented reality; immersive environments; Alice in Wonderland.

DOI: 10.1504/IJART.2008.019885

International Journal of Arts and Technology, 2008 Vol.1 No.1, pp.102 - 118

Published online: 13 Aug 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article