Liang Jing

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Kindergarten Communication Environment
Liang Jing jing.liang_at_uta.fi Alternative
Communication Access to Information Dept. of
Computer and Information Sciences University of
Tampere 12/03/2003
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Background

• Childrens communication is most simplified and
  most difficult, they have their own likes,
  dislikes, curiosities, and needs that are not the
  same as their parents' or teachers' 1
• - rationalism or emotionality
• - object-oriented manipulation
• Disable children are in a cruel reality, they
  face to a huge obstruction to communicate with
  others, they are still strange to their
  environment.
• New interaction technologies can help children
  improve their skills and knowledge.

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What we want

• The use of alternative communication devices and
  special software should allow disabled people to
  perform independently some task they could not
  make otherwise 2
• To find out the most effective way that can help
  children begin their studies easier and faster
• New interaction techniques can help children and
  people with special needs to improve the
  communication skills.
• Designers psychologists will pay further
  attention developing more sophisticated and
  adaptive software for self-learning, especially
  for disabled children.

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HCI requirements from children

• Effective computer-based learning environment for
  visually impaired people 3.
• Simple and easy-understanding intefaces that
  children can play with them indepedently.
• Free hands to control of a computer using a video
  camera to track body movements, (head, nose,
  chin, finger or toe, for example), and convert
  those movements into mouse pointer movements on a
  computer screen 1.

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Designing process

• Young children can have a difficult time
  abstractly discussing the world around them. 
  Merely asking children what they want in new
  technologies will not produce the input needed
  for the design process.  Therefore, there are
  developed methods to understand children's
  exploratory activity patterns 7.

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Paradigms for interactive products
Intel Play Toys 4
Camera Mouse http//www.cameramouse.com/
Barney 5
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TL, a language (Dutot, A., Olivier, D.,
Archambault, D) for creating games for visually
impaired and blind children 9 this language is
a part of the TiM (Tactile Interactive Multimedia
computer games for visually impaired children)
project whose overall aim is to offer to young
visually impaired children the possibility to
play with computer games
Tactile and Multimedia Tools for Young Visually
Impaired People http//inova.snv.jussieu.fr/colloq
ues/BNet2001/uk/programme.php
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Motivations Accessibility Understanding
TIM Project http//inova.snv.jussieu.fr/tim/
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Interface design for child users
http//www.kukakumma.net/
http//www.kidpad.org/
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Research Methods

• The observation of children using adapted games
  allow to identify interaction behavior and
  difficulties to form useful mental strategies.
• Specific recommendations can be obtained from
  this information which allow to work out usage
  functions intended to improve the design of
  adapted computer games for visually impaired
  children.
• The integration of these functions in the
  conception of adapted games, has to allow the
  child to navigate and to find easily a way in
  computer games.

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Multimedia Games for Visually Impaired Children

• The study of the elementary scenes is intended to
  provide adaptation schemes including an
  independent access to specific devices.
• These schemes will be easily used to adapt any
  corresponding game situation.
• Testing the functionality of games is essential
  in the process of design.
• All the adapted game situations are tested in
  that perspective with the children.
• These tests must validate if the adapted games
  fit the needs of the children (autonomy).

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The Toyshop Using the software The Toyshop
designed by Anita Hildén, developed and sold by
Swedish Institute for Special Needs Education,
you can observe if the child can see an object.
The objects are designed in bright colors or
black and white. The animations will be different
and objects move in different directions. All
objects are shown on the screen together with a
sound. The teacher will observe which object the
child finds most attractive and do a selection of
objects in the software. Next step is to let the
child understand cause-effect. There are a lot
of settings in the software that allows the child
to do more and more complicated actions in the
software. Input device can bee switches touch
window, mouse and keyboard.
Anita Hildén MUSSE version 2.0 http//www.sih.se/p
df/musse2_lathund.pdf
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Lasten The truck This software is designed by
Anita Hildén and Jenny Hammarlund. The child is
playing with a truck filled with animals or
objects. The aim is to find out if the child can
understand and mach pictures to real objects and
what size of objects the child can see. Objects
and sizes can bee changed by the teacher. The
vision test is using the same symbols as the
vision test developed by doctor Lea Hyvirinen.
Input device is concept keyboard with overlays
prepared in the software, mouse or keyboard (or
Flexiboard). Flexiboard registers pressure in
particular places and gives an answer with sound
and on the screen immediately. This makes it
possible for the child to obtain information via
the sense of touch in his/her fingers in
combination with audible impressions.
Hammarlund, J. Computer Play for Children who are
Severely Visually Impaired, TRC Rapport nr. 20
(1999)
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Chu Chi Nung, Li Tien Yu and Chen Ming Chung
develop the Design of an Adaptive Web Browser for
Young Children with Reading Difficulties
It is hard for the children with reading
difficulties to manipulate complex traditional
browser to surf and read over the Internet. The
Adaptive Web Browser integrating the technologies
of HTML interpreter, convenient human interface
design, text-to-speech engine and picture
communication symbols, facilitates comprehending
the contents in the Internet with auxiliary
speaking sound or picture communication symbol
produced automatically as needed.
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Features of the Adaptive Web Browser
are Simplified Interface Giving careful
consideration to the users cognition abilities,
we modify the toolbar of AWB with a few graphic
icons that are used most frequently in IE,
including Forward, Backward, Refresh, Stop, Speak
Out, and Go Home. Users could learn to interact
with the AWB more easily by using these graphic
icons instead of the complex toolbar in IE or
Netscape. Furthermore, buttons on the toolbar are
equipped with voice description, which will
function if needed. Adapted Toolbar
Arrangement AWB provides a position option and
thus users with range of motion limit can benefit
from the position arrangement. The options of
position include the topside, bottom, right side,
and left side of the AWB
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Voice assistance The AWB could read out the word,
sentence, or phase highlighted by the users in
synthesized voice output. Users could listen to
the content of the web page instead of reading.
Picture assistance By connecting to the
database with about 3,000 common picture
communication symbols, the AWB can automatically
pop-up the corresponding picture communication
symbol near the target word or phrase as the user
moves the mouse over it. This is supposed to
enhance their comprehension. In the meantime, the
AWB can speak the target word or phrase out by
clicking the right button of mouse.
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Software and Technologies

• Catch me
• There are 6 different games in this software,
  they are all used to practise the cooperation
  between eyes, hands movement and brain
  reflection. These 6 games are

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Catch me

• Pick the honey children use keyboard or mouse to
  move the bee, let it catch the flower, then they
  will listen to the sound, it means they move the
  bee to the right position.

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Excises in Catch Me

• Children can choose the size of bee and flower,
  then it can change the difficulty of the game.

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Double Team 80-34000

• It can practice children to think quick, works
  the brain.
• 4 Action Games, 4 Bonus Games, 5 Word Challenges,
  5 Math Challenges, 4 Personal Organizers,
• Pop the screen out for a hand-held action game
  that has 4 progressive skill levels, 1-2 player
  modes, cool sound effects and music.

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Power Zone Edge Computer 80-34600

• Computer with a light-up screen, can create and
  print word processing documents and cards, can
  read with the 75,000 word spell checker.
• Store personal phone numbers and addresses.
  Different skill levels to encourage advancement.
• 1 and 2 player modes make it fun for a friend or
  family member.

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References 1

1. CameraMouse http//www.cameramouse.com/video.htm
2. Archambault, D., Burger, D. TIM Development and
   adaptation of computer games for young blind
   children Interactive Learning Environments for
   Children ERCIM WG U14ALL i3Spring Days 2000,
   Athens, 2000
3. http//www.cs.uta.fi/grse/ACAI_2003/KinderGarten_
   Liang/research_children.html
4. http//support.intel.com/support/intelplay/qx3/
5. http//www.cs.uAta.fi/hci/leco/research_children.h
   tml
6. http//www.kukakumma.net/
7. Design Process, http//www.kidpad.org/
8. Project PETS, http//www.kidpad.org/
9. TIM Project http//inova.snv.jussieu.fr/tim/
10. Scapin, D. Ergonomics guidelines for the design
    of human-computer interfaces, Institut National
    de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique,
    1986

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References 2

1. Valentin, A. Evaluation ergonomique des
   logiciels une démarche itérative de conception,
   collection outils et méthodes, ANACT, 1993
2. Richir, S. La conception de produits nouveaux
   dans lindustrie du jouet (Design news products
   in toys industry) Thèse de doctorat, ENSAM,
   Paris, 1996
3. D. Archambault and al., Tim Tactile interactive
   multimedia computer games for visually impaired
   children. Information Society Technologies, ref.
   IST-2000-25298, May 2000.
4. D. Archambault and D. Burger, From Multimodality
   to Multimodalities the need for independent
   models, in Proceedings of the UAHCI01
   conference Universal Access in Human-Computer
   interaction Towards an Information Society for
   All (C. Stephanidis, ed.), (New-Orleans,
   Louisiana, USA), pp. 227-231, Lawrence Erlbaum
   Associates, Aug. 2001.
5. Gul Agha and Carl E. Hewitt, Actors A model of
   Concurrent Computation in Distributed System MIT
   Press, Cambridge MA, USA, 1986.

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References 3

1. D. Archambault and D. Burger, TIM (Tactile
   Interactive Multimedia) Development and
   adaptation of computer games for young blind
   children, in Proc. ERCIM WG UI4ALL i3 Sping
   Days 2000 Joint workshop, Interactive Learning
   Environments or Children, (Athens, Greece), Mar.
   2000. http//www.ics.forth.gr/
   proj/at-hci/UI4ALL/i3SD200/Archambault.PDF.
2. Hammarlund, J. Computer Play for Children who are
   Severely Visually Impaired, TRC Rapport nr. 20
   (1999)
3. Anglin, G. J., Effect of pictures on recall of
   written prose How durable are picture effects?,
   Educational Communication and Technology,35(1)
   25-31, 1987
4. Atkins, M. J. (1993). Theories of learning and
   multimedia an overview. Research Papers in
   Education, 8(2), 251-271.
5. Mann, V. (1994). Phonological skills and the
   prediction of early reading problems. In N. C.
   Jordan J. Goldsmith-Phillips (Eds.), Learning
   disabilities New directions for assessment and
   intervention (pp. 67-84). Boston, MA Allyn and
   Bacon.

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Thanks ?