Children's storytelling and programming with robotic characters

We introduce mixed physical and digital authoring environments for children, which invite them to create stories with enriched drawings that are programmed to control robotic characters. These characters respond to the children’s drawings as well as to their touch. Children create their stories by drawing props and programming how the robotic character should respond to those props and to physical touch. By drawing, programming the robotic character’s behaviors, and organizing and negotiating the order and meanings of the props, children’s story events unfold in creative ways. We present our iterative design process of developing and evaluating our prototypes with children. We discuss the role technology can play in supporting children’s everyday creative storytelling. Author Keywords Storytelling, children, tangible, programming, robotic toys ACM Classification Keywords

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: CANDC
• Authors: Kimiko Ryokai, Michael Jongseon Lee, Jonathan Micah Breitbart
• Keywords: CANDC 2009, Children’s Drawings, Emerging Technology, Robotic Character, Robotic Character Behaviors