Participatory design process in a Cooperative Mixed Reality Full-body Interactive Experience

Abstract

The importance of involving children in technology design has been emphasized in previous and recent studies. Moreover, as stated in the literature, the fact that the creativity of children is higher than that of adults shows that children have a significant role in the design process. Based on this perspective, Full Body Interaction Lab at Pompeu Fabra University has conducted a Participatory Design (PD) process of a narrative-based Mixed Reality (MR) game to design a prosociality test for children with and without Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). The first level of Dragonice, a narrative-based game, was designed to promote prosociality by achieving Interpersonal Entrainment (IPE). To test prosociality after experiencing IPE in the Dragonice experience, different non-technological behavioral tests were used, such as the economical game, island game, and cooperative game. After conducting these tests, to overcome the limitations of nontechnological tests and maintain a continuous narrative of the experience in full-body interaction experience in MR, it has been decided to design a technological prosociality test for children using mixed reality: the second level of Dragonice. This thesis focuses on structuring the participatory design activities and analyzing the results of the process of the second level, Dragonice Collaborative Experience. The aim of this interactive experience was to examine whether children play collaboratively or individually after the IPE effect through the first level. The main goals of this study are (i) to understand the needs, preferences, and perspectives of children by applying storytelling strategies and making prototypes collaboratively based on narrative co-creation in the design process of the new collaborative game and (ii) to have feedback and observations from their perspective for future improvements after the design process. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was applied to analyze participants’ drawings, storytelling activities, prototypes, and questionnaires after PD sessions. For future studies, the full-body interactive MR experience, the second level of Dragonice, can be used as a technological test to assess prosociality in children with and without ASC after achieving IPE with synchronous and asynchronous conditions.