Abstract
Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interactions (TEIs) can support children’s physical activity through play, by leveraging technology and children’s bodily movements. However, many existing TEIs have been focused on older children, and they offer limited interactions that are not comparable to physical activity. In this paper, we report on our investigations of the design of TEIs to inspire new forms of active play, to create opportunities for preschool children to engage in physical activity. We designed the Bee Buzz Buddy, a digital toy that provides multiple forms of digital prompts and direct feedback to children’s bodily inputs to invite active play through games. These games involve aspects of pretence, role play, and imaginative play. This paper describes the process conducted to arrive at the concept of the Bee Buzz Buddy, then presents the design details and the interaction scenarios. We conclude by presenting the next steps, including iteratively evaluating aspects of interaction to improve the design.
Keywords
Active Play; Children; Digital Toys; Interaction Design; Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interactions
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.105
Citation
Wang, Y., Dwyer, J., Vickery, N., Ploderer, B.,and Tarlinton, D.(2023) Bee Buzz Buddy: An Interactive Digital Toy to Facilitate Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interactions for Young Children’s Active Play, in Silvia Ferraris, Valentina Rognoli, Nithikul Nimkulrat (eds.), EKSIG 2023: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research, 19–20 June 2023, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.105
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Bee Buzz Buddy: An Interactive Digital Toy to Facilitate Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interactions for Young Children’s Active Play
Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interactions (TEIs) can support children’s physical activity through play, by leveraging technology and children’s bodily movements. However, many existing TEIs have been focused on older children, and they offer limited interactions that are not comparable to physical activity. In this paper, we report on our investigations of the design of TEIs to inspire new forms of active play, to create opportunities for preschool children to engage in physical activity. We designed the Bee Buzz Buddy, a digital toy that provides multiple forms of digital prompts and direct feedback to children’s bodily inputs to invite active play through games. These games involve aspects of pretence, role play, and imaginative play. This paper describes the process conducted to arrive at the concept of the Bee Buzz Buddy, then presents the design details and the interaction scenarios. We conclude by presenting the next steps, including iteratively evaluating aspects of interaction to improve the design.