Interactive Nodes at United Square and Changi Airport bring to life a familiar Chinese classic for everyone to learn and read about friendship, adventure, perseverance and loyalty.
24 January 2025 — The National Library Board (NLB) launches two Chinese Classics-themed Nodes from today at United Square and Changi Airport T3, offering patrons new ways to learn and discover stories that would appeal to everyone young and old.
The main attraction of these new Nodes is ChatBook: Journey to the West, NLB’s first iteration of the Generative AI-powered ChatBook in Chinese and for fictional content. We hope this will promote interest in Chinese literature and language, especially among the young.
Users of all ages including children get to converse with main characters from this classic story published in the 16th century in English or Chinese by speaking into a microphone or typing on a keyboard at the writing desk in front of the ChatBook. The ChatBook will respond via audio in Chinese, and written text that appears onscreen in English and Chinese. These responses are generated based on the classic novel "Journey to the West" by Wu Cheng’en, that is no longer bound by copyright, allowing ChatBook to draw from the rich narrative and characters of this beloved Chinese literary work.
In addition, the Nodes also showcase another prototype, StoryGen, an interactive service that helps users discover great stories and writers by experiencing them in new ways using Generative AI. Patrons can choose from Chinese Classics such as “Journey to the West - Sun Wukong Defeats the White Bone Spirit”, “Journey to the West - Heavenly Havoc”, and “Filial Daughter - Hua Mulan”, as well as familiar favourites “Little Red Riding Hood”, “The Story of the Garfish”, “Badang the Mighty Warrior”, “Sang Nila Utama” and “Wizard of Oz”, mix them up with different characters and settings and see the stories come alive in an immersive visual experience.
Through bringing familiar storybook characters to life, NLB hopes to continue to spark an early interest in reading, learning and discovery among children in an interactive and engaging way. The prototypes were developed with the support of Amazon Web Services and Huawei Cloud.
Journey to the West books will be available for borrowing at the Nodes, which will also showcase other curated eReads for children. These include a variety of Chinese Classic eBooks in both English and Mandarin languages from NLB’s extensive collection.
While we continue to explore the potential that Generative AI has in opening up new opportunities to promote great writing and stories, the Nodes present an opportunity for public education of this emerging technology. Hence, the Nodes will also feature NLB resources such as Read to be S.U.R.E. (Source, Understand, Research, Evaluate), which help patrons understand both the benefits and challenges of AI. Display panels will explain how Generative AI works and how to differentiate real information from fake, so that patrons may learn the importance of digital literacy.
NLB Chief Executive Officer Mr Ng Cher Pong said: “These Nodes at United Square and Changi Airport grow our Learning Marketplace for patrons of all ages and backgrounds to experience a selection of popular stories in new ways. We look forward to collaborating with partners to explore new, interesting ways to bring these classic stories to life for a wider audience.”
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About National Library Board
The National Library Board (NLB) nurtures Readers for Life, Learning Communities and a Knowledgeable Nation by promoting reading, learning and history through its network of 28 libraries, the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore. NLB also forges strategic partnerships that encourage awareness, appreciation and greater discovery of Singapore's history through its rich collections in Singapore and the region.
NLB achieves excellence through innovation, focusing on citizen engagement and co-creation, resource and digital innovation. This creates learning opportunities, greater access to library resources, services, and archival collections, as well as a continual development of innovative library spaces. Established on 1 September 1995 as a statutory board, NLB is under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).
For more information, please visit the NLB website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube channels.
For media queries, please contact:
Zoey Tan
Weber Shandwick
9073 6422
ZTan@webershandwick.com
Hoe I-Yune
Weber Shandwick
9324 2061
IHoe@webershandwick.com
Annex
Annex A: Highlights of ChatBook: Journey to the West
Annex B: Curated list of Chinese Classics in NLB’s eReads on the NLB Mobile app at United Square