Project History

The Kotodama prototype was the second iteration game produced from the Japanese Language Learning Software (JLLS) project at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). In 2003, ETC students Brian Schrank and Joshua Taylor wrote a paper on a form of language learning that used games titled IWILA. In the spring of 2004 four ETC students, Brian Schrank, Anucha Aribarg, Yuki Izena, and Sabrina Haskell, pitched the JLLS project on the ideas presented in the IWILA paper. The stated purpose of the project was to create a "prototype of an intermediate portion of a Japanese Language Learning Experience" using Multiple Intelligence Theory, innovations in interactive multimedia, and interactive storytelling. Japanese was chosen because of its popularity with young people in America, especially in relation to forms of entertainment such as television shows (Japanese Anime) and video games.

What grew out of the first semester of JLLS was a prototype called "Pettochan: Friend Pet." Pettochan is a desktop pet intended to exist persistently on the player's computer desktop. The pet starts out as an egg and grows physically, a visual manifestation of the player's language ability. Each interaction with the pet is accomplished through the input of Japanese in a molecular style menu. The player learns concepts through a series of minigames and interaction with 2 NPC characters.

This prototype was a testbed for many of the concepts used in Kotodama including exploring Direct Method (teaching language concepts entirely in the target language), using game concepts to provide endogenous value and rewards for the player, and developing an appealing visual style. The pet concept was very well recieved and is still considered a viable teaching method by the JLLS team. When making the transition from Pettochan to Kotodama, the JLLS team began focusing more on speech skills, sentence construction, story based gameplay, and game environment.

The prototype of Kotodama is being presented at the several conferences during the spring of 2005.