The i-Cube: design considerations for block-based digital manipulatives and their applications

Authors:
Wooi Boon Goh;L. L. Chamara Kasun; Fitriani;Jacquelyn Tan;Wei Shou
Affiliations:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore;Nanyang Technological University, Singapore;Nanyang Technological University, Singapore;Nanyang Technological University, Singapore;Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Venue:
Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference
Year:
2012

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Abstract

Manipulatives are tangible objects designed to support learning through exploratory arrangement and manipulation. The i-Cube is a cube-shaped digital manipulative that provides unique 3-D spatial awareness of the facets and orientation of neighboring i-Cubes. This paper discusses the considerations adopted in its design and the advantages of the proposed design to that of other cube-based tangible user interfaces. The i-Cubes are then employed in the design of two applications. MusiCube Arranger is a tangible music composition and layering system and Spelling Cube is an interactive system for learning spelling. These applications are used to illustrate how the unique features of the i-Cube can be exploited to implement novel tangible interactions such as free-form 3D stacking, interactive control through block orientation change and context-aware feedback.