Story Nook

Story Nook: A Digitally Enhanced, Immersive Reading Nook

Design Concept

Story Nook is designed to enhance school and public library spaces to help encourage sustained engagement in reading physical books and develop cognitive imagination in children aged 7 – 12 years old. Through the use of auditory and visual stimuli, the children are immersed in the world of the book without being distracted from reading the book itself.

Quizzes were included as a form of educational gamification to increase the child’s sense of achievement as they progress through the book. They are designed around the primary school curriculum, from True/False formats to basic and intuitive reading comprehension.

When installed in libraries, Story Nook would be an easy to assemble, semi-enclosed space, allowing children to explore the worlds and themes of any available book.

Prototype Focus: The Land of Stories

The prototype is designed around Chris Colfer’s ‘The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell’ as it is written for children in Years 3 to 6, has a fantasy genre and the plot follows an adventure through the whole land rather than just one location. This allowed for key exploration of Story Nook’s range and capabilities as four locations were developed, with ‘A Hidden Place’ having two immersive environments based on the story.

Immersive videos are book-specific, and developed with atmospheric sound mixes and visuals. Environments were designed to be reflective of the text and not hinder the user’s concentration, but rather enhance their experience reading the physical book.