Third workshop on full-body and multisensory experience

The workshop on "Full-Body and Multisensory Experience" aims at discussing the rich possibilities that the body offers to experience the external world and the prospects that arise for interaction designers when these often-neglected abilities are taken into account. In particular, the workshop will focus on the rediscovery of the human senses, either alone or in a multimodal combination, and of the perceptual-motor abilities of our body. The one-day workshop is divided in three steps: first phase is for the generation of ideas on multisensory interfaces, in the second phase, participants will have the possibilities to explore and rediscover their sensorimotor abilities through several exercises and games; in the third and last phase, there will be a further creative session in order to evaluate how the full body and multisensory activities have fostered people's creative processes. The aim of the whole experience is twofold: first, inspiring participants in designing novel concepts for multisensory interfaces; second, providing a preliminary study on the effect of these exercises in fostering creativity and supporting the design process of multisensory interfaces

Tangibot: A tangible-mediated robot to support cognitive games for ageing people A usability study

[EN] The ever increasing elderly population requires a revision of technology to make it usable and meaningful for them. Most applications take into account their reduced physical and cognitive abilities in order to provide assistive services, but this paper focuses on building technology to improve these capacities through cognitive games. We present Tangibot, a tangible-mediated robot aimed at enabling more intuitive and appealing interactions. A usability study conducted on subjects at three different levels of cognitive impairment (none, mild, and severe) reveals that it is usable and engaging for users with no or mild cognitive impairment, and even though it is less usable for persons with severe impairment, it triggers positive emotional reactions among them, which makes it promising for their use in therapeutic activities.This work is supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and funded by the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) with Project TIN2014-60077-R. It is also supported by fellowship ACIF/2014/214 within the VALi+d program from Conselleria d'Educacio, Cultura i Esport (Generalitat Valenciana), and by fellowship FPU14/00136 within the FPU program from Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport.García Sanjuan, F.; Jaén Martínez, FJ.; Nácher-Soler, VE. (2017). Tangibot: A tangible-mediated robot to support cognitive games for ageing people A usability study. Pervasive and Mobile Computing. 34:91-105. doi:10.1016/j.pmcj.2016.08.007S911053

Guidelines to design tangible tabletop activities for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most frequent neurodevelopmental disorders among children. In spite of this, there is a lack of HCI research specifically devoted to these children. This paper describes efforts to transfer previous experience with other neurodiverse children in the field of tangible tabletops to ADHD children. The results of evaluation sessions carried out in conjunction with an ADHD association, complemented with an in-depth study of their special characteristics and needs, have led to a set of guidelines oriented to the design of tangible tabletop activities. These guidelines are mostly general and applicable to the design of any interactive application oriented to ADHD children. They are also appropriate for applications for other neurodiverse children or, in fact, any child from a more inclusive perspective

Exploring Research through Design in Animal-Computer Interaction

This paper explores Research through Design (RtD) as a potential methodology for developing new interactive experiences for animals. We present an example study from an on-going project and examine whether RtD offers an appropriate framework for developing knowledge in the context of Animal-Computer Interaction, as well as considering how best to document such work. We discuss the design journey we undertook to develop interactive systems for captive elephants and the extent to which RtD has enabled us to explore concept development and documentation of research. As a result of our explorations, we propose that particular aspects of RtD can help ACI researchers gain fresh perspectives on the design of technology-enabled devices for non-human animals. We argue that these methods of working can support the investigation of particular and complex situations where no idiomatic interactions yet exist, where collaborative practice is desirable and where the designed objects themselves offer a conceptual window for future research and development

The Augmented Learner : The pivotal role of multimedia enhanced learning within a foresight-based learning model designed to accelerate the delivery of higher levels of learner creativity

The central theme for this dissertation lies at the intersection of multisensory technology enhanced learning, the field of foresight and transformative pedagogy and their role in helping to develop greater learner creativity. These skills will be key to meeting the needs of the projected growing role of the creative class within the emerging global workforce structure and the projected growth in R&D and the advancement of human-machine resource management. Over the past two decades, we have traversed from the Industrial Age through the Information Age into what we now call postnormal times, manifested partly in Industry 4.0. It is widely considered that the present education system in countries with developed economies is not optimised for delivering the much-needed creative skills, which are prominent amongst the critical 21st C skills required by the creative class, (also known as creatives), which will be increasingly dominant in terms of near future employability. Consequently, there will be a potential shortfall of creatives unless this issue is rapidly addressed. To ensure that the creative skills I aimed to enhance were relevant and aligned with emerging demands of the changing landscape, I deconstructed the critical dimensions, context, and concept of creativity in postnormal times as well as undertaking in-depth research on the potential future workscape and the future of education and learning, applying a comprehensive foresight approach to the latter using a 2030-2040 horizon. Based upon the outcomes of these studies I designed an experimental integrative learning system that I have applied, researched, and evolved over the past 4 years with over 150 students at PhD and master’s level. The system is aimed at generating higher levels of creative engagement and development through a focus on increased immersion and creativity-inducing approaches. The system, which I call the Living Learning System, is based upon eight integrated elements, supported by course development pillars aimed at optimizing learner future skill competencies and levels of creativity for which I apply severalevaluation techniques and metrics. Accordingly, as the central hypothesis of this dissertation, I argue that by integrating the critical elements of the Living Learning System, such as emerging multisensory technology enhanced learning coupled with optimised transformative and experiential learning approaches, framed within the field of foresight, with its futures focus and decentralised thinking approaches, students increase their ability to be creative. This increased ability is based on the student attaining a richer level of personal ambience through deeper immersion generated through higher incidence of self-direction, constructivism-based blended pedagogy, futures literacy, and a balance of decentralised and systems-based thinking, as well as cognitive and social platforms aimed at optimizing learner creative achievement. This dissertation demonstrates how the application of the combined elements of the Living Learning System, with its futures focus and its ensuing transdisciplinary curricula and courses, can provide a clear path towards significantly increased learner creativity. The findings of the quantitative, questionnaire-based research set out in detail in Chapter 9, together with the performance and creativity evaluation models applied against the selected case studies of student projects substantiate the validity of the hypothesis that the application of the Living Learning System with its futures focus leads to increased creativity in line with the needs of the postnormal era.publishedVersio

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

High Visual-Spatial Intelligence Students’ Creativity in Solving PISA Problems

Creativity is very necessary for learning mathematics, especially when solving geometry problems. This research aims to describe 4th year mathematics education students’ creativity in solving geometry problems. Creativity in this research is focused on fluency, flexibility, and originality of student anwer when solving geometry problems. This research is an explorative descriptive research through a qualitative approach. The participants were 7 fourth year mathematics education students of state University in Mataram, who have a high level of visual-spatial intelligence. The data was collected by written test and interview. The test consisted of two open-ended geometry problems about transforming 3-dimensional images into 2-dimensional images and making 2-dimensional images with a predetermined circumference. The problems are modification of the 2006 PISA test. The result showed that subjects with high visual-spatial intelligence levels met all indicators of creativity. In solving problems that meet the aspects of fluency, flexibility and originality, they combine mental rotation and mental visualization abilities and include using their visual experience by modifying the information obtained and the initial problem solving ideas obtained. This also enables them to produce original problem solutions. The results of this research can be used as an illustration and a guideline to assess students’ creativity with high visual-spatial intelligence level