Co-Space Project

The work described below was conducted primarily by me with advising from Yvonne Rogers and consultation with Richie Hazlewood. Some other Co-Space studies are described here.

Goals

Though new interface technologies like large multi-user displays and tangibles are becoming cheaper and easier to develop for, we still know very little about the implications of their use. We are developing prototypes and conducting user studies to try to learn the benefits and costs of using these technologies for collaboration, and how to use them most effectively in interaction design.

Progress

Sheepsville is an interactive game created to help understand the effect of the Mitsubushi !DiamondTouch table on collaborative learning. Three players each put sheep out to graze on a shared green. The sheep graze, consuming grass, and periodically shear themselves and knit a sweater out of their wool. Players then harvest these sweaters for sale. Inevitably, players are too greedy early in the game, and overgrazing destroys the green for everyone involved. This is known as the "Tragedy of the Commons" and the goal of the game is to teach children this lesson. Because the game requires a large amount of communication and diplomacy outside of the game space ("above the table") we believe it provides an ideal platform for studying collaboration. We have conducted a short pilot study, the results of which are described below.

Figure 1: Sheepsville (full screenshot)

BunnieLand is a interactive mixed-reality educational game that integrates the Mitsubishi !DiamondTouch table with Phidgets to create a unique kind of learning experience. Players use tangible "Sheep Shakers" and "Fox Shakers" to shake animals onto a grass-covered table, where the animals graze and hunt. Players are challenged to create a stable ecosystem by managing this population. We hypothesize that by incorporating mixed reality elements, the game discourages players from becoming completely immersed in the game world, encouraging collaboration. We hope to conduct user studies with human subjects in the near future.

Figure 2: !BunnieLand

Results

So far we have only done a short pilot study, but we observed a few interesting things.

Participants seemed to employ a form of instruction that is not commonly seen on desktop computers. When one player was teaching another, they would sometimes demonstrate a task continuously, while the learner would attempt the task for thesmelves, and the instructor would simultaneously give instruction or critique. This made for a very interactive learning process which is impossible on a desktop computer where only one person may interact with the computer at a given time.

Figure 3: Parallel instruction

As of Spring 2006, we have run the experiment with a few more groups and started to do some more detailed analysis. One thing we are studying is what kind of effect different collaboration strategies--assigned vs. ad-hob roles, for example--have an effect on how the area of the table is used. I am currently building an interactive log analysis tool to help us find patterns in the data:

Figure 4: Data analysis tool (zoom in)

The table truly is a "shared" surface. At times, all three players would be interacting with the game within a portion of the table as small as a laptop screen.

Figure 5: Sharing a small space

Publications

Pukinskis, E., Rogers, Y. Using mixed physical/virtual interfaces to enhance social aspects of educational games. I-Light Symposium, IUPUI University Place Conference Center, Indianapolis, September 21-22, 2005.

Future Directions

We would like to conduct a full study with children to try to identify more unique kinds of instruction and learning that can happen with the !DiamondTouch table. We would also like to study the effects of the mixed-reality elements on collaboration.

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