Interactive Toy
Characters as
Interfaces for Children
Erik Strommen – Interactive Toy Group Microsoft Corp.
Reviewed By Jason Burke
Interactive Toy
Characters
Resemble familiar characters from
children’s media
Use social mimicry as an interface
strategy
Designed to build on children's social
expectations in order to:
Improve usability of technology
 Promote learning and development

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Jason Burke
Chapter Overview
Summary of background theory and
research
Case studies
Future directions
Conclusions
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Jason Burke
Summary of Background
Theory and Research
Why move technology interactions closer to
human interactions?


Goal: relieve task demand burdens on the user by
making use of the social understandings which
users already possess
Children develop social skills much more quickly
than speech and motor abilities
Why use physical characters?


Size and presence
Use of non-verbal input with spoken or visual
output plays to the strengths of children
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Jason Burke
Summary of Background
Theory and Research (Cont.)
Why use popular media characters?
Presumed intimacy establishes a positive
disposition to the character
 Character’s known personality sets up
rules for interaction

What research still needs to be done?

No reliable way to predict children’s actual
responses to specific character interactions
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Jason Burke
Case Studies
Microsoft’s Actimates group
Three products
Actimates Teletubbies
 Actimates Barney
 Actimates Arthur and D.W.

Each product developed over 12-14
months using at least 12 supporting
research studies
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Jason Burke
Actimates Teletubbies
Character description: peer
character, limited speech,
use music and sound effects
User profile: ages 1-4,
limited speech and cognitive
capabilities
Input: five sensors (hands, feet, and tummy)
Output: speech (1-2 word phrases), nonverbal music, visual display on tummy
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Jason Burke
Actimates Teletubbies (Cont.)
Functions: musical animations and games
Design considerations


All hands and feet perform same function to
accommodate low user cognitive skills
Fit the input method to the level of user expertise
and frequency of use
Lessons learned through research

Tummy sensor not part of original design
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Jason Burke
Actimates Barney
Character Description: gentle
authority character, speech
focused, singing and
movement important
User Profile: ages 2-5,
limited speech and cognitive
capabilities
Input: five sensors (hands, feet, and eyes)
Output: speech (brief phrases), verbal music, arm
and head movement
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Jason Burke
Actimates Barney (Cont.)
Functions: songs, games, and peek-a-boo
Design considerations



Use short phrases to not overwork users’
sequential memory
Use direct questions -- more response-provoking
than open questions
Hands and feet perform different functions,
however, no concept of left or right due to lack of
visual feedback
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Jason Burke
Actimates Barney (Cont.)
Lessons learned through research
Children were able to quickly learn the
sensor/function relationships
 Use of movement can be important to
some functions (singing) but disruptive to
others (games)

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Jason Burke
Actimates Arthur and D.W.
Character Description: peer
character, speech focused
User Profile: ages 4-7,
higher speech and cognitive
capabilities, higher
cooperative skills
Input: seven sensors (hands, feet, ears, and
wrist watch)
Output: speech (brief phrases)
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Jason Burke
Actimates Arthur and D.W. (Cont.)
Functions: hear character thoughts, play
games, and tell time
Design considerations



Games and speech need to address the
capabilities of the older audience
Sensors can have more context-based control (as
opposed to simply progressing content)
Still no concept of left or right
Lessons learned through research

Children did not react well to the original design’s
handling of failures in game playing
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Jason Burke
Interacting With Media
Characters can also be used for sharing
and enhancing media experiences
All characters can communicate with
media sources via RF technology
All characters can use TV media
 Barney, Arthur, and D.W. can use PCs

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Jason Burke
Interacting With Television
Enabled through special broadcasts and videos
Research has shown that TV learning can be
enhanced when accompanied by questions and
comments from adults and peers
Co-viewing interactions are scripted based upon
the program content and the interactive
character’s target audience
Lessons learned through research

Use different responses for sensor activation when
sharing a TV experience than when the character
is in freestanding mode
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Jason Burke
Interacting With the PC
Enabled through software or certain web
sites
Child inputs affect program content and
character behavior
On-screen characters provide direction for
computer control
Physical character provides guidance or
hints to aid the child’s actions
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Jason Burke
Interacting With the PC (Cont.)
Lessons learned through research
Integrating mouse/character interface
control is difficult
 Children expect the characters’
sensor/function relationships to be the
same as when in freestanding mode

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Jason Burke
The Future
A more personalized character
Better knowledge of the child
 Memory of previous interactions

Dynamic interaction

Learn new games and phrases based
upon the way that the character is used
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Jason Burke
Conclusion
Using physical characters as interfaces
allows children to use technology by
capitalizing on their relatively developed
social skills
Designing such characters for children should
make use of careful testing and evaluation
due to the limited understanding of children’s
competency and expectations about social
interactions
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Jason Burke