Designing interspecies playful interactions
Patricia Pons, Juan Javier · 2017
While animals' playful interactions with technology are gaining attention, little research within Animal Computer Interaction has addressed how humans' would like to participate in such games. This paper presents a study in which children designed interspecies games between humans and animals, with and without technological artifacts. The resulting designs helped to start understanding how children perceive and want to participate in such playful interventions. By means of semiformal interviews, drawings and questionnaires, the factors that might be shaping their designs have been outlined. In addition, the design activity in itself revealed as a promising tool to foster critical thinking and unveiled potential educational activities aimed at strengthening children relationships with different animal species. The resulting designs also serve as groundwork to develop playful interventions between children and animals.