Gesture-Driven Storytelling Designing interactive experiences for cultural heritage interpretation in blended spaces Aysel Merve Baron 1 , Leman Figen Gul 2 1,2 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey 1,2 {baron24|fgul}@itu.edu.tr Storytelling has long been key to cultural heritage interpretation by encouraging participation and engagement. However, traditional methods often lack immersive qualities. The convergence of extended reality, interaction design, and storytelling offers transformative potential for cultural heritage interpretation in blended spaces. Most literature concerned with gesture-based interactions focuses on pre-defined gestures and user experiences. This study explores how gesture-driven storytelling supports interaction design for cultural heritage interpretation in blended spaces. A design workflow was developed to guide this process, comprising three stages: storyboarding, gesture coding, and prototype development. Here, storyboarding visualizes interaction concepts, gesture coding creates custom gestures, and prototype development integrates them in a creative coding environment. A pilot workshop was conducted where participants followed this workflow to create gesture-driven storytelling prototypes. Using prewritten code snippets, MediaPipe’s pre-trained machine learning models for hand tracking, and a pre-coded Seljuk architectural ornament, participants developed interactive prototypes. Following the outcomes of this workshop, this study discusses the potential and challenges of gesture-driven storytelling for cultural heritage interpretation. This study contributes to human-computer interaction design and cultural heritage by demonstrating the potential of XR to transform cultural heritage interpretation and providing a reusable workflow that enables customized storytelling experiences. Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction, Gesture-Based Interaction Design, Storytelling, Blended Space, Cultural Heritage Interpretation. INTRODUCTION Storytelling plays an essential role in preserving cultural heritage, conveying historical narratives, and fostering engagement (Okanovic et al. 2022; Petousi et al. 2022). Over the past few years, digital technologies have revolutionized storytelling, particularly in the context of cultural heritage interpretation, by allowing immersive and interactive experiences (Sylaiou and Dafiotis 2020; Skublewska-Paszkowska et al. 2022; Rizvic et al. 2024). In the literature, studies focusing on interactive digital storytelling for cultural heritage explore a range of methods, such as incorporating game design (Holloway-Attaway and Vipsjö 2020; Katsantonis et al. 2023), utilizing digital storyteller characters (O’Keefe and Benyon 2015), employing tangible interfaces (Chu and Mazalek 2019), and integrating natural gestures (Popovici et al. 2022). However, these studies generally prioritize and rely on predefined interactions with mainstream Volume 2 – Confluence – eCAADe 43 | 543