For centuries, learning and development has been supported by physical activity and manipulating physical objects. With the introduction of embedded technologies, opportunities for employing tangible or embodied interaction for learning and development have emerged. As a result of previous research, we have seen that interaction models based on embodied knowledge (through embodied metaphors) can support children’s learning in abstract domains. Although metaphorical mappings are promoted in tangible and embodied interaction research, little is known about how to identify embodied metaphors, or how to implement them effectively into interaction models. In this paper, we introduce a people-centered, iterative approach to the design of tangible learning systems with embodied metaphor-based mappings. As a design case, we implemented our approach to the design of Moving Sounds (MoSo) Tangibles; a tangible system for learning abstract sound concepts. The system consists of a set of interactive tangibles with which children can manipulate pitch, volume, and tempo of ongoing tones. In a user study with 39 participants, we found that all children were able to reproduce sound samples with MoSo Tangibles.

In task performance, pragmatic actions refer to behaviors that make direct progress, while epistemic actions involve altering the world so that cognitive processes are faster, more reliable or less taxing. Epistemic actions are frequently presented as a beneficial consequence of interacting with tangible systems. However, we currently lack tools to measure epistemic behaviors, making substantiating such claims highly challenging. This paper addresses this problem by presenting ATB, a video-coding framework that enables the identification and measurement of different epistemic actions during problem-solving tasks. The framework was developed through a systematic literature review of 78 papers, and analyzed through a study involving a jigsaw puzzle -- a classical spatial problem -- involving 60 participants. In order to assess the framework's value as a metric, we analyze the study with respect to its reliability, validity and predictive power. The broadly supportive results lead us to conclude that the ATB framework enables the use of observed epistemic behaviors as a performance metric for tangible systems. We believe that the development of metrics focused explicitly on the properties of tangible interaction are currently required to gain insight into the genuine and unique benefits of tangible interaction. The ATB framework is a step towards this goal.

In a world in which intelligent technologies are integrated in everyday objects and environments, users are at risk of being overburdened with information and interaction possibilities. Calm technology therefore aims at designing interactions that may reside in the periphery of the user’s attention and only shift to the center of the attention when required. However, for such designs to be effective, a detailed understanding of human attention abilities is needed. In this paper, we therefore present a qualitative study on the everyday periphery of the attention. As we expected, we found that sound plays a major role in this, which supports our approach to use interactive sonification as an interaction style for peripheral interaction. We present a range of rich examples of everyday situations that lay out the design space for peripheral interaction and support these findings by describing three initial designs that use interactive sonification for peripheral interaction.

This paper presents BlurtLine, an interactive belt designed to support children with ADHD in regaining control over their impulsive speaking in class. Two exploratory evaluations of BlurtLine indicate that the design can indeed identify indicators of blurting and was experienced positively by a boy with ADHD and his mother and teachers.