Re: [kidsUI] About me

[Alfredo Kengi Kojima <kojima@inf.ufrgs.br>]

Well, before comenting on Terry's mail, let me
introduce myself..
I'm a last year computer science student
in Brazil and am interested in HCI issues. I don't
have any experience with child psychology or cognitive
science, but I do have some interest in these areas.
I have some practical experience in writing GUI programs
for Linux (so I'll probably be one of those guys
who keep blowing the fun of people who extrapolate
their imagination in long threads about some revolutionary
idea :)

I think something that would be nice if this group
came up with, is some concrete project (ie: a working
piece of software) aimed at children. I was hoping to
find some nice idea of a specific application for
children in the discussions here, that wouldn't be 
too hard to implement (something far simpler than a
ultra-sophisticated, buzzword compliant futuristic 
project). Then we could start building such system,
discussing various details about it's design, getting
experience with something real and that could be
applied in other projects. Ultimately, we would end up
with a "toybox" of free software aimed for children.


On Tue, 4 Apr 2000, Terry Hancock wrote:

> 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.
>

A point for the Mac's single button mice :)
 
> * 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.
> 

Perhaps that would be true for a virtual reality type of
system, but in a limited 2D system where all we have
is a keyboard, mouse and a 2D screen, that tends to make things
harder to interact. 

> * 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 think so. If what we want is to come with a concrete project,
we should first think in a specific application. Like a drawing
program for kids or just a game.. 

> 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?
> 

Personally, I think 3D drawing in a computer is hard enough for adults.
Kids would probably have some difficulty with that kind of thing.

> 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.
> 

That sounds interesting, but again I dont know what
children would think of such things.. Also, I have
a cousin of about 9 years who had nausea when playing
3D games like doom. That's something to consider too.

 
> 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.
> 

That kind of skill is certainly very important for
the type of system we want.


> 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
> 


--
Alfredo