"It Would Be Cool to Get Stampeded by Dinosaurs": Analyzing Children's Conceptual Model of AR Headsets Through Co-Design

Title of the Paper

“It Would Be Cool to Get Stampeded by Dinosaurs”: Analyzing Children’s Conceptual Model of AR Headsets Through Co-Design

Paper Information

• Field: Human-Computer Interaction and Augmented Reality Design
• Keywords: Augmented Reality, Children, Co-Design, Participatory Design, Conceptual Model

Research Background and Problem

• Identified Problem or Challenge: There is a lack of research on children’s conceptual models of augmented reality (AR) headsets. Unlike adults, children may have significantly different expectations and interaction behaviors with technological devices.
• Importance of the Problem: Understanding children’s mental models can help design more effective AR headset experiences, avoiding usability issues caused by mismatches between user expectations and system design.
• Motivation and Related Work: AR headsets are gradually being introduced into children’s education, gaming, and healthcare. However, most studies focus on AR tablets or mobile devices. Exploring the process of children designing AR headset content can reveal their expectations and understanding of AR headsets.

Solution

• Proposed Method or Solution: Using Participatory Design (PD) to collaborate with children in designing AR headset content and deriving children’s conceptual models of AR headsets.
• Innovative Aspects: This is the first study to construct a systematic understanding of children’s conceptual models of AR headsets using co-design methods. It employs online remote PD to avoid limitations of physical devices while observing children’s initial perceptions of technology.
• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:
  1. Organize four online design activities, including game design, LEGO activities, and story-based design tasks.
  2. Use low-tech tools (e.g., masks) to simulate AR headsets, enabling children to intuitively design and test their ideas.
  3. Collect children’s design narratives, drawings, and interaction data, and use affinity diagram analysis to summarize key themes.

Research Findings

• Specific Findings:
  • Developed a conceptual model of AR headsets for children, comprising seven main categories: user emotions, user input, system output, usage scenarios, system capabilities, system immersion, and system intelligence.
  • Found that children expect AR headsets to have highly intelligent features, such as recognizing and transforming environments, providing guidance and suggestions, and creating immersive experiences.
  • Children prefer using headsets for challenging tasks (e.g., math homework) or games but tend to complete simple or creative tasks independently.
• Advantages Compared to Existing Solutions:
  • Provides in-depth insights into children’s unique expectations for AR headsets, including interaction with hyper-realistic environments, character customization, and context-specific device usage.
  • Offers design recommendations aligned with children’s mental models, enhancing the applicability of AR headsets in education and entertainment for children.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Affinity diagram analysis summarized 512 valid narratives proposed during the design process, with 72.7% originating from children.
  • Observed high demand for natural interactions (e.g., voice, gestures) and immersive experiences during the design activities.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • The design activities did not involve actual commercial AR headsets. Future studies should explore interactions with existing devices to assess children’s real-world usage experiences.
  • The study primarily involved children from a specific region. Future research should include children from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Design Recommendations

1. Optimization of Interface Content Placement: Consider placing content in areas familiar to children (e.g., top-right corner) while balancing visual processing efficiency and user convenience.
2. Contextual Adaptation of Content: Optimize AR headset content for high-demand scenarios (e.g., gaming, challenging tasks) rather than adopting a generalized application design.
3. Avoid Complex Gesture Interactions: Design should prioritize natural interaction modes (e.g., voice and buttons) over complex gestures to align with children’s usage habits and model expectations.
4. Enhance Device Mobility: Develop headsets that support both indoor and outdoor activities while improving interaction precision (e.g., full-body motion recognition) to meet children’s expectations for diverse scenarios.

Conclusion

This study provides a systematic understanding of children’s conceptual models of AR headsets, offering a clear reference framework for child-friendly AR headset design. By employing participatory design, the study reveals children’s specific needs and key design directions for technology. This not only lays the foundation for future designs of AR headsets for children but also provides a new perspective for research on children’s interactions with technological devices.