The fantasy table

Abstract

We explore the possibility of creating an interactive system which can foster fantasy play in preschool children in a tabletop environment. This paper reports our experiences designing and testing two prototypes with young children aged 3-4 years old. In the first study, we focused on understanding the similarities and differences between the type of play afforded by real objects and virtual objects. In the second study, we focused on testing solutions for the interaction difficulties evinced in the first study to see how to provide an engaging experience for children. Data were collected by observing children while they played with the study materials. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection and analysis.

Multi-touch gestures for pre-kindergarten children

“…Another interesting issue is that of unexpected touching when holding the tablet with a finger resting on the display or when part of the palm also touches the surface if it is not carefully approached (Mansor et al, 2009). This is a difficult issue to address because children may not realize that such unintentional contacts with other parts of their body when their fingers approach the screen have a different effect to what happens when they use paper and tangible materials.…”

“…For example, Mansor et al (2009) have shown that tabletops can be operated by children as young as three and that there is no significant difference between learning in a real or virtual environment. Other studies (Sluis et al, 2004) (Khandelwal & Mazalek, 2007) and (Tyng et al, 2011) have shown that this technology can be used by children between three and seven to learn to read, solve mathematical problems, develop a sense of space, etc.…”

Flexible learning itinerary vs. linear learning itinerary

“…Our system is based on interactive tables and, as previous authors said, interaction using interactive tables of this type can promote playfulness [30] [31] and are enjoyable to use [33]. This is an important factor that helps children improve their knowledge while having fun.…”

“…Several contributions have demonstrated the potential of interactive tables: they promote playfulness [30] [31], increase awareness [32], and are enjoyable to use [33]. In the education field, these tables are especially suitable for learning purposes; for example, Numbernet, developed by Hatch et al's, an application in which a group of children use multi-touch technology to learn mathematics [34].…”

Evaluation of preschool children's fantasy play in the tabletop environment

“…Based on these criteria, this technology might be suitable to accommodate and support non-expert computer users, especially young children, to interact with the computer in an easier and more natural way. Further detailed literature can be reffered to in the author's previous works Mansor (2007) and Mansor et al (2008Mansor et al ( , 2009.…”