Scorpiodrome

Gotta Hatch 'em All!

“…Interactive playgrounds (see Sidebar) revitalize full-body, social interactions incorporating embodied playful experiences in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) agenda [6]. Although interactive playgrounds are able to encourage children's cooperation and learning [4,5], the social affordances provided by these playgrounds often have a limited influence on positive group dynamics. To overcome this limitation, researchers are exploring robots in interactive playgrounds, as characters controlled by players [9] or opponents in dyadic games [3].…”

Evaluating Game Preference using the Fun Toolkit across Cultures

“…The rationale in using it before is that it can measure their expectations, whilst using it afterwards it is assumed that the child is reporting experienced fun. The Smileyometer has been widely adopted and applied in research studies to measure satisfaction (Barendregt et al, 2006) and fun (Metaxas et al, 2005) as it is easy to complete and requires no writing on behalf of the children. The Fun Sorter requires children to rate the technology or in this instance game to a number of different constructs.…”

On the design of Camelot, an outdoor game for children

“…Brederode et al [4] showed how careful design of game mechanics can capitalize on the opportunities offered by mixed reality to create a game where children cooperate and socialize spontaneously around the game. A similar approach was taken with Scorpriodrome [13] where physical and virtual entities are mixed in a high pace game, where constructive and cooperative play alternate to encourage social interaction.…”

“…These same children participated at all stages of the design where involvement of children was judged useful and feasible. The rationale for relying on the same children at all these points was based on earlier experiences (see Metaxas [13]) that children, who are involved throughout the design process, become more attuned to the needs of the design team, the nature of user testing and more capable of providing critical input.…”

“…Finally, many of the games mentioned are designed for individual players. Our ambition has been to seek ways in which the game will support social interaction among children, as in pOwerball [4] and Scopriodrome [13]. Here we present Camelot, a game addressing this general problem but which targets outdoor group play for open and safe areas like playgrounds or parks.…”