User interfaces for tangible characters: Can children connect remotely through toy perspectives?

What if children's make-believe characters could keep in touch when the children were apart? We propose a novel concept for children's use of technology through imagination play: user interfaces designed to be used by children's character toys rather than directly by the children ("doll-computer interfaces"). We apply this model to the challenge of remote communication for children with an enhanced dollhouse containing small-scale interfaces for the dolls with a variety of fully functional multimodal communication functions. Using this interface as a technology probe, we explore a variety of design decisions with remote pairs of children. Our preliminary results suggest that toy-perspective and manipulable toy elements are particularly helpful in supporting play and successful use of communication technologies, while the "true-to-life" toy aspects are sensitive to individual frames of reference and more flexible interfaces that still fit within the toy context lead to creative communication strategies. We found that different communication channels offered interesting tradeoffs between uninterrupted play and rich verbal description. We also learned that the concept appeals to a wide age range but that the youngest children may need additional scaffolding for successful remote play.