OBSERVING MOTOR DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN USING DEPTH CAMERAS

Abstract

In this article we analyze the 3D interaction of children (using gestures made with whole body) using depth cameras (ie, Microsoft Kinect). It should be noted that there are few research studies in the academic literature that investigates the interactions that children made with whole body through gesture acquisition systems using Kinect sensor, which translates into lack of level design recommendations regarding prototypes involving this type of interaction for children. Natural interfaces, such as those favored by Kinect sensor tend to be intuitive and to require little knowledge from users. Gestures commonly preferred by users are likely to be easier to perform than gestures proposed by designers - which often requires a sustained practice from user. There are few recommendations on specific child gesture interaction with a depth chamber as Microsoft Kinect. As the current market related to Kinect games for children continues to grow, there are still few informations about the ways in which young users interact with these interfaces. Children performance in gestural command execution performance may be different from adults. Children are a unique group of users that require special consideration. We did a study in children aged 3 to 6 years to identify how children perform gestures in working with interfaces that require interaction with the whole body when they were faced with various tasks but common in preschool activities. Gestures and body movements were videotaped, arranged by category and coded for the purpose of comparison by age, sex and degree of experimentation with Kinect interfaces. In the same study parents answered a questionnaire to provide data on the degree of motor development of their children. We correlated the data obtained and we analyzed opportunities to use Kinect type deep cameras for motor development of preschool children.