STORYBOX creates shared digital portals for public imagination and creativity in shared spaces. First launched in 2020 as a mobile, transportable digital cube designed to connect audiences to the different time-spaces of their places, the STORYBOX program has evolved over the past five years as an innovative model for digital outdoor creativity, taken up by over 50 participating partners and communities across over 25 different precincts. With a focus on audiences as citizen-storytellers, not consumers, and underpinned by innovative, multi-sector program partnerships, STORYBOX redefines how media in public spaces can engage the future of public precincts, inviting collaborative responses to the enduring natures of urban transformation.

The STORYBOX program was created in 2020 and has now reached over 25 communities through a mix of temporary, touring and long-term program partnerships. The program centres around the 'hero' digital cube that supports novel outdoor programming and interactions between cultural institutions, educational and scientific institutions, communities and artists. Additional assets and formats are supported, including digital plinths and screens, with more to come. STORYBOX hardware assets are supported by a strategic programming model that activates connections between precinct custodians (place owners and managers) and communities of interest, from cultural organisations, to community and First Nations groups, and educational organisations. To support impact evaluation, STORYBOX is equipped with novel tools and methodologies that capture insights into how communities experience public spaces, and how communities respond to targeted cultural and scientific programs, spanning issues such as birdlife protection, local heritage or future precinct designs. Through STORYBOX, diverse public institutions are now engaged with the potentials of public spaces to engage audiences as citizen-storytellers in shaping the shared futures of their precincts.

https://www.storybox.co/

https://www.storybox.co/the-story

https://www.storybox.co/civic-ai

Details

Building or project owner : Various

Project artist/ concept/ design/ planning : Studio ESEM

Structural engineering : Gorilla Constructions

Light hardware (LED hardware) : Liantronic MPA Mini2.6 Outdoor

Lighting control software : Novastar

Project co-ordination : Studio ESEM

Membrane skin : Perspex protective panels & custom metal finishes

Interaction design/ programming : Studio ESEM & partners

Pixel or other basic module/ elements : Liantronic MPA Mini2.6 Outdoor

Descriptions

Facade type and geometry (structure) : The STORYBOX program is centred around the hero asset: the digital cube. This is a 2.2m x 2.2m structure custom designed by Studio ESEM, which has been progressively enhanced over the past 5 years since STORYBOX v1. The Cube structure is supported by 2m steel sub-frame, constructed from 2m^3 AS4100 Steel / AS 1163 100x3 SHS. The total structure weight of the fully loaded STORYBOX Cube is ~1640kg. Content displayed on 4 x LED screens, each 2m x 2m. The pitch of the screens is P2.6, giving a resolution of 768px x 768px. All equipments is rated at IP65, and the LED screens protected by integrated perspex shield. The structure is designed to be mobile and transportable. In addition to the Cube, the STORYBOX program offers digital plinths as additional wayfinding assets, which can be accessed as stand alone assets or to augment the public footprint of a STORYBOX program.

Kind of light creation : STORYBOX uses LED technology in the digital cube (outdoor rated). LCD technology is used in the digital plinths.

Resolution and transmitting behaviour : Screen resolution of the current STORYBOX Cube is 768 px x 768px screen resolution per side. The screens are programmed via a digital signage CMS. The screens can be configured to operate as either four duplicate screens, or one wide canvas 3072px x 768px. The plinths operate through local Brightsign players. The CMS utilised (Fusion) supports a range of content, from video to photography to interactive media, from multiplayer games to gestural interactives. Partners have access to CMS and programming support either directly to the CMS or via a program support officer.

Pixel distance : P 2.6 for the STORYBOX Cube

Luminace : The STORYBOX Cube has a maximum brightness of 5000 nits, but this is adjusted automatically to suit the ambient lighting through the inclusion of onboard light sensors. The maximum brightness the Cube is set for is generally 85-90%.

Urban situation : STORYBOX is designed for outdoor environments to be very flexible, robust and resilient. It has been installed in a wide array of urban and regional situations, from regional town centres, to parks, to CBD town squares. The design is deliberately human-scale, designed to connect to citizens 'life size' in public spaces. Museums have taken up the format to tour exhibitions and digital programs, enabling exhibitions to expand their audience reach from within the walls of the museum to multiple regional locations. Partners can select additional interactive features to promote public interactions and engagement on site. The design of the BOX means it can withstand extreme weather events, including rain and heat. In-built people counters support insights into proximate activity levels, and intercept surveys support insights into audience engagement with programming themes.

Description of showreel : This showreel features a selection of programs exhibited at various locations through STORYYBOX since 2020. This demonstrates a range of participatory experiences, from dance interactives to community storytelling and cultural programming, across diverse locations spanning urban and regional contexts. It includes Birds of Australia STORYBOX, a 3 year touring program with the Australian Museum, a STORYBOX program with community residents in Parramatta, a dance interactive co-created with media artist Cao Fei for a major arts exhibition, and an undersea oceans portal developed in partnership with Australia's National Maritime Museum. The showreel is prepared by Michael Killalea, Co-Director of STORYBOX and Studio ESEM.

Participatory architecture & urban interaction

Community or communities involved : STORYBOX is not just an LED Cube, but a platform designed to foster creative collaborations between precinct custodians, community participants, educational organisations and cultural institutions. Community engagement is facilitated through a mix of program types: Precinct programs (longer term, multi-partner initiatives), Temporary events or activations, and Touring programs. Each program connects communities in different ways. Precinct programs offer distinct community storytelling and arts commissioning channels, while Temporary and Touring programs are led by cultural or precinct organisations to engage with audiences through curated digital and community based programs. In total, there have been over 40 community groups involved across 25 different precinct locations, while touring programs have reached over 8 regional community locations and thousands of community participants.

Host organization : Studio ESEM & Storybox.Co

Legal form : Proprietary company (Purpose-driven)

Issues addressed : STORYBOX community programs engage with communities on issues of shared futures through simple provocations and invitations that are accessible to many. This includes the Tiny Stories format (120 words or less stories or perspectives) and Arts Portals for artists, sponsored by Precinct Programs. These focus on topics of urban transformation, including climate change (STRYBX 2032 at Vivid Sydney 2023), future place visions (Parramatta 2020), and neurodiversity in public spaces (UNSW 2023). In October 2025 we launch Storied Trees as a participatory storytelling program about the Exceptional Trees of Melbourne City North, in partnership with RMIT University. Community Programs are underpinned by awards and commissions for selected published works, funded through Precinct partnerships.

Impact : Our mission is to rethink the possibilities of outdoor media in nurturing creative and 'care-full' communities. We measure impact across three key measures: awareness & reach, engagement and participation. Each program is equipped with pedestrian monitors which we use to count reach, and we run regular intercept surveys to capture engagement and awareness levels in relation to program priority areas. We adapt outdoor media evaluation methods to provide partners with granular insights into program impact in public spaces, and report on participation levels by each program. Over 5 years the program has also commissioned over 50 artists, 150 community storytellers and 20 community groups, supporting new investment models for community and creative storytelling.

Tools developed : The STORYBOX program is supported by a number of custom digital tools. This includes the interactive MoodRing web app, which facilitating insights into how people are feeling on a program or topic, and the STORYBOX Mobile Webapp which offers dynamic page refreshes to allow audiences to ‘follow along’ the stories as they unfold on the Cube. Also developed: - Ambient Commons Evaluation framework: Supports partners to understand the awareness and reach of STORYBOX programs for participating partners. - Custom gestural interactions utilising Touch designer Software, custom coding and infrared camera for bespoke installations to enable public interactions.

Tools used : We have integrated a range of off the shelf or pre-existing tools, including LORA WAN Pedestrian Counters, Fusion CMS, Converlens Survey software and Typeform survey software. We have also integrated the multiplayer game software Socketumi in a custom webapp for a museum partner and developed custom gestural interactions, and CMS signage software.

Next steps : We are continually evolving the STORYBOX program to support our mission. We are developing a stronger evaluation methodology to understand how citizens can generate new value through their contributions, establishing a 'citizen storytelling' program that augments citizen science with a focus on oral storytelling submissions. We are building new hardware models that support placement in nature-based settings to support local regeneration efforts, and promote access to custom audio tours, soundscapes, citizen science apps and more.

Mediacredits

Studio ESEM & Storybox.Co and participants

Michael Killalea, Studio ESEM and First Nations dancers

ANMM and Studio ESEM

The Australian Museum and Studio ESEM

Studio ESEM and participant storytellers

Albert Namatjira / NGA / Studio ESEM

Cao Fei / Studio ESEM

Studio ESEM

The Australian Museum & Studio ESEM