Tangible User Interfaces for Children Glenda Revelle Sesame Workshop One Lincoln Plaza New York, NY 10023 glenda.revelle@sesameworkshop.org Oren Zuckerman MIT Media Lab 20 Ames Street, E15-120b Cambridge, MA 02139 orenz@media.mit.edu Allison Druin University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab College Park, MD 20742 allisond@umiacs.umd.edu Mark Bolas USC School of Cinema-Television Interactive Media Division 850 W. 34th Street, Lucas 310 Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211 bolas@well.com ABSTRACT Tangible user interfaces, which provide interactivity using real physical objects, hold enormous promise for children. Exploring and manipulating physical objects is a key component of young children’s learning. The educational power of digital technology for children has typically been limited by the fact that users explore and manipulate abstract two-dimensional screen-based representations, and not real physical objects. Embedding interactivity into physical objects, therefore, allows the “best of both worlds” – supporting traditional exploratory play with physical objects that can be extended and enhanced by the interactive power of digital technology. Participants in this SIG are invited to share ideas regarding the design and development of tangible interfaces, and to bring demos or slides/videos showing work in this area. Participants will review as many examples as time allows, and discuss the issues surrounding design and development of such interfaces. A primary goal of this SIG is to foster the development of a community of researchers and practitioners who are focused on designing and developing tangible interfaces for children. Keywords Tangible, User Interface, Design, Children, Toys, Play ACM Classification H5.2. User Interfaces: Input devices and strategies; Haptic I/O INTRODUCTION The ability to use computer interfaces has typically served as a gateway to the world of interactivity and the educational power of digital computing. For young users, traditional interface use is often developmentally inappropriate and can be a stumbling block to interactive learning. Exploring and manipulating physical objects is a key component of young children’s world and of their learning. The educational power of digital technology for children has typically been limited by the fact that users explore and manipulate abstract two-dimensional screen-based representations, and not real physical objects. Young children can’t read text-based menu selections or type in their responses on a keyboard. In addition they are often unable to use a mouse or any of the standard point-and-click devices. This inability is due to a variety of developmental factors, including the lack of fine motor control needed to use existing pointing devices, the lack of cognitive understanding of the mapping between controller use and what’s happening on screen, and the lack of abstract representational skills necessary to understand typical screen-based displays. (cf., Revelle & Strommen, 1990; Crook, 1992; Lane & Ziviani, 1997; Hourcade et al., 2004; Revelle, 2004). There are strong cognitive-developmental reasons why interacting with task-appropriate physical objects is the best learning environment for young children. Piaget and developmental psychologists ever since have emphasized the critical importance of manipulation of physical objects for young children’s cognitive development (cf., Piaget, 1962; Inhelder & Piaget, 1964). In addition, Vygotsky (1978) emphasized the importance of play in facilitating child development. The objects used in children’s play can include anything that the child finds handy, such as sticks, rocks or cardboard boxes, but often include objects especially designed to be toys such as dolls, miniature cars and trucks, blocks, and so on. A promising new approach to interface design holds enormous promise for bringing the educational power of interactivity to the play and learning style of young children. In recent years, a number of researchers have been working on developing “tangible user interfaces” for interactive experiences (Ishii & Ulmer, 1997; Resnick, 1998; Druin et al, 1999; Scarlatos & Landry, 2001; Zuckerman & Resnick, 2003; Montemayor et al., 2004). Tangible interfaces provide Copyright is held by the author/owner(s). CHI 2005, April 2–7, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA. ACM 1-59593-002-7/05/0004. CHI 2005 | Special Interest Groups (SIGs) April 2-7 | Portland, Oregon, USA 2051