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Huggable Computing

The Affective Tigger is the first computer a child might be exposed to. He's portable like a wearable computer but far more huggable. Rather than a fragile or delicate computer, the Affective Tigger encourages the child to play with him in a physical hands-on manner. The Affective Tigger can be `programmed' in that there are perceived direct consequences (output) for the actions and behavior (input) of the child. Rather than inputting programs via a keyboard, the Affective Tigger employs a behavioral method of interfacing with a computer. This hands-on computer play is similar to the technique used on Noobie a large stuffed computer made by [Druin, 1987]. The Affective Tigger, like Noobie, occupies a physical space in our world, unlike a computer program, and that foam and fluff existence make him eminently huggable.



Dana L Kirsch
Tue May 25 08:59:22 EDT 1999