My Sky is Falling (MSiF) is an experience design that harnesses technology and story to create empathy for the challenges faced by foster care children. MSiF will be presented at Envision this Thursday, April 11. Envision is a program of IFP in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Guided by immersive performances and sensor technologies, participants in MSiF will uncover a dystopian sci-fi tale.  The ending shows MSiF’s roots in real experiences of foster care.

MSiF is written with filmmaker Lydia Joyner, who has her own experience in foster care. On creating this work, Lydia says “When you grow up in foster care, your life becomes fragmented like sharp glass.  But we can take the shards and create kaleidoscopes that allow us to see our lives in new, beautiful, and ever changing ways.  I want to lead, teach and share, making a difference for the next generation of the traumatized and abused.”

MSiF is a project of Reboot Stories, a startup dedicated to harnessing story and tech for social change.  Designing with instead of for is key to Reboot’s approach to purposeful storytelling. MSiF was designed with former foster care kids through a partnership with the NGO Orange Duffel Bag. Other creators include  interdisciplinary teams of Columbia University students and data scientists from the non-profit Harmony Institute.  MSiF integrates Affectiva biosensors from MIT Media Lab to give further insight into social impact.

Reboot Stories uses an organic, iterative and open design process that draws from other projects and collaborators in our ecosystem.  For MSiF, we began with a “Wish For the Future Open Design Challenge” in Reboot Stories co-founder Lance Weiler’s Columbia University New Media Producing class last fall.  Students and visiting artists created a design question and rapidly prototyped the solution.  Over the semester, visiting game designers like Nick Fortugno, film producers like Christine Vachon, and data scientists from the Harmony Institute worked with us to paper test game mechanics, new models for immersive data mining, and social impact. Lydia Joyner and other artists with foster care experience helped to write and give feedback on the project. MSiF was finally beta tested with an audience of 40 participants at the end of the semester.

At Envision, MSiF is an innovative project going beyond the screen. MSiF will be published as a creative commons framework for foster care groups like the Brevard Family Partnership and ASPIRAnet to use in training sessions for potential foster care parents and social workers.  We’re also experimenting with creating an online game.  This immersive experience will be free to produce and open for all.  The intent is to help participants understand on an emotional level what it is like to be a foster child.

Reboot Stories looks forward to seeing you at one of their presentations of My Sky is Falling at Envision on April 11, or at diydays, on April 27. More details are below.

MSiF Session Information

There will be 1 hr sessions at these upcoming FREE events open to the public:

at Envision 2013: Stpries of the Global Health Challenge

When: Thursday, April 11^th from 11:30am-4:30pm

Where: the 92Y Tribeca – 200 Hudson St., New York City

RSVP at www.envisionfilm.org and then sign up at registration for MSiF on site on April 11.

at diy days NYC

When: Saturday, April 27^th from 11:30am-4:30pm

Where: The New School – 66 W 12^th St., New York City

Register: diydays.com and email info@diydays.com to reserve a spot

My Sky is Falling Credits

Partners

#MSiF #EnvisionFilm @HInstitute

@rebootstories @IFPEnvision