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Journey to Genius Kid's Adventure
About the Journey to Genius Adventure CD
Journey to Genius is an entertaining interactive adventure game format, developed by Robert Dilts and Bill Hanley, that teaches children to think creatively and develop problem solving skills. While the users solve the mystery of the game they are learning and applying sophisticated thinking skills – The Strategies of Genius. These strategies include the 'Deductive Reasoning' of Sherlock Holmes, the 'Syllogistic Logic' of Aristotle, the 'Practical Planning' of Walt Disney, and the 'Visual Projection' of Albert Einstein. The purpose of this program is help the user develop and strengthen effective thinking skills and strategies that will increase his or her ability to solve problems and think creatively.
In the program, the main characters, Tyler and Julia, come home from school one day expecting to find their mother and father there to greet them, as they normally do. However, no one appears to be home. Even their brother, Taylor, who had walked home right before them is nowhere to be found. The parents have never left the children at home alone before this unusual incident. Suddenly both Tyler and Julia are faced with a unique challenge and must rely on their own resources to solve the mystery. The house contains a number of clues which, if interpreted correctly, will lead Tyler and Julia to the solution. But in order to solve the mystery and discover what has happened to their parents and their brother they must learn The Strategies of Genius.
The user accompanies the story hero "Tyler" and his sister Julia through their house as they look for their parents and their brother. As they search through the house, they discover mysterious clues as to the whereabouts of their other family members. One clue leads them to a computer with a unique virtual reality game in which they visit and interact with a number of "special animals." Each animal possesses the thinking strategy of a famous historical genius. The "special animals" names are 'Sherlock Mole', 'Bearistotle', 'Porcupeinstein' and 'Walt Disbee'. These animals teach Tyler how to interpret the clues by applying the thinking methods of the individual represented by each animal. When Tyler and Julia return to their home, the user is able to help them call upon their new animal friends who aid them in unraveling the mystery. Each animal guides them to perceive the clues in different ways. For example, Sherlock Mole helps them to interpret the particular details of the clues, whereas Bearistotle helps them to draw logical conclusions. Porcupeinstein helps them to see a broad overview of the situation, and Disbee helps synthesize the clues into a 'storyboard'. Each of these strategies is brought alive through the unique capabilities of interactive multimedia. These capabilities can be used to help take the user 'inside the mind' of the genius. Through this process, the user learns that effective 'thinking' does not have to be abstract and boring. Rather, it is a process of discovery and self revelation in which a person forms, explores and tests his or her own ideas.
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