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Bringing tabletop technology to all: evaluating a tangible farm game with kindergarten and special needs children

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Abstract

The tangible interaction approach has in recent years become a promising alternative to multitouch tabletops for very young children. Children learning with tangible user interfaces can benefit from the same pedagogical values as learning with materials in physical play. The NIKVision tabletop and games have been designed to provide leisure and fun while reinforcing physical manipulation and co-located gaming for young children (3- to 6-year-olds). Interaction is provided in NIKVision by the handling of conventional toys and computer augmentation on a table surface. First of all, the paper sets out the results of a summative evaluation carried out in nurseries and schools summarising the performance of the tabletop in terms of usability, user experience and physical and co-located gaming. Secondly, the paper presents an evaluation carried out in a special education school with children with cognitive disabilities, in an attempt to widen the range of possible beneficiaries of tangible interfaces. The challenge in this case is to ensure children’s comprehension of the game and to adequately combine feedback on the application with teacher interventions. In fact, the initial results reinforce the idea of not trying to substitute but rather to assist teachers and emphasise the possibilities offered by the tabletop as a tool to promote student autonomy.

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank all the children and parents that participated in the NIKVision tests, the staff of the ChiCI Group at the University of Central Lancashire (UK) and the Alborada Special Education School of Zaragoza. This work has been partly financed by the Government of Aragon through Cooperation projects between University Departments and Secondary Schools and the Spanish DGICYT (contract no. TIN2011-24660).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Computer Graphics Group (GIGA), Computer Science Department, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ed. Ada Byron, C/María de Luna n. 1, 50015, Zaragoza, Spain

    Javier Marco

  2. Advanced Computer Graphics Group (GIGA), Computer Science Department, Engineering Research Institute of Aragon (I3A), Universidad de Zaragoza, Ed. Ada Byron, C/María de Luna n. 1, 50015, Zaragoza, Spain

    Eva Cerezo & Sandra Baldassarri

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  1. Javier Marco
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  2. Eva Cerezo
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Correspondence to Javier Marco.

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Marco, J., Cerezo, E. & Baldassarri, S. Bringing tabletop technology to all: evaluating a tangible farm game with kindergarten and special needs children. Pers Ubiquit Comput 17, 1577–1591 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-012-0522-5

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