Steve Mushkin / @latddotcom

KIDGENUITY:
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM KIDS INVENTING FUTURE TECHNOLOGY

ReadWriteWeb 2WAY Summit June 14, 2011

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

Albert Einstein

Female, 10, Melbourne, Australia

WHY TALK TO KIDS?

1. They like to be asked.

They have a very 2. intuitive relationship with tech. They can be a window 3. into future tech. Theyre creative, and 4. often have practical solutions. Even 5. ideastheir wackiest reveal patterns that are insightful and grounded.

Photo by Cia De Foto on Flickr

STUDY: CHILDRENS FUTURE REQUESTS FOR COMPUTERS & THE INTERNET

Photo by Markus Kwan

Our Participants

We asked 200+ kids across the world, ages 12 & under, to draw their answers to this question:

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR COMPUTER OR THE INTERNET TO DO THAT IT CANT DO NOW?

INSIGHT 1 Human Computers: More Intuitive & Interactive

77% of kids illustrated a tech idea that called for more dynamic, human-level responsiveness (often anthropomorphized as robots or virtual companions).
Photo by Markus Kwan

1 Human Computers: More Intuitive & Interactive

I want to play virtual mind-reading games.

Male, 12, Sydney, Australia

1 Human Computers: More Intuitive & Interactive

The computer becomes 3-dimensional and, instead of a keyboard, its controlled by voice.
Female, 11, Copenhagen, Denmark

1 Human Computers: More Intuitive & Interactive

Help Computer: it knows what you are thinking and does it for youboth touch and voice controlled.
Male, 8, Brisbane, Australia

1 Human Computers: More Intuitive & Interactive

I want an interface where we can search, not by text, but by drawingand get image results with that particular shape or pattern.
Female, 12, Mumbai, India

INSIGHT 2 The Digital vs. Physical Divide is Disappearing

Nearly 40% of kids imagined technologies that bridged the gap between virtual and physical experiences.
Photo by enfad on Flickr

2 The Digital vs. Physical Divide is Disappearing

Id like to go through the computer to the places that are inside it.
Female, 4, Medellin, Colombia

2 The Digital vs. Physical Divide is Disappearing

Id like to touch the things that are in the screenfeel and move them.
Female, 7, Barcelona, Spain

2 The Digital vs. Physical Divide is Disappearing

Id like it if my computer could convert images or food and make them real.
Female, 10, Pakenham, Australia

2 The Digital vs. Physical Divide is Disappearing

The Food Printer

MITs Fluid Interfaces Group

2 The Digital vs. Physical Divide is Disappearing

Id like to paint and draw right on the computer screen and have it show up.
Female, 8, Ogden, Utah, USA

INSIGHT 3 Technology Should Improve & Empower Us

1/3 of kids invented technologies that would empower them by fostering new knowledge and skills.
Photo by laihiu on Flickr

3 Technology Should Improve & Empower Us

I want to video kids on the other side of the world using a different kind of language.
Female, 7, Warwick, RI, USA

3 Technology Should Improve & Empower Us

I want a computer that gives easy help with math homework.

Female, 12, Victoria, Australia

3 Technology Should Improve & Empower Us

I want to make up my own video game.

Male, 8, Kennewick, WA, USA

3 Technology Should Improve & Empower Us

I wish the computer could be faster than a plane or a car and not waste time, taking me from South Africa to the USA in seconds.
Male, 8, Pretoria, South Africa

INSIGHTS

1. ME = TECH Human computers: more intuitive & interactive 2. TECH = WORLD The physical vs. digital divide is disappearing 3. ME = WORLD Technology should improve & empower us
Photo by Samuel Mann

POSSIBILITIES FOR CREATORS OF CONTENT & TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES

1. Games and entertainment with real-world outcomes 2. Advanced mastery and creation 3. Robots: the next generation of HCI

Photo by Chris Willis

I want to watch movies (for a fee) currently being screened at the cinema.
Female, 11, Sydney, Australia

I want a robot that would help me pick out fashion clothes and dress me everyday.
Female, 8, Potchefstroom, South Africa

There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!

Richard Feynman

KIDS INNOVATION & DISCOVERY STUDIES (KIDS) AN ONGOING LEARNING & INNOVATION SERIES
Childrens Future Requests for Computers & the Internet Robots @ School Trash to Treasure

KIDS invites children from across the globe to tackle big ideas in structured problemsolving scenarios, providing valuable insights for educators, technologists, and society.

Follow our innovation studies: latd.com / @latddotcom

Presenter: Steve Mushkin steve@latd.com

www.latd.com

978.921.0712

275 Cabot St., Beverly, MA

twitter * @latddotcom

Latitude is an international research consultancy helping clients create engaging content, software and technology that harness the possibilities of the Web. To learn more about working with Latitude, contact: Ian Schulte, Director of Technology & Business Development (ischulte@latd.com).

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