Howdy from team KOTODAMA FRUIT JUICE!
Wait, what?
Kotodama (言霊, lit. “word spirit/soul”) refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include “soul of language”, “spirit of language”, “power of language”, “power word”, “magic word”, and “sacred sound”. The notion of kotodama presupposes that sounds can magically affect objects, and that ritual word usages can influence our environment, body, mind, and soul.
Kotodama Fruit Juice or KFJ refers to a team of five artists, technologists, and storytellers coming together to inhabit the world of language and explore what interactivity and connection can be created when language is truly utilized.
Tasked by ETC faculty Brenda Harger & Shirley Yee to explore “stories that listen” and find current intersections of speech recognition, natural language processing, and entertainment, the team has begun to research past and present technologies and storytelling experiences.
After a week of blue sky meetings and research, we’ve come closer to an idea for what type of experience we’re going to be creating, but have yet to settle completely on a particular artifact. Some ideas are: training tools, speech therapy, interactive fiction, and experimental gameplay.
Next week we will be meeting with key technology people on campus and in the city, including Mike and Scott, some HCI folks on main campus, and (possibly) a team at IBM doing natural language research.
Goals for next week are to develop branding for our team and project, develop a long-term schedule, and begin nailing down an idea of our artifact goals. We hope to have a firm grasp of the technological limitations by the end of next week, and will be able to begin design the week after.