A radical research & development project
PlayTech invites children aged 2–4 years to become co-creators of experimental, multi-sensory, audio-visual technologies.
Our Great Yarmouth space is transformed into an interactive playground of squidgy blobs, immersive projections and extraordinary sounds.
Together with artists and children, we are reimagining sound, play, and digital discovery.
About the project
PlayTech is a three-year project running from 2025-2027, funded by Youth Music Energiser Fund, with support from Groundswell Arts.
The lead creative technologists are Dr Charlotte Arculus, Natalie Whitney, and Emily Godden.
Throughout PlayTech, we have been exploring the co-creation of interactive creative technologies with very young children.
Embracing a messy, playful methodology, we’ve been thinking through making and breaking technologies to invite deeper questions about the role and relevance of sensory, interactive tech in early childhood.
“There’s so much anxiety about what children are supposed to do… We resist those narratives. It doesn’t matter if they break things or aren’t interested. There are no wrongs here.”
Dr Charlotte Arculus, Magic Acorns’ Co-Director
Intrigued by the play between the analogue and digital worlds, we transform our Great Yarmouth space into an interactive playground with:
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Blobs: Tactile sculptures suspended from the ceiling. Sensitive to pressure, they activate extraordinary sounds and immersive digital imagery whenever they are touched, hugged, or squeezed.
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Little Things: Techno carts combining buttons, sliders, and touch-sensitive plates that generate rich audio responses through connectivity.
Energiser Learning Community
Magic Acorns is part of Youth Music’s Energiser Learning Community, a national collaborative network of 12 dynamic organisations amplifying the voices of young children and the communities who serve them.
“[My daughter used to be] a bit nervous about going off and exploring, but now she’ll go and do it on her own…it lets her be herself.”
A parent
What we’re playing with
During testing and experimenting, we explored a wide range of tools and platforms including: Dato DUO, Spokeboard, Playtronica, Teenage Engineering OP-Z, Bare Conductive, Koala Sampler, Oddball, Thumbjam, GoVJ, Ableton, Arduino, Lightbeam, Dadamachines, e-textiles, motors, projection, sensors, and more.
Buttons is a collection of little sound worlds, a series of sonic topographies, each with its own flavour, movement and feeling. Created by Dr Charlotte Arculus and Nat Whitney for toddlers, babies, and adventurous adult ears as part of PlayTech.
In the PlayTech installation, soft blob-buttons are touched and these sound worlds are activated along with a visual motif.