Re: [kidsUI] About me

[Terry Hancock <hancock@earthlink.net>]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I'm on this list because I mentioned possibly doing
artwork on the Kid's Linux mailing list which Doug Loss is
also on.

However, I have some interest in this problem since I also
have kids (2 & 4) who use our computers.  They currently
have a Win 3.1 machine with Kid Desk (a commercial shell
for Win 3.1).  Kid Desk is nice in several interesting
ways:

* It separates administration (="adult") and user (="kid") 
  tasks, especially making it easy to shield applications
  from being started by the kid.  Linux of course, has this
  concept built in, so it ought to be easier to implement.

* It alls *all* kid tasks to be triggered by _single_ mouse
  clicks (the double-click is hard on little kids' 
  coordination -- well actually, my grandmother had
  trouble with it too).

* It includes a number of inviting applications built in:
  pixmap painting, sound recording (voice mail between
  users), a simple word processor, and a "stickers" type
  game with a calender.

* The user interface model is a "desktop" (which is rendered
  in depth, rather than the further abstracted 2-D desktop
  one finds on adult systems).  Several "theme" desktops
  are provided with cute artwork.

* Windows or DOS software can be installed relatively easily:
  in particular, it can shut windows down and run software
  natively in DOS (which makes some older software run a lot
  more smoothly).

To my knowledge, this software is no longer sold.  This is
actually one of my main reasons for believing in free software
-- basically it never dies (which proprietary software does
all the time).  I've seen active projects harvesting code
written on government contracts in the late 60's or early
70's).  Anyway, end rant.

I was pretty pleased with this interface, and made some efforts
to implement some of its advantages by simply using fvwm2
and a button block with pixmap icons to start a few of the
games that came with my Debian distribution.  Of course,
these are mostly of the "blip-eat-blip world" type, as the
old Infocom ads put it.  While my son certainly enjoys blowing
up sprites of alien spacecraft, I'm not sure this is what
I want him learning from the computer.

On a more positive note, he loves xpaint and xpixmap.  Xonix
is also a nice strategy game he enjoys, and he liked pool
(from the "flying" program). Unfortunately, the flying program
doesn't fully support the X platform on 24 bit displays (which
I prefer for graphics purposes).

Since I do a lot of watching them play, I have some ideas about
what would be good on the system.  I should mention that my
attitude towards kids stuff on the computer is "fun first"
"education second".  I think that there is much value in
getting them to play with the technology, regardless of
whether it is specifically teaching them anything.  Of course,
in fact, kids love to learn, and the things they are most
drawn to are often the most educational, so long as it isn't
made really boring.  Some commercial "educational" software is
sold to parents by trying to convince them of all the things
it will "teach" their kids.  It seems to me that kids teach
themselves when they're on the computer, and that only
happens when they're having fun.

My son really likes the adventure game (close-form puzzle
games a la the old Sierra games, and the current Humongous
Entertainment games that he plays now).  I have to admit,
that for this sort of game, I can't see that the open
source arguments make so much sense -- they are more like
works of fiction than working tools, so I think a commercial
model makes sense.  However, they still don't run on my
Linux box, and there's enough "cool stuff" on my system
that my son really wants to move over to the platform we're
using.

Anyway, back to Linux kid UIs --

I have observed several interesting things about my kids'
interaction with the computer that might stir some interest:

* Both kids had problems with identifying the motion of the
  on-screen cursor with the mouse's movement.  Both also had
  problems clicking the correct button on the mouse -- 
  interestingly, although both are right-handed, they
  invariably clicked the right-button first. I think this has
  to do with the size of their hands.

* My older child has always been *very* verbal, and not so
  spatially oriented.  He tends, interestingly, to make
  drawings in plan view (i.e. like a map, from overhead),
  from about the age of 3.  I found that really odd, as I
  thought that was usually a later abstraction, but it's
  only recently that he's started drawing subjective,
  ground-level type views of things.

* My younger child (now 2) is, by contrast, very physical/
  tactile and is only now beginning to talk in single words.
  He has excellent hand coordination (probably more even
  than his older brother).  Anyway, it's clear that he would
  benefit from a spatial way of representing things.

* Both like creative activities like coloring. The older has
  been using the computer paint programs (Microsoft's paintbrush
  and X-paint on Linux/X).  I think he's actually a little
  better on the computer than with a crayon, to tell the
  truth.  We've been working on his manual skills since then --
  it may be that the computer has actually retarded him
  a little in that respect.  However, his verbal and 
  intellectual skills have obviously been very challenged
  by it.

One question then, is what sort of thing do we want kids to be
able to do with the computer?  Verbal/logical skills?  Spatial
skills?  Hand-eye coordination?  Creativity?  Probably different
tasks invite different interfaces.

I've just installed ALSA sound on my system, so I could imagine
also writing a GTK+ front end to create a record/playback/voice
mail type system for our system too. 

One thing that just occured to me, and that fits in with some
of the other ideas I've seen is this -- could we make a simple
3-D version of "xpaint" or "stickers". By this I mean, perhaps
a "blocks" game or a vector-based 3-D drawing system that was
actually very easy to use?  Hmm, sounds hard, but maybe there's
ways?

I think they'd also like VRML-type "tours" -- I always thought
it would be cool to have places you can't go available on
the computer -- e.g. archealogical sites reconstructed, etc.
Like stonehenge as original constructed, the Parthenon, etc.

Or fictional places, like Minas Tirith, or the Bridge of the
Enterprise.  For some SF stuff, there are whole plans of
the ships, etc.  Don't know about copyrights, but often these
are conceived of by fans, not the original writers.  Certainly
I could whip up original designs, too.

One can imagine using such things as themes for a 3-D token
based interaction system like they use in some 3-D games.

I remember being really impressed with Wolfenstein's interface
when I first saw it, and I gather this is what Doom and what
not are running (though I can't stand the content in these
games).  I'm sort of intrigued by the "Space Plumber" game
which I have downloaded, but not yet installed (I still have
a few system problems to sort out first).  If you could
render "cool places" in such a fast, browseable way, and
provide interaction opportunities within them, I could
imagine a 3-D explorable virtual world could be a lot of
fun for the kids.

I'm really intrigued by the concept of software "agents" that
Sanjay brings up, if I understand what is meant -- i.e.
semi-intelligent characters/programs that interact with the 
user in a verbal way to provide access to less tractable
information on the computer.  However, I have to admit I
feel fairly lost about the actual mechanisms of such a thing.
I don't feel that I understand fully what is and is not
possible with such technology.

As for what I have to contribute, let me see...

I have never been a "programmer" per se, although as an
astronomer, programming has always been an important part 
of my job.  However, it should be appreciated that this is
generally of the number-crunching, data-modeling, 3-D frame
resolution, and graphics type.  It has never included complex
"computer science" algorithms or Artificial Intelligence. Many
of the modern buzz-words are pretty alien to me.  I am
probably above-average in understanding coordinate frames
and computer graphics, though.  That's why for example,
I decided to work on a dynamics module for a Moon Lander
simulation -- but it would be much too big of a deal if
I had to actually implement the interfaces and world-simulation
parts.  I'm still investigating whether it's possible to
do this sort of thing with the amount of time I'm willing
to commit.

I've never been a professional artist, though I have entered
one or two contests for fantastic art, and have sold one or
two pieces to friends over the years.  Mainly, I just like
conceptualizing science-fiction ideas and so on, the actual
mechanism for representing the idea is less interesting to
me, and I'm usually satisfied with sketches.  However, I have
done a few fairly nice drawings.  Transferring that talent
to the computer and developing anything like a professional
level of productivity have proved a bit more challenging for
me -- I just don't think I'm that committed to it.  But I
like this stuff up to a point for certain.  I also do a lot
of "artistic craft" on the computer -- i.e. not actually
creating art, but sweetening and cleaning up existing stuff,
and/or adapting it to new uses: working with clipart, 
doing layouts, that sort of thing.  I think I have a pretty
good sense of artistic balance which is useful for logos
and icons and stuff.  I've lately been watching a lot of
animation lately, and I think that something like putting 
together animated character sprites or something might be 
kind of a fun project.

I also like writing (obviously :) ), and although I sometimes
only slightly sense manage to make [:)], that usually goes
away after a couple of drafts.  My biggest problem is usually
shutting up, actually, but I'm going to now.  Hope this at
least includes what you were looking for, sorry for the length.

Cheers,
Terry

-- 
Terry Hancock
hancock@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~hancock/index.html