International Tangible Interaction Design Lab

Project introduction:

Field is a tangible toy set with embedded display for hands-on learning and creating.

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The purpose of Field project is to gamify learning by contextualising it in more intuitive games and playful interactions

Background research:

We found out that many existing play-based learning solutions are digital applications for multi-touch devices like tablets and smart phones, and sometimes, when the focus on the educational benefits of play becomes too strong, too teacher-y, the most essential feature of play, pleasure, is lost. 

Multi-touch devices are surely great, ubiquitous and portable. However, comparing multitouch interfaces with tangible ones, couple of studies suggest that tangible medium has more impact on promoting children’s exploration and collaboration, and playfulness of the task. Because graspable objects are easier to acquire and manipulate, they lower the threshold of participation and support face-to-face collaborative activities.