As a semester-long project, we (a six-person team of graduate students) were tasked by the Fred Rogers Center with developing an interactive experience for their museum space that commemorates and celebrates the legacy of the American icon, Mister Fred Rogers. The Center wanted an experience inspired by Fred’s ethos so that fans of Fred, and their families who may not have gotten to watch everyone’s favorite neighbor, could have a chance to take in new and engaging Fred content.

To do this, we developed a kiosk experience that utilizes touchscreens and a projector screen centered on a commencement address that Fred gave at Middlebury College. In these words, Fred implores all listening to sit quietly for a minute and think about the special people in their lives who “smiled them into smiling”, “talked them into talking”, “sung them in singing” and “loved them into loving”. We designed four touchscreen activities based on these four sentiments that used simple mechanics, playful art and soothing music (courtesy of Fred and Johnny Costa) that allowed guests the time and space to reflect on the special people that helped them become who they are. By the end of each touchscreen activity, a guest will have created their own personalized object that represents the special person they were thinking about and be given the chance to add that object to a larger neighborhood scene that is projected above the entire kiosk. In this way, guests can collaboratively build a neighborhood with their friends and families or other guests at the Center, sparking conversations about the special people we should all thank more often.

Thank you again to all of the following people who made this project possible: Karen Meyers and the rest of the Fred Rogers Center staff, our instructors and the rest of the ETC faculty and staff, all of those who playtested our experience and provided feedback, friends and fans of Fred who helped us ensure authenticity at every step, and each member of Team 143.

For more information including development blogs, media, team biographies, and more, please visit our website at www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/143.