Faculty of Arts & Science

Digital Futures

Meicen Zhou

Shadow Puppetry: Wukong

This is a web-based interactive experience that reimagines traditional Chinese shadow puppetry. Based on the classic novel Journey to the West, it allows audiences to embody the iconic character Sun Wukong. Using webcam-based motion capture, participants are transformed from passive viewers into active performers, controlling the digital puppet through physical movement. To create a highly replayable narrative, the system integrates ChatGPT to generate unique story variations during each playthrough. During development, playtesting revealed that users often triggered multiple interactive elements simultaneously, disrupting the narrative flow. To address this, I restructured the interaction logic so that interactive elements appear sequentially as the story unfolds, guiding users to engage with them in the intended order and preserving the coherence of the narrative.

“Inspired by the cultural heritage, I aim to modernize this ancient art form using interactive web technologies. I wanted to introduce the legend of Wukong to a global audience by transforming them into active participants. Through this project, I explore how motion tracking and generative AI can preserve the essence of a traditional medium while making it highly accessible and deeply immersive for contemporary users.”