Little Red Riding Hood in Cyberspace

2003

Tomoki Saso (JP)
Kenji Iguchi (JP)
Aska Morinobu
Yasuko Saito
Mizuho Hanazawa
Ayako Takagi
Kasumi Shigiyama
Yoko Muta
Eriko Matsumoto
Satoshi Umase
Mana Son
Mariko Takeuchi
Tomohiro Nishita
Masa Inakage (JP)
imgl, Keio University Inakage Lab (JP)

A group of boys and girls sits enthralled at the feet of their mother or father who is reading from a beautifully illustrated book of fairytales, the children’s imaginations stirred by the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Hänsel and Gretel, or Snow White. Don’t we all cherish such scenes from our childhood, when each of us had our own personal favorite fairytale. Perhaps future generations will grow up with a completely new type of fairytale book that will make the stories seem almost real to them.

“Little Red Riding Hood in Cyberspace” is a pop-up book for children. It looks like a picture book except that on each page, only the background of a particular scene is depicted. To read the book, the user dons a data helmet (head-mounted display, HMD) and thus can experience the plot in three-dimensional space. Here, animated 3-D images relate the story of Little Red Riding Hood, whereby each page of the book depicts a scene on her way from home to grandmother’s house. Dialog and description are read aloud.

In “Little Red Riding Hood in Cyberspace,” turning a page of the book corresponds to a change in location of the currently depicted dramatic scene. Thus, the plot can be played out at a number of different locations simultaneously and the user, by quickly leafing forward or backward through the pages, can get more out of this tale than is to be had in a conventional book.

The story does indeed follow the essential plot of the original fairytale; however, parallel subplots can develop depending on user interaction. For instance, if the user takes the corresponding step, Little Red Riding Hood can tiptoe on a tree trunk lying across a stream or else she has to take a detour. Thus, the user can influence the story.

Since both the book and the computer-generated graphics contain three-dimensional information, the user can more closely scrutinize the book when his/her field of vision moves accordingly. The backgrounds are made of material like felt and rice paper, and impart the tangible impression of a 3-D world. At the basis of this project is Mixed Reality (MR) technology that makes it possible to produce the 3-D simulation of the story.