The team behind TrimBot2020, an EC-funded robotic project led by the University of Edinburgh, has launched a mixed reality animated film aimed at encouraging pre-schoolers, especially girls, to imagine a career in STEM for themselves through storytelling, fiction and film.

The six minute short film, titled Ani’s Year in the Garden, was written, produced and directed by Raquel E Sofer launched last year. The film tells the story of a young girl, Ani, her computer scientist mum and her robot, GR8. Ani loves the garden and, with the help of her mum, she learns through pictures how to create code for GR8, which enables it to tend to the garden and even cut hedges into the shape of dinosaurs.

The film combines live action with simple AR effects and animation and is the first piece of content that the team has created around one of its projects aimed at such a young age group.

The idea to create this film came from the project’s director, Robert Fisher, and was based on insight from a recent Microsoft report that highlighted the importance of storytelling and positive role models in encouraging girls to think about careers in STEM from an early age.

The report revealed that the number of girls interested in STEM across Europe almost doubles when they have a role model to inspire them, while highlighting that only 37% of girls said they thought STEM jobs could be creative or help the world, an idea that Ani’s Year in the Garden offers a positive and playful counter narrative to.

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Fisher, said: “It’s extremely important that everyone in the scientific community takes action to close the gender gap in STEM. While we completely understand that that there is no one solution to motivate young girls to pursue a career in STEM, we think that interweaving science and storytelling and creating positive role models – that show what a difference to the world STEM can make- is a great place to start.

“We really hope children, their parents and teachers enjoying learning about Ani and her robot as much as we have enjoyed creating them and we hope that they both inspire young girls to follow Ani down the garden path towards a career in STEM.”

TrimBot2020 is an outdoor garden trimming robot. Led by The University of Edinburgh, the project uses robotic and 3D computer vision innovations.