Child-computer interaction, ubiquitous technologies, and big data

In this forum we celebrate research that helps to successfully bring the benefits of computing technologies to children, older adults, people with disabilities, and other populations that are often ignored in the design of mass-marketed products. The children’s technology landscape is changing quickly. The ubiquity of interactive technologies means children can access them just about anytime, anywhere. At the same time, these technologies constantly collect data from and about children, bringing them into the age of big data, voluntarily or not. These developments have the potential to significantly change children’s relationship to technology and the long-term impact of technology use. To discuss these changes, the child-computer-interaction community held a special interest group (SIG) meeting during the CHI 2018 conference

Parents’ experiences in using mobile tablets with their child with autism to encourage the development of social communication skills: the development of a parents’ guide

Autism is a lifelong condition that affects how individuals interact with others and make sense of the world around them. The two core difficulties associated with autism are difficulties in social communication and interaction, and the manifestation of restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour. However, children with autism may also have many talents and special interests among which is their affinity with digital technologies. Despite the increasing use of mobile tablets in schools and homes, and the children’s motivation in using them, there is limited guidance on how to use the tablets to teach children with autism specific skills. This study aims to fill this gap in knowledge by providing guidelines about the ways in which iPads and other tablets can be used by parents/carers and their child at home to support the development of social communication skills. Semi-structured interviews with 10 parents of primary school aged children (4-11 years old) with autism were conducted with the aim to explore their experiences in using mobile devices, such as iPads and android tablets, and social activities with their children to create opportunities for social communication development. The interview involved questions about the parents’ knowledge and experience in autism, their understanding of social communication skills, the use of technology at home, and their links with the child’s school. Qualitative analysis of the interviews showed that parents used a variety of strategies to boost their child’s social communication skills. Among these strategies were: a) the use of communication symbols, b) the use of the child’s special interest as motivator to gain their attention, and c) allowing time to their child to respond. It was also found that parents engaged their child in joint activities such as cooking, role play and creating social stories together on the device. Seven out of ten parents mentioned that the tablet is a motivating tool that can be used to teach social communication skills, nonetheless all parents raised concerns over screen time and their child’s sharing difficulties. The need for training and advice as well as building stronger links with their child’s school was highlighted. In particular, it was mentioned that recommendations would be welcomed about how parents can address their child’s difficulties in initiating or sustaining a conversation, taking turns and sharing, understanding other people’s feelings and facial expressions, and showing interest to other people. This is the first study to date that resulted in the development of a parents’ guide informed by evidence-based practice and the participants’ experiences and concerns. The proposed guidelines aim to urge parents to feel more confident in using the tablet with their child in more collaborative ways. In particular, the guide offers recommendations about how to develop verbal and non-verbal communication, gives examples of tablet based activities to interact and create things together, as well as it offers suggestions on how to provide a worry free tablet experience and how to connect with the school

The effects of cooperative and competitive games on classroom interaction frequencies

This research looks at the effects of playing cooperative and competitive computer games on pupils’ classroom interaction frequency, as an index of their cooperation and engagement in class. It was predicted that students who played a cooperative game would receive higher teacher ratings of classroom interaction frequency, whereas students who played a competitive game would receive lower teacher ratings of classroom interaction frequency. Thirty-two school children with behaviour and learning difficulties played either a cooperative or competitive version of the Wii for a week. The pre- and post-game classroom interaction scores were different for the cooperative and competitive game conditions in the predicted directions. The findings suggest that cooperative games may benefit the social interaction of pupils within the classroom

Human-centred design methods : developing scenarios for robot assisted play informed by user panels and field trials

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Copyright ElsevierThis article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC1 project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children’s development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human–robot interactions.Peer reviewe

Using affective avatars and rich multimedia content for education of children with autism

Autism is a communication disorder that mandates early and continuous educational interventions on various levels like the everyday social, communication and reasoning skills. Computer-aided education has recently been considered as a likely intervention method for such cases, and therefore different systems have been proposed and developed worldwide. In more recent years, affective computing applications for the aforementioned interventions have also been proposed to shed light on this problem. In this paper, we examine the technological and educational needs of affective interventions for autistic persons. Enabling affective technologies are visited and a number of possible exploitation scenarios are illustrated. Emphasis is placed in covering the continuous and long term needs of autistic persons by unobtrusive and ubiquitous technologies with the engagement of an affective speaking avatar. A personalised prototype system facilitating these scenarios is described. In addition the feedback from educators for autistic persons is provided for the system in terms of its usefulness, efficiency and the envisaged reaction of the autistic persons, collected by means of an anonymous questionnaire. Results illustrate the clear potential of this effort in facilitating a very promising autism intervention

Robots as embodied beings- Interactionally sensitive body movements in interactions among autistic children and a robot

Peer reviewe