Eligibility:

• Open to undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines.

• Individuals or teams (up to 4 members) are eligible to participate.

• Submissions must focus on designs that integrate physical interaction, body movement, and multisensory feedback to enhance learning.

• Projects should address formal or informal education and prioritize accessibility and inclusion for learners of all abilities.

Intellectual Property (IP):

• Participants retain full ownership of their designs and prototypes.

• By submitting, participants grant the organizers the right to showcase, display, and promote their designs in exhibitions, publications, and online platforms, with credit given to the designers.

• Participants are free to develop, modify, and commercialize their work independently following the competition.

Designs will be judged based on how effectively they support domain learning and how well they leverage tactile or embodied interaction to engage users. Specific criteria include:

• Support for Domain Learning:
  • How well does the design aid understanding in the targeted learning domain (e.g., science, literacy, arts) or topics?
  • Does the physical or embodied interaction deepen the learner’s comprehension of the subject?
• Integration of Tactile or Embodied Learning:
  • How effectively does the design use tactile or embodied learning to engage users?
  • Does the design rely on physical interaction, movement, or multisensory experiences to enhance learning outcomes?
• Innovative Use of Physical Interaction:
  • How original or innovative is the use of tactile or embodied learning in your design?
  • Does it introduce a new approach or improve upon existing methods for making learning more engaging and accessible?
• Accessibility and Inclusivity:
  • Does the design accommodate users with diverse abilities, ensuring that learning is accessible to all?
  • How well does the prototype support learners with disabilities or different sensory or cognitive needs?
• Functionality and Usability:
  • How well does the prototype demonstrate practical, user-friendly interactions?
  • Is it intuitive and easy for learners to engage with?
  • In which ways does it provide clear benefits for the target audience?
  • In which ways does it raise ethical concerns for the target audience?

• Tactile Exploration Kits for Anatomy: Students explore 3D models of body organs, supporting tactile learning by providing hands-on interaction, with innovation in using physical touch to teach anatomical structures (e.g., deLima et al. 2022 [1]).
• Interactive Embodied Learning for Physics: Learners act out physics principles using wearable sensors, supporting embodied learning by translating motion into real-time feedback, with innovation in combining motion tracking and education (e.g., Li et al. 2023 [2]).
• Gesture-Controlled Science Learning: Learners physically simulate scientific concepts, supporting embodied learning by connecting abstract ideas to body movement, with innovation in using gestures to model real-world phenomena (e.g., Kang et al. 2018 [3])
• Sensory-Based Storytelling for Literacy Development: Learners build stories through tactile inputs, supporting tactile learning by engaging multiple senses, with innovation in creating a multisensory, interactive storytelling platform (e.g., Chopra et al. 2022 [4])
• Embodied Learning Environment for Rehabilitative Social Play: Learners receive real-time feedback on their movements, supporting embodied learning by refining physical skills, with innovation in using motion-capture technology to enhance learning outcomes (e.g., Ducksworth et al. 2009 5]).

   _____________________________________________________

  [1] de Lima, P., Rocha, J., da Silva, T., Targueta, C., & Batigália, F. (2022). Teaching human anatomy to the visually impaired: A systematic review. Clinical Anatomy, 35, 660–665.

  [2] Li, J., Ramachandran, M., He, Y., & Ishii, H. (2023). Physica: Interactive Tangible Physics Simulation based on Tabletop Mobile Robots Towards Explorable Physics Education. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (n. pag.).

  [3] Kang, J., Lindgren, R., & Planey, J. (2018). Exploring Emergent Features of Student Interaction within an Embodied Science Learning Simulation. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 2(3), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti2030039

  [4] Chopra, B., & Gupta, R. (2022). StoryBox: Independent Multi-modal Interactive Storytelling for Children with Visual Impairment. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts (n. pag.)

  [5] Duckworth, J., & Wilson, P. (2009). Embodiment and play in designing an interactive art system for movement rehabilitation.