Brendan Matkin

Designing Tangibles for Children: One Day Hands-on Workshop

This hands-on workshop introduces a foundation for designing tangibles for children. Participants engage in a low-fidelity design challenge using the iPad Osmo system. We focus on how designing tangibles for children is unique from other design problems and processes. We walk participants through an outcome driven design process using the award winning Developmentally Situated Design (DSD) card set -- focusing on cognitive, emotional, physical, and social skills specific to children at different ages. Small groups create solutions for the same design challenge, but focus on the skills and abilities of a specific age group. We facilitate a compare and contrast exercise of their solutions to help synthesize the complexities of, and showcase skills for, designing child-centric tangibles. While not necessary for participation, we encourage participants who have them to bring iPads (v2 or higher) or iPad minis. Participants are also encouraged to review the DSD II cards in advance, available at http://www.antle.iat.sfu.ca/DSD.

Puzzle Space: A Distributed Tangible Puzzle for Long Distance Couples

Long-Distance Relationships (LDRs) are fairly common nowadays where couples rely on computer-mediated tools to stay connected. Yet few systems have explored how couples can share fun and playful activities together over distance. In this paper, we present the design of Puzzle Space, a distributed tangible jigsaw puzzle that allows LDRs to play remotely and synchronously. With Puzzle Space, couples move puzzle pieces on a table surface where movements are shown on the remote partners screen. We expect that Puzzle Space could enable us to explore if the hybrid of physical and digital content in shared playful activities can help long-distance couples to stay connected and maintain a strong relationship.

Belongings: a tangible interface for intangible cultural heritage

Belongings is an interactive tabletop using a tangible user interface to explore intangible cultural heritage. The table was designed for the [see PDF], the city before the city exhibition. This exhibition is a partnership of three major institutions in Vancouver, BC, exploring the significant ancient village site on which part of Vancouver was built, as well as Musqueam culture and community today. The tabletop uses replicas of Musqueam belongings excavated from [see PDF], as well as contemporary objects that are a part of everyday Musqueam life to access information about the long history of salmon fishing and the continuity of related knowledge at [see PDF]. The design of [see PDF] -- Belongings highlights the tensions between fragmentation and continuity that are central to discussions of access and preservation of intangible cultural heritage in the digital age. In this paper we discuss the tangible tabletop interface as a response to the desire to reconnect fragmented collections and physical belongings from [see PDF] with Musqueam intangible cultural knowledge.

Present-at-Body Self-Awareness in Equestrians: Exploring Embodied 'Feel' through Tactile Wearables

We are interested in novel interactive uses of pressure sensors and vibration actuators that can augment the role of physicality for embodied human perception and experience. Specifically, we explore how wearable technology can be used to provide more realistic present-at-body self-awareness in equestrians. Self-awareness of a riders own physical cues (output) and how a horse responds (input) requires practice to attain objective adjustment. In this paper we present a proof of concept prototype aimed at providing ways to bridge the gap between rider output perception and reality. Our prototype couples pressure data gathered at specific points of the body in real-time with non-audiovisual tactile vibration feedback that is also site-specific. Our design is intended to enable an effective way for riders to learn about asymmetries in seat-related pressure by providing a present-at-body self-awareness of pressure points.

The Story of Things: Awareness through Happenstance Interaction

The Story of Things (SoT) system enables children to learn the story behind every object they touch in a typical day. Inspired by Living Media and the Internet of Things (IoT) our goal is to change childrens awareness through hands-on interaction with the world they live in. A back-of-the-hand display is activated by stick-on finger sensors when a child touches an object. They can tap the display to select from a number of stories stored in a crowd sourced database about that object: the materials it was made from; the processes used to make it; how it impacts their body; how it will be disposed of; environmental or social rights challenges associated with the object; and how they can take positive action. This information is overlaid on the world through an augmented-reality contact lens. SoT will also enable children to see a trace of each day and in doing so help them better understand their environmental footprint and how their actions and choices can change the world for the better or worse.

Design Interactions in ?elәwk w : Belongings

Our pictorial visually describes ?elәwkw -- Belongings, an interactive tangible tabletop installed in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The tabletop was designed to communicate the continuity of Musqueam culture, convey the complexity of belongings that were excavated from Musqueams ancient village site, and reconnect those belongings to traditional practices and oral histories through tangible interactions with the table-all while highlighting that cultural knowledge should be treated with respect. In this pictorial, we will show how the design process was shared among researchers, curators, and the exhibit Advisory Committee and highlight some of the key design decisions that came out of this collaboration.