Enhancing the Motivation of Young Learners in Intangible Cultural Heritage Education: A Creative Real-Time Finger Tracking System for Chinese Shadow Puppetry

Many obstacles are causing Chinese shadow puppeteering, an endangered art form, to disappear. This state of affairs has been exacerbated by a number of factors, including the impact of varied entertainment options, aging puppeteers, declining audiences, and a dearth of youthful successors. This study suggests using real-time finger-tracking technology to manage shadow puppet performances in an effort to conserve and revive Chinese shadow puppetry. Eight young adults participated in a workshop and a comparison experiment as part of the research technique. They used joysticks to control actual shadow puppets at first, and then they used a wireless data-tracking glove to control virtual shadow puppets. The results show that young beginners find it difficult to operate a shadow puppet with just one hand. However, the learning curve for shadow puppeteering is much reduced with the advent of the real-time finger-tracking device. It also does a good job of encouraging the younger generation to interact with virtual puppets. The cutting-edge, captivating, and interactive technological components of the system appeal to the generation that was raised on digital devices and encourage their interest in and participation in virtual puppeteering. This work advances design, technology, and Chinese culture by offering a technical framework for upcoming research projects that utilize digital shadow puppetry archives in various contexts, such as the conception and production of animated films. This study aims to preserve and advance the rich traditions of puppetry by bridging the gap between traditional puppetry and contemporary digital encounters.