For the main project of the TUI class, I am now in a team with Leanne Miller, Erin Treacy and Stacey Ecott. Funny how 4 of the 5 girls in the class ended up together.
We decided to develop an interface to help children learn abstract mathematical concepts, more precisely Volume and Surface Area. When thought in class, the teacher may have a 3D object in his hand to show the children what are these two concepts. This is a good teaching method because it enables the students to ask questions and visualize the volume of the object. However, when left alone to study this concept, children are left with one learning method, that is a book with a 3D drawing of an object. While the characteristics of this object are usually written besides the drawing, it does not allow for manipulation or interaction of this object. Without this interaction, many children have difficulty visualizing the 3d object, and its characteristics. For example, he does not have access to all the sides.
For this reason, we came up with a system which allows for manipulation and interaction of 3D shapes. I named temporarily this tangible user interface Smart Blocks. Smart Blocks is a collection of identical cubes and connectors, provided with a work area and axes. Its purpose is to help children learn volume and surface area of a 3D shape.
The underlying principle behind Smart Blocks is that when cubes are connected together, they create a shape that is recognized by the system. More precisely, the system is able to know the volume and the surface area of that shape, and can provide feedback about theses characteristics to the user. To create a shape, the user will add a connector to a block, and attach another block to that connector.
There are 2 modes to the tangible user interface: exploration and questioning. In the exploration mode, the user can create a shape to his liking on the axes (table) or in the air (near the table). He can view the details of his shape on a screen. The details include the volume, the number of blocks, the surface area, the number of sides. This way, he can observe live the impact on the volume and surface area of the changes.
In the questioning mode, he selects and reads a question. Two types of questions can be asked. First, the question asks to create a shape with a particular volume, a particular surface area, or both. Then, he tries to create the shape with the characteristics of the question. At the end, he tells the system he is done. The system will provide feedback good/bad answer, plus details about why an answer is bad if it is the case. The second type of question asks simply be to input the volume and/or surface area of the current shape he has created. The user answers the characteristics of the shape and the system provides feedback about these answers.
In both modes, axes are available to the user. There will be an axis for the length, width and height of the object. They will be scales with the dimensions of the cube. These will provide the user with a measuring tool, to help estimate the surface area or the volume for example. They do not provide feedback to the user at this point.
The technology used is Radio Frequency IDentifiers (RFID). Each block and each connector contains an RFID. When assembled, the user will put the shape on (or near) the RFID reader, which will recognize the number of blocks and connectors used. The volume is the number of blocks while the surface area is calculated with the number of blocks times 6 minus 2 times the number of connector. This formula can be explained by the lemma that each block has 6 sides, and each connector subtracts 2 sides from the total surface area.
Two types of connectors could have been chosen to create this system: internal or external connectors. An internal connector would be invisible when a shape is completed. They have two main negative point: a connector could be connected to only one cube (the connector would be sticking out of the shape); or a connector could be omitted between two cubes. Both these points result in a false surface area reading.
The second option (see image) would have connectors that are on the exterior of the cubes (i.e. that they are visible when the shape is completed). Their disadvantage is they are changing the surface area of the shape and confusing the children.
After discussion, the second option was chosen, and a solution to problem was formulated. By making the connectors' thickness small in comparison to the blocks, this will diminish their impact on the surface area. Also, by making them in a different color than the blocks, this will reinforce the fact that they are not part of the shape. (*find an article that proves that different colors separates the concepts and help users differentiate two objects).
We have yet to decide whether the cube will be considered one unit of length or real unit length. If a cube is one unit wide, then the volume and the number of blocks are equal. If a cube has the length of a real unit (1 inch, 1 cm, etc.), then there is a added calculation to go from the number of blocks of a shape to its volume. The second option seems more difficult than the first one, and might apply to a different age group.
The next step in our work is to complete our ``proof of concept'' prototype, and then complete the real system.
Future work:
While the next ideas probably won't be implemented for the first prototype, they might be interesting to add to a future release of the system.
We decided to develop an interface to help children learn abstract mathematical concepts, more precisely Volume and Surface Area. When thought in class, the teacher may have a 3D object in his hand to show the children what are these two concepts. This is a good teaching method because it enables the students to ask questions and visualize the volume of the object. However, when left alone to study this concept, children are left with one learning method, that is a book with a 3D drawing of an object. While the characteristics of this object are usually written besides the drawing, it does not allow for manipulation or interaction of this object. Without this interaction, many children have difficulty visualizing the 3d object, and its characteristics. For example, he does not have access to all the sides.
For this reason, we came up with a system which allows for manipulation and interaction of 3D shapes. I named temporarily this tangible user interface Smart Blocks. Smart Blocks is a collection of identical cubes and connectors, provided with a work area and axes. Its purpose is to help children learn volume and surface area of a 3D shape.
The underlying principle behind Smart Blocks is that when cubes are connected together, they create a shape that is recognized by the system. More precisely, the system is able to know the volume and the surface area of that shape, and can provide feedback about theses characteristics to the user. To create a shape, the user will add a connector to a block, and attach another block to that connector.
There are 2 modes to the tangible user interface: exploration and questioning. In the exploration mode, the user can create a shape to his liking on the axes (table) or in the air (near the table). He can view the details of his shape on a screen. The details include the volume, the number of blocks, the surface area, the number of sides. This way, he can observe live the impact on the volume and surface area of the changes.
In the questioning mode, he selects and reads a question. Two types of questions can be asked. First, the question asks to create a shape with a particular volume, a particular surface area, or both. Then, he tries to create the shape with the characteristics of the question. At the end, he tells the system he is done. The system will provide feedback good/bad answer, plus details about why an answer is bad if it is the case. The second type of question asks simply be to input the volume and/or surface area of the current shape he has created. The user answers the characteristics of the shape and the system provides feedback about these answers.
In both modes, axes are available to the user. There will be an axis for the length, width and height of the object. They will be scales with the dimensions of the cube. These will provide the user with a measuring tool, to help estimate the surface area or the volume for example. They do not provide feedback to the user at this point.
The technology used is Radio Frequency IDentifiers (RFID). Each block and each connector contains an RFID. When assembled, the user will put the shape on (or near) the RFID reader, which will recognize the number of blocks and connectors used. The volume is the number of blocks while the surface area is calculated with the number of blocks times 6 minus 2 times the number of connector. This formula can be explained by the lemma that each block has 6 sides, and each connector subtracts 2 sides from the total surface area.
Two types of connectors could have been chosen to create this system: internal or external connectors. An internal connector would be invisible when a shape is completed. They have two main negative point: a connector could be connected to only one cube (the connector would be sticking out of the shape); or a connector could be omitted between two cubes. Both these points result in a false surface area reading.
The second option (see image) would have connectors that are on the exterior of the cubes (i.e. that they are visible when the shape is completed). Their disadvantage is they are changing the surface area of the shape and confusing the children.After discussion, the second option was chosen, and a solution to problem was formulated. By making the connectors' thickness small in comparison to the blocks, this will diminish their impact on the surface area. Also, by making them in a different color than the blocks, this will reinforce the fact that they are not part of the shape. (*find an article that proves that different colors separates the concepts and help users differentiate two objects).
We have yet to decide whether the cube will be considered one unit of length or real unit length. If a cube is one unit wide, then the volume and the number of blocks are equal. If a cube has the length of a real unit (1 inch, 1 cm, etc.), then there is a added calculation to go from the number of blocks of a shape to its volume. The second option seems more difficult than the first one, and might apply to a different age group.
The next step in our work is to complete our ``proof of concept'' prototype, and then complete the real system.
Future work:
While the next ideas probably won't be implemented for the first prototype, they might be interesting to add to a future release of the system.
- Tutorial mode which helps the student calculate the volume and surface area
- Levels of difficulty
- Blocks of different size and shape
- Axes that provide feedback (light up with the length of the shape)\
- Blocks themselves provide feedback
- Light up (to help count, for example)
- Guide user (haptic feedback) when in questioning mode (for example: repulsion if the shape is already too big)
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