Runesinger is a demo of a PC videogame to speak and spell Korean. The player practices a few nouns and verbs by serving food to hungry villagers during a North Korean famine.
Inspired by melodic intonation therapy, the player sings a jingle. On each musical note, a ball bounces on an iconic syllable. Through a spelling puzzle, the player composes each syllable in Hangul, which is the phonetic alphabet of Korean. Subsequently, the player sings with Korean subtitles.
The three-dimensional virtual environment, user interface, and story embody the rules of Hangul. Thus, Runesinger harnesses tropes of videogames to practice a foreign language in a meaningful context.
Thesis paper, video, and software coming soon.
(C) 2009 Ethan Kennerly