Some ideas begin quietly — in early encounters with art, in the moment a story makes an object feel alive.

Saganauts grew from that impulse: the desire to help museums communicate with families through stories that make cultural heritage accessible, personal and engaging for children and their adults alike.

The first prototype demonstrated how powerful this approach can be. It showed that artificial intelligence can meaningfully combine museum data, narrative methods and individual learning needs to create experiences that support family engagement — helping adults guide children, and helping children feel confident in unfamiliar cultural spaces. Building on this foundation, the next phase of the project focuses on further development in collaboration with museums, educators, creative technologists and children’s authors, supported by foundations and partners who share the vision.

The aim is to create a research-based storytelling platform for museum websites — a tool that connects factual accuracy with imagination, and play with knowledge. Each story adapts to the child’s name, age and reading level, allowing families to explore culture together in a way that feels relevant and alive. In addition to the AI-generated narratives, the platform will over time also include fixed stories written by professional children’s authors, creating a balanced interplay between human creativity and adaptive technology.

Through this cross-disciplinary work, Saganauts will examine how personalised digital storytelling influences learning, early language development and emotional engagement — first across Danish museums, and later in a wider European context.

At its core, the project responds to a cultural moment in which stories are essential. They help families navigate complex knowledge, create shared experiences, and build bridges between scientific understanding and creative imagination. They remind us that culture is not a luxury, but a vital way of making sense of the world together.