Magika is an interactive Multisensory Environment that enables new forms of playful interventions for children, especially those with Special Education Needs. Designed in cooperation with more than 30 specialists at local care centers and primary schools, Magika integrates digital worlds projected on the wall and the floor with a gamut of "smart" physical objects (toys, ambient lights, materials, and various connected appliances) to enable tactile, auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli. The room is connected with an interface for educators that enables them to: control the level of stimuli and their progression; define and share a countless number of game-based learning activities; customize such activities to the evolving needs of each child. This paper describes Magika and discusses its potential benefits for play, education and inclusion. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Interactive learning environments; • Human-centered computing → Displays and imagers; Accessibility systems and tools; • Social and professional topics → People with disabilities; Children; • Hardware → Tactile and hand-based interfaces; • Computer systems organization → Sensors and actuators.
The fundamentals of verbal communication skills are developed during childhood, and existing studies pinpoint the benefits of stimulating language and expression skills from an early age. Our research is a preliminary evaluation of conversational technology to support this process. In this paper, we describe the design process of a speech-based conversational agent for children, which involved a Wizard-of-Oz empirical study with 20 primary school children aged 9-10 y.o. in order to identify the design guidelines for the automated version of the system. Our agent is called ISI, is integrated into a web application and exploits oral and visual interaction modes. ISI enables children to practice verbal skills related to the description of a person's physical characteristics. It provides opportunities for them to learn and use words and linguistic constructs. Also, ISI permits to develop their body awareness and selfexpression (when describing their self) or the attention to "the other" (when describing someone else). ISI engages users in a speech-based conversational flow composed of two main repeated steps. It talks to the children and stimulates them with questions about a specific part of their body (e.g., "What color is your hair?"). When the users describe the required feature adequately, ISI provides a cheerful real-time visual representation of the answer; otherwise, it provides hints.
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