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Ambient conversations using a physical avatar

Published: 30 September 2009 Publication History

Abstract

The Nabaztag is an ambient, internet-enabled device which is designed to introduce a young audience to web-based social interactions. It connects wirelessly to the internet, allowing users to access a variety of services, ranging from the audio relay of RSS feeds and text based messages, to visual displays of light sequences and ear rotations.
Interaction with the Nabaztag relies upon the manufacturer's website and independently created desktop widgets. In this paper we present the design and analysis of a novel mobile phone widget, which provides a mobile interface to the Nabaztag. The widget provides a mobile solution allowing users to communicate more freely with the target device and ultimately extending user interaction. The results from a preliminary trial with young children using the widget and rabbits to interact with a parent in their workplace highlights the potential benefits of the use of a physical avatar for developing early social-technical experiences.

References

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Anderson, K. 16 May 2007. More XTech 2007: Rabbits and Pipelines. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/05/16/more_xtech_2007_rabbits_and_pipelines.html
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Brewer, J., Williams, A., and Dourish, P. Nimio: An Ambient Awareness Device, Demonstration at the European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW). 18--22 September 2005, Paris, France.
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Cassell, J. 2000. Embodied conversational agents. p. 161
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Chumby Industries. http://www.chumby.com
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Lampe, M., Hinske, S., Brockmann, S. Mobile Device based Interaction Patterns in Augmented Toy Environments. Third International Workshop on Pervasive Gaming Applications, PerGames 2006. ISBN 3-00-018411-2, pp. 109--118, Dublin, Ireland, May 2006.
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Lugmayr A., Risse T., Stockleben B., Kaario J., Laurila K. (2008) Semantic ambient media experiences SAME 2008 pre-workshop review. Proceedings of the 1st ACM Workshop on Semantic Ambient Media Experiences. p. 2, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Shwe, H. Smarter Play for Smarter Toys: The Benefits of Technology-Enhanced Play, Zowie Entertainment White Paper 3208, 1999.
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  • (2015)Better Posture Awareness through Flower-Shaped Ambient AvatarProceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/2677199.2680575(337-340)Online publication date: 15-Jan-2015

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    MindTrek '09: Proceedings of the 13th International MindTrek Conference: Everyday Life in the Ubiquitous Era
    September 2009
    254 pages
    ISBN:9781605586335
    DOI:10.1145/1621841
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Publication History

    Published: 30 September 2009

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    Author Tags

    1. ambient information systems
    2. communities
    3. internet toys
    4. modalities
    5. social interaction

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    MindTrek '09
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    MindTrek '09: Academic MindTrek 2009
    September 30 - October 2, 2009
    Tampere, Finland

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    Overall Acceptance Rate 110 of 207 submissions, 53%

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    • (2015)Better Posture Awareness through Flower-Shaped Ambient AvatarProceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/2677199.2680575(337-340)Online publication date: 15-Jan-2015

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