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TangiLetter: An Interactive Vocabulary System for Children to Learn Words About Wild Animals

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Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions (HCII 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12782))

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Abstract

Word-learning is a vital process for children to form language, and it is the fundamentals of people interacting with each other. However, few studies focus on children’s experiences during the learning process, and most of them are passive learning. Because of the development of multi-sensory technology and intelligent hardware, we can create TangiLetter, a word-learning system that combines abstract language with the physical world. Through our research on children, we find that children at the age of 3–6 are curious about living things, and they are developing a native framework for them. Inspired by this, we propose TangiLetter, an interactive vocabulary system for children to learn wild animal words. By combining children’s language ability, motor ability, and observation ability to balance the physical and digital worlds, children learn wild animal words more intuitively. Children can pronounce the animal’s name and find the corresponding letter balls to get a related audiobook as a reward. It creates intriguing experiences when children are learning. In this paper, we detail the system design of TangiLetter and present the design principles of the word-learning system. To explore our system’s usability, we conducted studies. The result showed that TangiLetter could facilitate children to learn wild animal words, and there is a high level of engagement and willingness with the system.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Engineering Research Center of Computer Aided Product Innovation Design, Ministry of Education, National Natural Science Foundation of China (52075478), Major Project of Zhejiang Social Science Foundation (21XXJC01ZD).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Fangtian Ying, Pinhao Wang & Cheng Yao

  2. College of Software Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Yuping Zou, Xinglin Zheng & Muling Huang

Authors
  1. Fangtian Ying
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  2. Pinhao Wang
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  3. Yuping Zou
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  4. Xinglin Zheng
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  5. Muling Huang
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  6. Cheng Yao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pinhao Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Smart Future Initiative, Frankfurt, Germany

    Norbert Streitz

  2. Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Shin'ichi Konomi

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Ying, F., Wang, P., Zou, Y., Zheng, X., Huang, M., Yao, C. (2021). TangiLetter: An Interactive Vocabulary System for Children to Learn Words About Wild Animals. In: Streitz, N., Konomi, S. (eds) Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions. HCII 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12782. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77015-0_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77015-0_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77014-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77015-0

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