The KidsRoom is a perceptually-based, interactive, narrative playspace for children. Images, music, narration, light, and sound effects are used to transform a normal child's bedroom into a fantasy land where children are guided through a reactive adventure story. The fully automated system was designed with the following goals:

(1) to keep the focus of user action and interaction in the physical, not virtual space;

(2) to permit multiple, collaborating people to simultaneously engage in an interactive experience combining both real and virtual objects;

(3) to use computer-vision algorithms to identify activity in the space without requiring the participants to wear any special clothing or devices;

(4) to use narrative to constrain the perceptual recognition, and to use perceptual recognition to allow participants to drive the narrative;

(5) to create a truly immersive and interactive room environment.

We believe the KidsRoom is the first multi-person, fully-automated, interactive, narrative environment ever constructed using non-encumbering sensors. This paper describes the KidsRoom, the technology that makes it work, and the issues that were raised during the systemês development.

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