CenSoF lead: Debbie Watson

For care experienced and adopted children, physical objects are often the only remaining link to their past; a portal to stories of birth families, former homes, and significant people. Through reminiscence of these stories, known as ‘life story work’, we can help children accept their past and overcome traumatic events. With this in mind, in 2013 Professor Debbie Watson (of the University of Bristol) and Chloe Meineck (founder of the Bristol creative company ‘Studio Meineck’) conceived the idea of a digital and physical memory box, ‘trove‘, to support the storage and curation of stories about precious objects.

"As these children had traumatic pasts, we had to balance our goals for autonomy with protecting their mental and physical wellbeing"

Following a participatory design workshop series with children at a residential school, interviews with adopted children, and play testing with children and young adults with experience of the social care system, the latest iteration of trove resembles a large felt bag with huggable cushioning. It retains the tangible connection between objects and stories as the core interaction, but there is an inbuilt touchscreen-based interface to control its functionality (Vodaphone N9 Smartphone concealed from view apart from the screen). This device allows users to record and playback stories.

We are exploring trove with children and families in the Caring Futures domain in the context of ‘caring objects’.

Further information: Trove website.

Further reading (blog): Repurposing ‘trove’: space, times and bodies by Lisa May Thomas