Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle is the first narrative work produced with the Shapereader repertoire. Arctic Circle is an original tactile novel of 57 pages that narrates the story of two climatologist drilling an ice column in the North Pole. In the midst of an imbroglio of conflicting interests from traders, human rights activists and impoverished Inuit dwellers, the two protagonists pursue their research exploring the records of climate changes of past ages contained on the ice column; they hope to decipher these cryptic patterns, not unlike the way the readers of Arctic Circle engage with the work. Six hand-held tablets and three large communication boards allow the reader to get acquainted with the index of Arctic Circle. They carry the 210 tactigrams (tactile ideograms) that provide equivalents for the specific features of the story. The shapes are sorted into groups according to their semantic content and function, so that they can be easily traced by beginner readers: characters, props, settings, actions, affections, graphic and textual devices. (Photo credits: Nefeli Dimitriadi)