| Physical
and Virtual Authoring Environments for Graphics and Learning
Applications
We
describe exploration of a new creative medium for children
to compose maps and representations of Vrindavan, a sacred
city in India, by using a composite media, comprising both
physical tactile and digital multimedia elements.
This new media provides a valid alternative to the typewriter-keyboard-and-mouse
based interaction, typical of contemporary computing systems.
Combining both "display" and "interface",
this media provides children with a tactile interface to interact
with computing representations. Working with children from
Vrindavan, the culturally rich city in North India, we developed
and used this new media that enables children to generate
a map of their city and create links to its spaces and interpretations.
This
study suggests that such new modes of interaction and alternatives
to GUI are valuable for developing culturally appropriate
tools in emerging economies. This methodology of developing
culturally appropriate media provides an alternative to imposing
graphic user interface (GUI) over cultures already literate
in other media. At a larger level, one of the key factors
in dissolving the digital divide will be culture-conscious
design.
Key
words: physical-virtual computing, graphic user interfaces,
ICT for emerging economies, digital divide.
May
24, 2003 |