On the evocative power and play value of a wearable movement-to-sound interaction accessory in the rich free-play of schoolchildren
Loading...
Files
Date
2014
Authors
Rosales, Andrea
Sayago Barrantes, Sergio
Carrascal Ruiz, Juan Pablo
Blat, Josep
Other authors
Impact
Export
Share
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
This paper discusses the evocative power and play value of the Wearable Sounds Kit (WSK), a movement-to-sound interaction accessory. Whilst movement-to-sound interaction is attracting growing research attention in HCI, very little of it has been conducted in the context of free-play with children. This paper presents a participatory design study of the WSK with 20 school-aged children (7–12 years old) in a free-play scenario, and an evaluation of the WSK in a playground at Ars Electronica Festival with over 70 school-aged children. The evaluation addressed three research questions: can school-aged children incorporate the WSK into their free-play? What free-play patterns are encouraged by the WSK? Which design features of the WSK influence the free-play experience? By conducting qualitative and quantitative data gathering methods and analyses, which include first-hand observations and video-coding, this paper shows that school-aged children can effectively incorporate the WSK into their free-play, and that the accessory encourages different types of free-play. The results also show differences in the free-play mediated by the accessory depending on the age group and sex of the player, and these differences reinforce the play value of the WSK. Some implications for designing technologically-oriented playful toys are also discussed.
Citation
Journal or Serie
Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, 2014, vol. 6, num. 3, p. 313-330