This book presents a comprehensive guide to the design of playing robots and the related play experiences. Play is a natural activity for building and improving abilities, and it reveals important particularly for persons with disabilities. Many social, physical and cultural factors may hinder children with disabilities from fully enjoying play as their peers. Autonomous robots with specific characteristics can enhance the ludic experience, having implications for the character of the play and presenting opportunities related to autonomy and physical movement, the very nature of robots. Their introduction into play thus provides everybody, and in particular persons with disabilities, new possibilities for developing abilities, improving general status, participating in social contexts, as well as supporting professionals in monitoring progress.
This book presents a framework for the design of playful activities with robots, developed over 20 years’ experience at AIRLab - POLIMI. Part 1 introduces the play concepts and characteristics, and research results about play of children with different kinds of impairments. Part 2 focuses on implementing robots able to play. The design of playful activities is discussed, as well as the necessary characteristics for them to be useful in both general play and activities involving disability-related limitations. In Part 3, the defined framework is used to analyze possibilities involving robots available on the toy market, robots developed at research labs, and robots to be developed in the next future. The aim of the book is to give developers, caregivers, and users a set of methodological tools for selecting, exploring, and designing inclusive play activities where robots play a central role.
Author(s): Andrea Bonarini, Serenella Besio
Series: Research for Development
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 291
City: Cham
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Aims
1.3 Structure
PartI
2 Play and Games
2.1 Introduction: Impregnability of Pay
2.2 The Nature of Play
2.2.1 Anthropology: Times and Geographies
2.2.2 From Ethology to Neuroscience
2.2.3 Classic theories: philosophical and pedagogical conceptions
2.2.4 Three Pillars of Psychology
2.2.5 Cultural Studies
2.3 Functions of Play
2.4 Characteristics of Play
2.4.1 LUDI—Characteristics of Play
2.4.2 Henricks: Qualities of Play
2.4.3 Eberle: Elements of Play
2.5 Definitions of Play
2.5.1 Sutton-Smith's Definition
2.5.2 The LUDI Action Choice: Garvey's Definition
2.5.3 Burghardt's Definition
2.5.4 Eberle's Definition
2.6 Types of Play
2.6.1 Piaget and Vygotskij: child development through play development
2.6.2 The Concept of Mature Play and Its Levels
2.6.3 The LUDI Action: Types of Play
2.7 A World Apart? Games
2.8 Short Reflections on Play and Technology
2.9 Contexts and Mediators of Play
2.9.1 Environments
2.9.2 Mediators: Toys
2.9.3 Mediators: Play Companions
2.9.4 ``Le cadre ludique''
2.10 Research in Play
2.10.1 Tools for play assessment
2.10.2 Two Thorny Descriptors of Play
3 Play and Disabilities
3.1 Play and Children with Disabilities. A Right Claiming for Accomplishment
3.1.1 Children with Disabilities are Children and They Do Play
3.1.2 What Is Disability?
3.1.3 Disability Towards the Future: All Means All
3.1.4 Play and Children with Disabilities: Relation is the Key
3.2 Children with Physical Impairments
3.2.1 Physical Impairment, its Characteristics, and Current Issues
3.2.2 Impact of Physical Impairment on Participation to Play
3.2.3 Factors Affecting and Favouring the Play Activity
3.3 Children with Intellectual Disability
3.3.1 Intellectual Disability, its Characteristics and Current Issues
3.3.2 Impact of Intellectual Impairment on Participation to Play
3.3.3 Factors Affecting and Favouring the Play Activity
3.4 Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
3.4.1 Autism Spectrum Disorders, its Characteristics and Current Issues
3.4.2 Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders on Participation to Play
3.4.3 When Play Becomes a Means of Intervention Programs to Teach and Learn to Play
3.4.4 Factors Affecting and Favouring the Play Activity
3.5 Children with Visual Impairments
3.5.1 Visual Impairment, its Characteristics and Current Issues
3.5.2 Impact of Visual Impairment on Participation to Play
3.5.3 Factors Affecting and Favouring the Play Activity
3.6 Children with Hearing Impairments
3.6.1 Hearing Impairment, its Characteristics and Current Issues
3.6.2 Impact of Hearing Impairment on Participation to Play
3.6.3 Factors Affecting and Favouring the Play Activity
PartII
4 Playful Robots
4.1 Definitions
4.2 Body
4.2.1 Shape
4.2.2 Size
4.2.3 Color
4.2.4 Material
4.3 Actuators
4.3.1 Motion
4.3.2 Sound
4.3.3 Light
4.4 Sensors
4.5 Behaviour and Play
4.6 Playground
4.7 Animacy
4.8 Emotion
4.9 Cost Considerations
5 Robots and Play Activities
5.1 The Role of Robots in Play
5.2 Aims and Issues
5.3 The Player
5.4 The Design of Play Activities with Robots
5.5 Robot and Game Design for the Market
6 The Role of Robots in Play Activities for Persons with Disabilities
6.1 Play and Disability
6.1.1 Physical Impairments
6.1.2 Intellectual Disabilities and Autism
6.1.3 Sensor Disabilities
6.2 Inclusion
6.3 Data Collection
6.4 Usability and Accessibility
PartIII
7 Existing Robotic Toys
7.1 Toy Categories
7.2 Playing with Robots Available on the Market
7.2.1 Pets
7.2.2 Tele-Controlled and Tele-Operated Robots
7.2.3 Programmable Robots
7.2.4 Button-Operated Robots
7.2.5 Robotic Assembly
7.2.6 Autonomous Robots
8 Experimental Robots
8.1 Introduction to Experimental Robots
8.2 Play for the Sake of Play
8.3 Structured Play
8.3.1 Solitary Games
8.3.2 Multiplayer Games
8.4 Evaluation of Outcomes and Play Activity
8.4.1 Outcome Evaluation
8.4.2 Evaluation of Robotic Play Activities
9 Ethical, Social, and Psychological Issues
9.1 Ethical Issues
9.2 Physical Safety
9.3 Cognitive Safety and Social Issues
9.4 Privacy
10 To Infinity and Beyond
10.1 Dream Robots
10.2 Dream Play
11 Conclusion
11.1 Conclusion
11.2 Guidelines for the Development of Play Activities
11.3 Farewell
Appendix References
Index
