Use Of Tangible Objects Research Articles

Using Tangible Objects in Early Childhood Classrooms: A Study of Macau Pre-service Teachers

Tangible objects are devices that connect physical objects and digital worlds through tangible user interfaces. With the availability of tangible objects in the market, teacher education courses should be updated to provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to engage in digital environments; by these means, they can make more informed decisions about their teaching. This paper explores the views of pre-service teachers regarding the use of tangible objects to facilitate early childhood learning, from within the framework of the theory of planned behaviour. The participants were teacher candidates specialising in early childhood education in a teacher-education programme in Macau. Various tangible objects in the market were presented to them and they were invited to design a lesson with them. After their implementation in a real classroom, the candidates’ views on the value of and problems attending the use of tangible objects; these data were collected through open-ended questions. Content analysis was conducted to elucidate their views. The teacher candidates seemed to appreciate this modality but, at the same time, expressed concern regarding the new challenges of using tangible objects in their classroom.

Creación, visualización e impresión 3D de colecciones online de modelos educativos tridimensionales con tecnologías de bajo coste; Caso práctico del patrimonio fósil marino de Canarias

El uso de objetos tangibles (maquetas, réplicas de obras artísticas, fósiles…) en entornos educativos se suele utilizar para mejorar el proceso de aprendizaje. Cuando el conocimiento se difunde a través de entornos virtuales, a veces, se pierde el valor de estos objetos tangibles. Las nuevas tecnologías de bajo coste, permiten solventar este problema, permitiendo a los profesores incluir en sus aulas virtuales el acceso y manipulación de objetos tridimensionales. En este artículo se describe el proceso de creación y divulgación de un contenido educativo tridimensional e interactivo para aprendizaje en un entorno virtual. Como caso práctico se ha trabajado sobre el patrimonio fósil marino canario. Los fósiles se usan como material tangible en la enseñanza de paleontología, sin embargo no están disponibles para el trabajo fuera del aula. En el trabajo descrito en este artículo, se han digitalizado en 3D una selección de 18 fósiles. Los archivos obtenidos están a disposición de los alumnos en un entorno online, permitiendo su descarga, visualización e interacción en dispositivos móviles multitáctiles. Además, si el alumno lo prefiere, puede imprimirlos en 3D. Para finalizar, se ha realizado una experiencia con 70 alumnos universitarios que, después de acceder al repositorio online creado, han contestado a un cuestionario para valorar los materiales diseñados.

Design evaluation of information appliances using augmented reality-based tangible interaction

In this paper, we propose an approach to tangible augmented reality (AR) based design evaluation of information appliances, which not only exploits the use of tangible objects without hardwired connections to provide better visual immersion and support more tangible interaction, but also facilitates the adoption of a simple and low cost AR environment setup to improve user experience and performance. To enhance the visual immersion, we develop a solution for resolving hand occlusion in which skin color information is exploited with the use of the tangible objects to detect the hand regions properly. To improve the tangible interaction with the sense of touch, we introduce the use of product- and fixture-type objects, which provides the feelings of holding the product in his or her hands and touching buttons with his or her index fingertip in the AR setup. To improve user experience and performance in view of hardware configuration, we devise to adopt a simple and cost-effective AR setup that properly meets guidelines such as viewing size and distance, working posture, viewpoint matching, and camera movement. From experimental results, we found that the AR setup is good to improve the user experience and performance in design evaluation of handheld information appliances. We also found that the tangible interaction combined with the hand occlusion solver in the AR setup is very useful to improve tangible interaction and immersive visualization of virtual products while making the user experience the shapes and functions of the products well and comfortably.

A Gaming Model for Teaching Autistic Children Basic Traffic Rules

Autism is a disorder of neural development which affects about one in every 150 kids on average. Autism deals with major complexities regarding social communication and retention power. Now days, due to the increased use of the computer, the technology is being used to assist the treatment and to interact with an autistic child. To make the learning environment more attractive, the animated pictures are used in the applications. In this paper a gaming model is proposed which will first teach basic traffic rules to Autistic children with the help of some animated videos and then help them decide what action must be taken in certain situations thus increasing their intelligibility. The use of tangible objects is introduced so as to keep the sessions more interesting for autistic children.

Analyzing opportunities for using interactive augmented prototyping in design practice

AbstractThe use of tangible objects is paramount in industrial design. Throughout the design process physical prototypes are used to enable exploration, simulation, communication, and specification of designs. Although much is known about prototyping skills and technologies, the reasons why and how such models are employed in design practice are poorly understood. Advanced techniques and design media such as virtual and augmented prototyping are being introduced without insight as to their benefits. We believe that an augmented prototyping system, that is, employing augmented reality technology to combine physical and digital representations, could positively influence the design process. However, we lack knowledge on why and how it might facilitate design. This paper reports on case studies performed in different domains of industrial design. At each of three Dutch design offices, a project was followed with particular attention to physical prototyping and group activities. The projects encompassed information appliance design, automotive design, and interior design. Although the studies vary in many aspects (product domain, stakeholders, duration), the findings can be applied in conceptualizing advanced prototyping systems to support industrial design. Furthermore, the data reveal that the roles of a prototype in current practice are not necessarily utilitarian; for example, the prototype may serve as a conversation piece or as seducer. Based on so-called “hints,” bottlenecks and best practices concerning concept articulation are linked to usage scenarios for augmented tangible prototyping. The results point to modeling and communication scenarios. Detailed study of the cases indicates that communication activities, especially design reviews, would benefit most from interactive augmented prototyping.