YARN
2024
Tangible Ai story building
2024
Agency
Client
Sector
Role
Team
Outcome
Ai, KidTech
Strategist & Designer
FINH
IXD, Ai, UX, Strategy
We were commissioned by Yarn to transform their digital-only AI storytelling app for children aged 3 to 6 into a tangible experience that integrates AI into a child's real-world environment. Leveraging natural multimodal stimuli that fuel a child's imagination, we developed the Yarn Tangible AI Kit and App feature.
To accomplish this, the FINH team delved into the world of children, family routines, and multi-sensory creative practices, exploring how these elements could (but not always should) intersect with technology, which resulted in the development of our very own 10 principles for designing AI experiences for children.
We delved into the world of children, family routines, and multi-sensory creative practices, exploring how these elements could (but not always should) intersect with technology, which resulted in the development of our very own 10 principles for designing AI experiences for children.
The result is a paper-based Tangible AI Kit and new app features that engage all of a child's senses. This sets Yarn apart from the myriad of generative storytelling apps that have emerged since ChatGPT, providing children and families with a richer, more collaborative AI storytelling experience.
The new app features include the ability to scan the contents of the Imaginarium map, transforming images of grouped objects and artifacts into unique elements of the child's story, adding a new dimension to storytelling.
The Tangible AI Kit moves children beyond the screen, offering a structured yet open-ended tool for constructing story prompts using real-world objects, drawings, movements, and songs. This creates a magical experience that produces not only generative digital stories but also tangible mementos of each creative project.
Finally, the Tangible AI Kit allows Yarn to offer a new subscription tier, providing families with exponential play value at a fractional price increase. Since the kit is entirely paper-based, logistics and manufacturing can be handled by a printing partner, freeing Yarn to focus on their digital offerings.
