Impedance mismatch: some differences between the way humans and robots control interaction forces

In over forty years of research robots have made very little progress still largely confined to industrial manufacture and cute toys, yet in the same period computing has followed Moores Law where the capacity double roughly every two years. So why is there no Moores Law for robots? Two areas stand out as worthy of research to speedup progress. The first is to get a greater understanding of how human and animal brains control movement, the second to build a new generation of robots that have greater haptic sense, that is a better ability to adapt to the environment as it is encountered. A remarkable property of the cognitive-motor system in humans and animals is that it is slow. Recognising an object may take 250 mS, a reaction time of 150 mS is considered fast. Yet despite this slow system we are well designed to allow contact with the world in a variety of ways. We can anticipate an encounter, use the change of force as a means of communication and ignore sensory cues when they are not relevant. A better understanding of these process has allowed us to build haptic interfaces to mimic the interaction. Emerging from this understanding are new ways to control the contact between robots, the user and the environment. Rehabilitation robotics has all the elements in the subject to not only enable and change the lives of people with disabilities, but also to facilitate revolution change in classic robotics.

From hieroglyphics to Isotype: a visual autobiography (Otto Neurath)

Otto Neurath (1882–1945) wrote From hieroglyphics to Isotype during the last two years of his life and this is the first publication of the text in full, carefully edited from the original manuscripts. He called it a 'visual autobiography', in which he documents the importance of visual material to him from his earliest years to his professional activity with the picture language of Isotype. Neurath draws clear links between the stimulus he received as a boy from illustrated books, toys and exhibitions to the considered work in visual education that occupied him for the last two decades of his life. This engaging and informal account gives a rich picture of Central European culture around the turn of the twentieth century, seen through the eyes of Neurath's insatiable intelligence, as well as a detailed exposition of the technique of Isotype, a milestone of modern graphic design. This edition includes the numerous illustrations intended by Neurath to accompany his text, and is completed by an extensive appendix showing examples from the rich variety of graphic material that he collected.

LEGO® bricks as building blocks for centimeter-scale biological environments

LEGO bricks are commercially available interlocking pieces of plastic that are conventionally used as toys. We describe their use to build engineered environments for cm-scale biological systems, in particular plant roots. Specifically, we take advantage of the unique modularity of these building blocks to create inexpensive, transparent, reconfigurable, and highly scalable environments for plant growth in which structural obstacles and chemical gradients can be precisely engineered to mimic soil.

The test-retest reliability of the child-initiated pretend play assessment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to establish the test–retest reliability of the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA) (Stagnitti, 2002a; Stagnitti, Unsworth, & Rodger, 2000).

METHOD: The first author rated 38 preschool children ages 4 and 5 years (4 with developmental delay and 34 typically developing) on the ChIPPA. The ChIPPA employs conventional play materials and unstructured play materials to assess three qualities of a child's play ability: elaborateness of play action, ability to substitute objects during play, and the child's need to imitate the modelled actions of the examiner. The ChIPPA was administered twice, at a 2-week interval, to each participant.

RESULTS: Test–retest intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) (Type 2,1) calculated for each of the three elaborate play measures ranged from .73 to .84. A test–retest ICC of .56 was obtained for object substitution with unstructured play materials. The test–retest ICC obtained for the combined score for unstructured and conventional play materials was .57. Percentage agreement figures ranging from 63.2% to 84.2% were obtained on test–retest of the object substitution with conventional toys and imitated actions measures. There was no significant difference between test and retest scores for these measures based on a Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed-Ranks Test (Wilcoxon Sign Test).

CONCLUSION: Elaborate play scores, object substitution with conventional toys score, and imitation scores on the ChIPPA showed stability over time. Object substitution scores using unstructured materials were the least stable play measures and appeared to be related to the child's play themes. Since play is the primary occupation of children, it is essential that therapists have a reliable measure of play behavior. The test–retest reliability results from the ChIPPA provide evidence that this assessment produces a stable measure of play behavior that can then guide therapists when planning intervention strategies for children.

Mickey and Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake: children playing in promotional webs

Many children in 'western' societies experience their circumstances through the ideas, stories, characters and values embodied in a narrow range of games, toys, videos, movies, etc. produced by a small group of companies - based mainly in the USA. These companies deploy their huge economic and cultural resources in integrated marketing strategies that can make it hard for children to avoid encountering brand name goods and services designed and marketed specifically to entice them. These marketing strategies can also make it hard for adults to deal with children's fascination with brand name goods. This article tracks the development of the complex organizational, legal and economic corporate relationships at the heart of integrated marketing strategies and explains how they can affect children's experiences of their world. It asks whether the current narrow range of entertainment products and services for children reflects the social and cultural diversity of contemporary societies and asks how to create equally attractive alternatives.

Baby, it`s you : international capital discovers the under threes

Well-established international entertainment firms such as Disney and Fisher-Price are joining new start-up firms such as Baby Einstein to create a 'Baby' market of products (including toys, games and videos) specifically targeted at children aged 0-3 years. Despite its novelty, the 'Baby' market mirrors older markets that these firms have created around other demographic groups (e.g. older children, adolescents and adults) - it redefines its target demographic group around specific commodities and promotes its redefinition as 'common sense'. The 'Baby' firms redefine babies solely as early learners whose potential to learn can be released by these firms' brand-name 'educational' or 'developmental' products. Many adults buy these products because they accept the firms' redefinition of babies, but other adults ignore the firms' promotional messages and buy the products to give themselves some time apart from their babies. The 'Baby' market is significant for children and adults because it changes young children's relationships with adults and because it subordinates local cultural differences to a children's culture that purports to be 'global' but has, in reality, extremely narrow foundations in class, race and gender.

Parental awareness and attitudes about food advertising to children on Australian television

Objective: To assess parents' concern regarding television food advertising to children and the marketing methods used, their awareness of existing regulations and support for strengthening restrictions, and to determine whether these factors differ across sociodemographic groups.

Methods: A randomly selected sample of 400 parents of children under 14 years in all Australian States and Territories completed the cross-sectional telephone survey in March 2007. Data were weighted by metropolitan and regional population proportions.

Results: Parents were concerned about unhealthy food advertising to children (67.3%), use of popular personalities (67.7%), toys (76.4%), and advertising volume (79.7%). Older parents, of high socioeconomic status (SES), with fewer household televisions were more likely to be concerned. Only 47.4% of parents were aware of current regulations and those with a tertiary education were more likely to be aware: odds ratio (OR) 2.96 (95% CI: 1.55-5.65). Parents supported a change from self-regulation (92.8%), a ban on unhealthy food advertising to children (86.8%) and, to a lesser extent, a ban on all food advertising (37.3%).

Conclusions and implications: There was widespread parental concern about food advertising and strong support for tighter restrictions. Given that the existing regulations rely on complaints and awareness is low, particularly among parents with lower education levels, a system of external monitoring and enforcement is essential. Clearly more effective regulations are needed to protect children and parental support for this is high.

Influences on preschool children's physical activity

This study explored mothers' perceptions of influences on preschoolers' physical activity. Six semistructured focus groups with 23 mothers were conducted across a range of socioeconomic position locations. Mothers identified 4 key areas of influence: child fundamentals (eg, sex, personality), parent power (eg, rules, support), people to share with (eg, peers, adults), and places and things (eg, physical environments, toys). No substantial differences in themes were identified among socioeconomic position groups. Influences on preschoolers' physical activity are multidimensional, multifactorial, and support the use of ecological models to conceptualize and understand the influencing factors. Associations among factors influencing preschoolers' physical activity should be further investigated through quantitative research.

Play preference of children with ADHD and typically developing children in Brazil : a pilot study

Background/aim: Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been reported to have play deficits, which can cause problems in occupational development. The aim of this paper was to report research findings on children with ADHD and typically developing children in relation to preference of play partners, play places, toys and type of play.

Methods: Thirty-two school aged children from lowsocioeconomic status were divided into two groups. One group of 16 children with ADHD were matched with 16 typically developing children.

Results and conclusion: There were no significant differences between the two groups in relation to play partners, with classmates being the most frequent play partner for both groups. There were significant differences between the two groups in preferred place to play. Children with ADHD preferred to play in school and typically developing children preferred to play on the street. There were significant differences in relation to toys and type of play engaged in with children with ADHD preferring educational materials and typically developing children preferring electronic games. These findings add to knowledge of Brazilian children with ADHD and their play preferences. Comparisons are made with research with Australian children with and without ADHD.

Play materials

 This chapter presents the role of play in fostering health and wellbeing in children, identifying that curriculum guidelines and policies today, in many countries, take cognisance of these important facets of development. The chapter discusses what experts, such as Laevers (1994, 2004), state about wellbeing and how his international scale on wellbeing has also been used in the Australian contexts (DECS, 2008). Other important elements of play which are central to children’s health and wellbeing are presented with timely examples of how play contexts give children the much needed opportunities to grow and play in a healthy and confident way. Issues relating to technological toys, war play, commercialisation of play materials and safety criteria for selecting toys and equipment, are also presented.

Singaporean Parents’ Views of Their Young Children’s Access and Use of Technological Devices

Debates continue about the access young children have to technological devices, given the increasingly accessible and available technology in most developed countries. Concerns have been expressed by parents/caregivers and researchers, and questions have been raised about possible risks and benefits of these devices on young children who, in some instances, may be accessing these devices daily. Levin (2013) states that it is as if children are being remote controlled by the scripts of others (television, videos, electronic toys) which undermine children’s abilities to create their own learning scripts. This study investigated 1,058 parents’/caregivers’ views of their children’s (aged below 7 years) access and time spent on technology devices. Parents’/caregivers’ views on risks and benefits associated with the use of the emerging touch screen devices were also sought. The context for this research was Singapore which, according to a survey in 2012 by Ericsson, has one of the highest usage rates of smartphones and touchscreen devices in the world. The findings may help researchers, parents/caregivers and teachers to further their understanding of young children’s development in the twenty-first century.

Um estudo empírico sobre a construção da identidade social do consumidor de toy art

O objetivo deste trabalho é compreender como os consumidores de Toy Art utilizam o seu bem para constituir a sua identidade social, além de explorar este relacionamento de consumo, investigando os fatores que desencadeiam o processo de extensão de si no Toy Art. A sustentação teórica deste trabalho se deu pelo aprofundamento dos temas já levantados anteriormente por Campbell & Barbosa (2006) e McCracken (2003), em seus estudos sobre cultura e consumo; Schouten & McAlexander (1995) em sua pesquisa sobre subculturas de consumo; Hall (2005), que expôs suas teorias sobre a formação da identidade no mundo moderno; Douglas & Isherwood (2004), que estudaram os rituais de consumo; Belk (1988), com suas pesquisas sobre a extensão do self. Este estudo é de caráter exploratório, e foi conduzido com entrevistas em profundidade com o intuito de deixar emergir os sentimentos e emoções dos respondentes, para uma melhor orientação na direção das análises dos dados obtidos. Os dados foram coletados junto a 14 consumidores de Toys, de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 19 e 38 anos, residentes nos estados de Belo Horizonte, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo e o Distrito Federal, durante os meses de julho e agosto de 2009. Para atingir os objetivos propostos, o método de pesquisa adotado foi qualitativo, com priorização do sujeito e da subjetividade, utilizando-se uma forma interpretativa para a análise dos dados. Os resultados demonstraram que os consumidores de Toy Art utilizam o seu bem para constituir sua identidade social e como uma forma de diferenciação e expressão. A extensão de si se dá exatamente durante essa busca pelo incomum, por um bem que o distinga dos demais. Conclui-se o trabalho, fazendo-se recomendações gerenciais com o intuito de beneficiar e desenvolver a indústria deste segmento.

A indústria do brincar

O brincar é uma atividade construtiva através da qual a criança elabora a sua percepção do mundo e, conseqUentemente, a estruturação de sua personalidade. Os brinquedos podem ser utilizados como instrumentos de criação, quando permitem ã criança liberar suas fantasias, ou de dominação, ao reforçarem a reprodução de idéias, valores e papéis sociais. ~ preciso conhecer o universo circundante da criança: a família e a sociedade na qual ela vive, para se poder avaliar os brinquedos que são colocados no mercado, o comportamento dos pais em relação ao brincar da criança e a opção de escolha que os pais fazem ao presentearem os filhos com brinquedos. Atualmente, a sociedade coloca ã disposição da criança brinquedos que trazem em si mensagens que reforçam condutas sociais, atuando, desde cedo, no estabelecimento de um modo de pensar tipicamente capitalista. O objetivo é desenvolver nas brincadeiras um tipo de "modelização do comportamento" da criança que é, ao mesmo tempo, lúdico e semiótico. Para melhor entender "as regras deste jogo", as características da sociedade foram examinadas com base nas categorias marxistas: trabalho, alienação e mercadoria. Na tentativa de se interpretar esta versão do "brincar da criança" utilizou-se, ainda, os referenciais tempo, simulacro, publicidade e consumo. Este com destaque, por ser a base de sustentação da sociedade capitalista. Consumir passou a ser um imperativo do nosso tempo. Todas são capturados: homens, mulheres e crianças. O desejo é a matéria-prima geradora de consumo. ~ ele que conduz o homem na sua busca incessante pelo objeto ideal. O desejo pode ser visto como formação de uma carência, constituída nos primeiros anos de vida da criança, que arrasta o indivíduo numa procura in[indivel (visão psicanalítica), ou como produção coletiva do homem, processo de ruptura do sistema que o oprime, de acordo com Deleuze e Guattari. A "apropriação" do desejo da criança através do brinquedo é, certamente, um instrumento poderoso, que leva não só à exploração do consumo mas, principalmente, a uma subjetividade construída sob valores que estão voltados, unicamente, para a economia de mercado.

Motivating sustainable goal choices and providing effective feedback

Overconsumption of natural resources and the associated environmental hazards are one of today’s most pressing global issues. In the western world, individual consumption in homes and workplaces is a key contributor to this problem. Reflecting the importance of individual action in this domain, this thesis focuses on studying and influencing choices related to sustainability and energy consumption made by people in their daily lives. There are three main components to this work. Firstly, this thesis asserts that people frequently make ineffective consumption reduction goal choices and attempts to understand the rationale for these poor choices by fitting them to goalsetting theory, an established theoretical model of behavior change. Secondly, it presents two approaches that attempt to influence goal choice towards more effective targets, one of which deals with mechanisms for goal priming and the other of which explores the idea that carefully designed toys can exert influence on children’s long term consumption behavior patterns. The final section of this thesis deals with the design of feedback to support the performance of environmentally sound activities. Key contributions surrounding goals include the finding that people choose easy sustainable goals despite immediate feedback as to their ineffectiveness and the discussion and study of goal priming mechanisms that can influence this choice process. Contributions within the design of value instilling toys include a theoretically grounded framework for the design of such toys and a completed and tested prototype toy. Finally, contributions in designing effective and engaging energy consumption feedback include the finding that negative feedback is best presented verbally compared with visually and this is exemplified and presented within a working feedback system. The discussions, concepts, prototypes and empirical findings presented in this work will be useful for both environmental psychologists and for HCI researchers studying eco-feedback.