Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
Yellow is Mine!: Designing Interactive
Playgrounds Based on Traditional Childrens
Play
Daniel Tetteroo, Dennis Reidsma, Betsy van Dijk and Anton Nijholt
Abstract
This paper presents a novel method for interactive playground design,
based on traditional children's play. This method combines the rich interaction pos-
sibilities of computer games with the physical and open-ended aspects of traditional
children's games. The method is explored through the development of a prototype
interactive playground that has been implemented and evaluated.
Keywords
Interactive playgrounds
·
Children
·
Traditional play
·
Emergent play
·
HCI
5.1
Introduction
Many governments pursue health care programs that promote a healthier youth. Still,
children are unlikely to give up computer time in favor of outdoor play (Jansen et al.
2010
). Sturm et al. suggest that this tendency might be countered by the development
of interactive playgrounds, consisting of “one or more interactive objects that use
advanced technology to react to the interaction with children and actively encourage
them to play” (Sturm et al.
2008
). They possess the rich interaction possibilities from
computer games as well as the physical and social aspects of traditional outdoor play.
Being an
environment for play
, rather than a
game
, they do not force strict rules upon
the players, but provide possibilities for the children to define their own emergent
game play (Reidsma et al.
2012
). This form of “open-ended” play benefits children in
