Storytable

The Storytable was an interactive table that contained a wealth of multimedia clips. 

The elderly living in the Twiske Home in North Amsterdam were the first to get a place where they could enjoy stories from the good old days and store their own memories. They gathered round The Storytable, a concept built by Waag and artist Hans Muller with facilities for film footage, music and oral history. In 2002 a prototype was developed for a pilot project that started early 2003. 

The Storytable was a piece of furniture specifically designed for one to six elderly persons. With only two buttons, users can activate historical features and view them on integrated screens. It also included the possibility to add comments and stories to the table.

The challenge for the designers was to realize a piece of furniture that encourages these users, who are at the age of 80 years and over, to overcome any fears for technology they might have. The Storytable is not be a 'computer in disguise', but a source of images, sounds and stories from the past that the inhabitants of the caring home can operate intuitively and can add their personal experiences to. The table was designed together with elderly users to suit their abilities.

The Storytable is no longer in production and the content is no longer supported.