‘Just for you’ is a child-friendly, toy-shaped communication device designed for a child in mind. Its target audience is children from 4 to 7 and their parents from whom they are geographically separated.
Background
http://ezinearticles.com/?Encouraging-Emotional-Expression-in-Children&id=2834422
By Matt Casper
volunteerguide.org
http://mindinthemaking.org/article/executive_function_skills_are_essential_to_americas_present_and_future/
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/you-wont-remember-this-either/
http://www.sensoryspectrumshop.com/category.php?category_id=186
http://mindinthemaking.org/article/executive_function_skills_are_essential_to_americas_present_and_future/
Zero-to-Six-Electronic-Media-in-the-Lives-of-Infants-Toddlers-and-Preschoolers-PDF, Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation and the Children’s Digitla Media Centers(CDMC)
Ainsworth’s Theory and Bowlby’s Theory:
The Origins of Attachment Theory By John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth
Harry Harlow’s experiment
Less Is More: Meta-Analyses of Sensitivity and Attachment Interventions in Early Childhood by Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, and Femmie Juffer Leiden University
The whole child development guide by LEGO group
Interaction Design and Children by Juan Pablo Hourcade
University of Iowa, USA, hourcade@cs.uiowa.edu
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/inbrief_program_effectiveness/
Yardsticks:Children in the Classroom, Ages 4-14/ by Chip Wood
Tangible user interfaces for children
by Glenda Revelle,Sesame Workshop, New York, NY
Oren Zuckerman, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Allison Druin, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Mark Bolas, USC School of Cinema-Television, Los Angeles, CA
Implementation
Mobile application
The ‘Just for you mobile App’ allows geographically distant or frequently absent parents to use media devices that they already use in their everyday lives -- which provides ease of access -- to record bedtime stories for their beloved children and to communicate with the Just for you toy that their children have. Through the the app, parents can send their children brief messages of love, or practice and record lullabies and bedtime stories. Parents can also attach photos of their own faces to the messages, expressing one of six different emotional states: Happy, Confident, Sad, Angry, Lonely, and Surprised.
The ‘Just for you’ toy
Following a children-oriented design scheme, this toy is a cushion-type huggable doll with a digital display screen. It also has six facial expression buttons that children can press to convey their emotions and reactions. The content consists of songs and stories that parents record for their children with the mobile app 'Just for You'.
The device makes use of existing APIs such as PhoneGap, and the Arduino Prototyping API for Wifi, MP3, and an LCD touch screen to apply the technology of digital communication for children.
In turn, the children can download voice messages to the toy when Wifi is available, and then listen to the stored files offline anytime they need. In contemporary life, children six and under are observed to spend three times longer with screen media every day than they do reading or being read to. Therefore, the ‘Just for you’ toy is helpful for maintaining children’s close relationships with their parents and for their early education.
Appearance
The matter of which colors and design motifs boys and girls prefer has been surveyed and applied to the device. Children in general like bright and cheerful colors which are highly saturated, and an appropriate number of colors are used on the toy so that it feels comfortable and friendly. The toy body is filled with a soft and squishy cushion and covered in a non-toxic, eco-friendly 100% polyester micro-weave fabric for young children’s sensitive skin. It is created without pricey media components, in order to make it affordable for many users who are willing to buy and use it to express their love for their children.
Background
http://ezinearticles.com/?Encouraging-Emotional-Expression-in-Children&id=2834422
By Matt Casper
volunteerguide.org
http://mindinthemaking.org/article/executive_function_skills_are_essential_to_americas_present_and_future/
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/you-wont-remember-this-either/
http://www.sensoryspectrumshop.com/category.php?category_id=186
http://mindinthemaking.org/article/executive_function_skills_are_essential_to_americas_present_and_future/
Zero-to-Six-Electronic-Media-in-the-Lives-of-Infants-Toddlers-and-Preschoolers-PDF, Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation and the Children’s Digitla Media Centers(CDMC)
Ainsworth’s Theory and Bowlby’s Theory:
The Origins of Attachment Theory By John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth
Harry Harlow’s experiment
Less Is More: Meta-Analyses of Sensitivity and Attachment Interventions in Early Childhood by Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, and Femmie Juffer Leiden University
The whole child development guide by LEGO group
Interaction Design and Children by Juan Pablo Hourcade
University of Iowa, USA, hourcade@cs.uiowa.edu
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/inbrief_program_effectiveness/
Yardsticks:Children in the Classroom, Ages 4-14/ by Chip Wood
Tangible user interfaces for children
by Glenda Revelle,Sesame Workshop, New York, NY
Oren Zuckerman, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Allison Druin, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Mark Bolas, USC School of Cinema-Television, Los Angeles, CA
Implementation
Mobile application
The ‘Just for you mobile App’ allows geographically distant or frequently absent parents to use media devices that they already use in their everyday lives -- which provides ease of access -- to record bedtime stories for their beloved children and to communicate with the Just for you toy that their children have. Through the the app, parents can send their children brief messages of love, or practice and record lullabies and bedtime stories. Parents can also attach photos of their own faces to the messages, expressing one of six different emotional states: Happy, Confident, Sad, Angry, Lonely, and Surprised.
The ‘Just for you’ toy
Following a children-oriented design scheme, this toy is a cushion-type huggable doll with a digital display screen. It also has six facial expression buttons that children can press to convey their emotions and reactions. The content consists of songs and stories that parents record for their children with the mobile app 'Just for You'.
The device makes use of existing APIs such as PhoneGap, and the Arduino Prototyping API for Wifi, MP3, and an LCD touch screen to apply the technology of digital communication for children.
In turn, the children can download voice messages to the toy when Wifi is available, and then listen to the stored files offline anytime they need. In contemporary life, children six and under are observed to spend three times longer with screen media every day than they do reading or being read to. Therefore, the ‘Just for you’ toy is helpful for maintaining children’s close relationships with their parents and for their early education.
Appearance
The matter of which colors and design motifs boys and girls prefer has been surveyed and applied to the device. Children in general like bright and cheerful colors which are highly saturated, and an appropriate number of colors are used on the toy so that it feels comfortable and friendly. The toy body is filled with a soft and squishy cushion and covered in a non-toxic, eco-friendly 100% polyester micro-weave fabric for young children’s sensitive skin. It is created without pricey media components, in order to make it affordable for many users who are willing to buy and use it to express their love for their children.