Dr. Neil Randall receives a CFI grant to launch the StoryBoard Lab

Monday, November 23, 2020

How do we tell complex, compelling stories on large, interactive touch screens typically used for public information displays, for collaborative work in businesses, or, when available, for classroom purposes in educational institutions?

Executive Director Dr. Neil Randall was awarded a grant from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to launch The Storyboard Lab, which will provide the infrastucture necessary to advance research on designing narratives using large interactive displays.

Interactive Display
Housed at the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo, the interdisciplinary research from this lab will explore and determine best practices for developing innovative narratives, simulations, and wayfaring applications using large interactive displays. Additionally, this lab will support the production of research about user behaviour and the design of user interfaces for this technology.

"Until now, design and development research for storytelling on interactive devices has focused on mobile devices, standard computer screens, and virtual reality (VR) headsets," says Neil Randall. "The StoryBoard Lab’s mandate is to extend this research to large displays not typically used to display narratives designed for interaction and participation".

In the StoryBoard Lab, researchers will be able to create interactive design narratives for large displays with touch interfaces and test, assess, and observe user interaction with these narratives. The infrastructure will allow researchers to develop narrative design strategies, conduct qualitative user experience discovery studies, and produce applications for further research discovery.

Storytelling through large interactive displays offers a technological intervention to help people connect and collaborate in a post-COVID world with restricted work and travel environments. Research outputs from the StoryBoard Lab will also offer us opportunities to explore novel ways of staging performances as well as accessing theatre and cultural events.

If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved with the StoryBoard Lab, contact our Operations Specialist at games.institute@uwaterloo.ca.

Find out about the other labs at the Games Institute's by taking our Virtual Tour.