Usability and engagement of a digital and multisensorial tool for immersive storytelling: A pilot study

Storytelling is a crucial practice to help children to develop linguistic, cognitive, emotional and social skills. New methodologies for interactive storytelling, as Tangible User Interface (TUI), have promoted innovative, educative and cognitive interventions to listen and stimulate narratives. The aim of the study is to analyze and evaluate the usability and the engagement with respect to a TUI-based interactive storytelling for preschool and school aged children. 11 typically developing children aged between 5 and 9 years old participated in the study. The procedure involved a TUI pre-training phase and the storytelling phase, in which participants listened to and interacted with a TUI-augmented story. Data, such as participants' behavior, satisfaction, engagement and TUI's usability, were collected through observations and specific questionnaires adapted to the participants. Results of the pilot study showed a good level of usability and overall engagement, with differences that vary according to age. Many of the participants considered the activity as challenging. We also highlight issues and technical notes that we need to address for future studies. Innovative interactive systems allow children to use physical objects immersed in the environment, interacting together with the digital world, supporting their physical and cognitive development. Future studies' directions are discussed.