Do you work at a museum? Read our StorySite proposal!
What is PictureStories?
PictureStories lets you make little webpages of stories you write where some of the words are replaced with images (called a "rebus"). What makes PictureStories cool is that the images are dynamically pulled from popular web-based image search engines (like Google). We've seen lots of cute little storybooks for kids that are like this, and we thought it'd be neat to be able to do my own. Someone has probably had this idea before, but we couldn't find anything online anywhere, so we wrote it. You can make webpages like this one and this one.
How Do I Use It?
Windows users, you'll want to double-click the "Picture Stories.bat" file. If a window appears and then vanishes, you might need to download the latest version of Java. You should keep an eye on the status bar at the bottom of main the window, it gives instructions and feedback about what is going on. Here is a screenshot of the interface. It's pretty simple -
- Write a short story in the main text window
- Click the "Add Images" button
- Click on any of the red words to replace it with an image
- Click the arrows beneath the word to cycle through images
- Use the buttons at the bottom to save or print your story
Now go off and write a cute make-up letter to your girlfriend for that fight you had earlier, or a see-you-soon note to your little nephew - you know they'd love it!
Postcardware
Our sun-starved researchers love receiving communications from the outside world, so we're releasing this software as "postcardware". That means that you can use it for free, but if you like it then we ask that you send us a postcard from where you live! Our address is:
Rahul Bhargava
Institute of the Future
227 Pearl St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
While you're here, take a look at some of the postcards we've recieved:
