{"id":3245,"date":"2022-03-26T15:21:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T19:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dems.asc.ohio-state.edu\/?p=3245"},"modified":"2022-05-02T12:25:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T16:25:13","slug":"circle-1-tomatoes-min-liu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dems.asc.ohio-state.edu\/?p=3245","title":{"rendered":"Cycle 1 – Tomatoes – Min Liu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My research interest is designing for joint and interactive educational experience for family visitors in informal learning environment like museums and zoos. In this project,\u00a0I explored how\u00a0physical and digital materials can work together to enhance sense-making, and how\u00a0individual and collaborative interaction can motivate learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I chose tomato as the learning theme. In the default scene, participants\u00a0will\u00a0see a tomato garden with birds and some insects. They can wave their hands to get rid of the animals. A background music of nature winds, insects and chimes is on. A green tomato, a red tomato and two leaves (one is fresh, and one is dry) are controllers. I hope this can create a sense for participants that they are in a tomato garden holding tomatoes. When the participant holds\u00a0the green tomato and a leave, he\/she\u00a0will see the growing process of tomatoes. When the participant\u00a0holds the red tomato and a leave, there shows the rotting process. When two participants hold different tomatoes\u00a0together, they will see microscopic structures of tomatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the test in\u00a0class, players were\u00a0surprised when they triggered different video clips about tomatoes.\u00a0They thought these clips were interesting and well-chosen. One participant said that the rounded style of videos makes the experience intimate. Players needed to keep touching the tomatoes\u00a0along their watching the video. I wished this setting could\u00a0stimulate\u00a0people\u00a0to make some connections between\u00a0the sense of touching\u00a0physical materials and\u00a0the digital contents on the screen. However, the feedback was that the connections were\u00a0not strong there. Players just concentrated\u00a0on the videos and separated the touch sense. So, how to design integral interactions\u00a0with physical and virtual materialities needs further exploration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tested the system again with a ten-year-old kid at home. To be honest, I failed to act as a good guidance and companion. I couldn\u2019t help telling him what to do to trigger things and explaining the system mechanism. During the experience, the boy told me that he had watched a similar video before at school. It’s about a seed growing into a big tree. When the boy and I held the two tomatoes and watched the video together, he\u00a0asked me questions like which part of the tomato is observed under microscope. This system is successful in\u00a0establishing conversations between children and adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next cycles, I will keep exploring: 1. How can participants interactive with the system autonomously without verbal or written instructions? 2. How to build the connection between physical and digital materials? 3. Other creative learning and collaborative interaction ways. 4. Installations in big space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n