Mix A Pixel
HANDS-ON LEARNING ARTEFACT / RGB COLOUR / FOR CHILDREN / PHYSICAL COMPUTING
THE PROMPT
Bedtime stories are often received. Sketch Tales gives a child a way to start one: a hand-drawn sketch becomes the prompt for a story rather than an illustration after the fact.
A TANGIBLE FIRST STEP
The sketch stays at the centre
A child places a drawing directly on the lamp’s platform. The first gesture stays physical and familiar, keeping imagination on paper rather than in a text field.
FROM SKETCH TO STORY
A drawing becomes the first line
Once a sketch is placed on the platform, the system interprets the image, develops a story from it and turns that text into narration.
THE SYSTEM
From a drawing to a spoken story
Sketch Tales combines a web camera, Arduino UNO Q, speaker and micro switch inside one physical interface. Pressing the switch captures the drawing, computer vision reads it, Claude shapes it into a story, and ElevenLabs turns the text into speech before the speaker plays it back.
LIGHT AND SOUND
The story takes shape beyond the speaker
Audio narration is paired with responsive LEDs. The light shifts with the unfolding story, giving the bedside object a second, ambient way to carry its mood.
