Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
5.6.5.2
Software
The incoming video data of the playground was continuously analysed by using the
ParleVision software
2
. The output of the analysis was the position of the various
players within the playground. Acceleration data from the Sun SPOTs within the
foam balls and those attached to the players' wrests were compared, to determine
when a ball is shaken and by whom. All input was processed by a Java application
which generated the visual output for the playground by using the JMonkey 3D
library
3
. The software adjusted the behaviour of the shapes and items within the
virtual playground according to the designed and chosen interactions.
5.7
Evaluation
The described playground had been designed to feature possibilities for social interac-
tion as well as physical play. Additionally, we aimed at providing a play environment
that would stimulate play that is partly-contained contained in the playground's
gamespace (see
5.4.3
). The goal of this evaluation was to explore the feasibility of
using the proposed design method for creating such an interactive play environment.
This evaluation should thus be regarded as an exploration of the proposed design
method, rather than a validation.
5.7.1
Methods
5.7.1.1
Experimental Design
The evaluation consisted of sessions lasting approximately one hour, in which groups
of children would be invited to play in the playground. The group sizes that partic-
ipated in the evaluation varied from two up to four children. For the comfort of the
children involved, the group sizes were adjusted to their age, and wherever possible
friends were clustered into a single group (Markopoulos et al.
2008
).
Every evaluation session started with an explanation of experiment's procedure
to the children, and time to answer questions concerning the experiment. Nothing
however was told to the children about the interaction possibilities of the playground.
Then they were equipped with a marker for the playground's tracking system, a Sun
SPOT sensor and a sensor equipped ball. A first 10-min exploration phase gave the
children the possibility to explore the playground and its interactions by themselves.
After the initial phase, the children were called back from the playground, to receive
an explanation about some key interactions that were possible within the playground.
Then, a second 20-min phase was started to identify whether playground behaviour
2
http://hmi.ewi.utwente.nl/showcases/parlevision.
3
http://www.jmonkeyengine.com.
