The design of interactive experiences for archaeological sites entails the consideration of particular characteristics and constraints of the exhibition space. Our aim is to address these challenges by exploring the potential of a recently emerging interaction paradigm called World-as-Support, which is based on projective Augmented Reality (AR). In this study, we present the design process of a virtual heritage experience for a bomb shelter built during the Spanish Civil War and that currently belongs to the History Museum of Barcelona. The goal of this study was twofold. First, we aimed to define the requirements for the design of a first prototype based on the World-as-Support interaction paradigm. Second, we carried out a study with a local school to evaluate the benefits of an educational experience based on this paradigm. Our results indicate benefits to complement the guided visit by using (1) projective AR to explore different layers of the learning experience and (2) by including collaborative activities based on embodied enactments to foster the understanding of historical contents that require emotional engagement and critical thinking.

Current technical capabilities of mobile technologies are consolidating the interest in developing context-aware Augmented/Mixed Reality applications. Most of these applications are designed based on the Window-on-the-World (WoW) interaction paradigm. A significant decrease in cost of projection technology and advances in pico-sized projectors have spurred applications of Projective Augmented Reality. This research has focused mainly on technological development. However, there is still a need to fully understand its communicational and expressive potential. Hence, we define a conceptual paradigm that we call World-as-Support (WaS). We compare the WaS and WoW paradigms by contrasting their assumptions and cultural values, as well as through a study of an application aimed at supporting the collaborative improvisation of sitespecific narratives by children. Our analysis of children's understanding of the physical and social environment and of their imaginative play allowed us to identify the affordances, strengths and weaknesses of these two paradigms.

The development of learning environments based on Full-Body Interaction has become an increasingly important field of research in recent years. However, the design and evaluation strategies currently used present some significant limitations. Two major shortcomings are: the inadequate involvement of children in the design process and a lack of research into what meanings children construct within these learning environments. To tackle these shortcomings we present an Evaluation-Driven design approach, which aims at analyzing situated interpretations made by children. These interpretations are then used to guide and optimize design in an iterative process of design and assessment. This Evaluation-Driven Design method was applied in the development of the EcoSystem Project, a Full-Body Interaction Learning Environment for children aimed at supporting learning about environmental relationships. The application of this iterative approach proved to be highly effective both in facilitating continuous improvements in the proposed design and in reducing misconceptions by children using the environment. Moreover, experimental evaluation reported significant learning gains in children. This suggests both the potential of using Full-Body Interaction to support learning and the effectiveness of our Evaluation-Driven approach in optimizing design solutions through the analysis of children's interpretations.

Augmented and Mixed Reality mobile technologies are becoming an emerging trend in the development of play and learning experiences for children. This tendency requires a deeper understanding of their specificities to adequately inform design. To this end, we ran a study with 36 elementary school children to compare two AR/MR interaction paradigms for mobile technologies: (1) the consolidated "Window-on-the-World" (WoW), and (2) the emerging "World-as-Support" (WaS). By analyzing children's understanding and use of space while playing an AR/MR mystery game, and analyzing the collaboration that emerges among them, we show that the two paradigms scaffold children's attention differently during the experience and elicit different forms of collaboration. We conclude by presenting a conceptual framework to distinguish the strengths, weaknesses, and potential of the two AR/MR paradigms, as well as the comparison between marker-based and marker-less technical solutions. This study aims at helping practitioners in taking design decisions for AR/MR technologies for children.

The paper presents an exploratory study aimed toward including children in the design of an Interactive Learning Environment based on Full-Body Interaction. The study proposes a method based on using Participatory Design techniques to analyze core meanings and misconceptions of children. The aim is to identify appropriate learning goals and to define concepts capable of bridging between children's knowledge and novel contents. Furthermore, it explores a novel approach aimed at fostering design methods suitable for a Full-Body Interaction experience. The results show the benefits of the method in defining guidelines for a first design proposal of a Learning Environment based on environmental education.

Over the past years an increasing number of digital learning environments based on Full-Body Interaction have been developed. Research in this field is often based on Designer-Driven approaches and is only recently employing Participatory Design techniques. However, these participatory approaches have reported relevant challenges related to including users in the design of spatial and bodily qualities of interaction. These shortcomings require extending research methods to effectively focus on embodied resources in the essential design and evaluation processes. To address this issue, we propose a methodological approach that combines multimodal analysis with Participatory Design techniques to include embodied resources in the participatory design processes for Full-Body Interaction. The proposed approach is applied to the iterative design of two Full-Body Interaction Learning Environments. Through the analysis of the outcomes of these case studies, we discuss the affordances that multimodal analysis can offer to inform and guide the design process for embodied interaction.

We present the initial design stage of a Virtual Heritage experience for a bomb shelter built during the Spanish Civil War, namely Refugi 307. The shelter currently belongs to the History Museum of the city which provides guided tours through the cultural heritage site for schools and the general public. The aim of the study was to define the requirements for the design of a first prototype based on the World-as-Support interaction paradigm. We conducted an ethnographic study and Participatory Design (PD) to analyze different aspects of the requirements and to include multiple needs and viewpoints of the involved stakeholders. Based on the outcomes, we outline potential for activities to foster (1) contextual-awareness between the learning content and the shelter site, (2) environment-awareness in relation to missing objects in the physical space and (3) social-awareness to embody feelings related to solidarity and empathy.

Research based on the embodied cognition framework proposes the use of physicality and spatiality to promote learning. Nevertheless, methods to include children in the design of Full-Body Interaction Learning Environments often neglect to properly integrate the notion of body and space. In this paper, we describe a participatory design process in which we focused on how children can be encouraged to pay attention to their own body, to proxemics and to embodied constraints of the environment. We explored how this awareness may inform children's design choices for a Full-Body Interaction Learning Environment for public spaces. Our findings indicate that our approach promoted children's awareness towards bodily and spatial aspects of their proposals. Our work contributes to the reflection upon the use of bodystorming and theater-based techniques in two contexts: (1) in a simulated environment of the experience and (2) in physical spaces in situ.