Mobile technologies for parent/child relationships

Abstract

Development literature emphasizes the importance of parental involvement in both care and play activities, to build secure relationships. The chapter presents five case studies of novel designs that employ diverse mobile technologies to provide provide parents and children with new opportunities to share experiences and have fun together while being physically separated. The Virtual Box employs location sensing and a mobile PDA device to extend a familiar hide-and-seek game to a digital platform that a parent and child can use to playfully interact while apart. The aim of the Virtual Box is to understand and support child/parent intimacy. The Collage is a technology for collecting, displayin..