Children's "Future Requests" for Computers and the Internet

Latitude 42s: an Open Innovation Series Children’s “Future Requests” for What do children think computers should be doing? Children’s “Future Requests” for Computers Computers and the Internet and the Internet is the second installment of Latitude 42s: an Open Innovation Series, user- Study Lead: Jessica Reinis powered research studies which unite collective creativity and sophisticated quantitative analysis to generate Web-based solutions for the future. CONTEXT KEY FINDINGS Kids as Innovation-Thinkers Digital, Meet Physical Children are excellent problem-solvers. When 38% of children’s innovations called for more immersive content experiences than are standard at asked to generate novel concepts, they are present, with features like 3D effects (10% of all submissions) or seamless integration of digital and bound by fewer cognitive constraints than physical spaces.a (In many cases, devices could create physical objects such as food, or facilitate adults; they are relatively unconcerned with the physical activities such as playing a sport.)d For children today, true synchrony between physical perceived boundaries of what is practical and and digital worlds is no longer a novelty but an expectation. what is possible. Intuitive Interaction The current study, which asked children to The majority of children (83%) desired interactive technologies (such as responsive virtual ideate new digital technologies, found that their environments, 3D games, “homework help” computers, etc.).1,b Children increasingly desire “future requests” were surprisingly realistic. Only “anthropomorphic technologies”—devices that offer human-level responsiveness. 4% of the products and services generated would be impossible charges for today’s Look, Ma, No Hands! developers (e.g. teleportation, time travel). 37% of children’s technology concepts did not include the traditional keyboard/mouse interface at User experience designers, prominent all.2 With an eye toward more “fluid” interfaces, 12% incorporated touchscreen features; 8%, visual companies and academic institutions have controls; and 4% imagined telepathy as a form of device input.3,c already discovered the applied value of Half of all participants visually represented themselves interacting with their invented technologies, incorporating children’s creative input into their supporting the “iGeneration” understanding of device as merely an extension of oneself. innovation streams, especially insofar as younger generations—digital natives—approach The Social World is Growing and Shrinking? technology with matter-of-course acceptance Social networking was especially salient for 10-12 year-olds, who contributed 56% of all socially- and deftly intuited modes of interaction. enabling innovations. Thus far, accomplished thinkers have seen new In addition to close friends and family, some participants articulated a desire to interact with other digital potential primarily in the realms of media children in far-distant locales.e For kids today, the world, ironically, feels smaller and more accessible and entertainment; children, however, are —just as their awareness of its size, diversity, and possibility is increasing. imagining how it might rejuvenate age-old human routines, everyday physical tasks and Confidence Through Creation & Creativity social activities. 31% of technologies proposed by children were a tool or platform for creating something (a Web 1 “Interactive” site, a game, a video to be shared, a physical object, etc.). was defined as being continually reactive/ adaptive to the child’s input. 2 Percentage Interestingly, this drive to create—and the expectation that technology will facilitate creative from total number of concepts which possessed a clearly discernible means of interaction (more expression—was highly under-acknowledged by parents. Only 7% of participants’ parents chose than half of all total submissions). creation or design as one of their child’s favorite activities while, not surprisingly, 70% selected 3 Response options were not mutually exclusive. gaming.3 Children’s own inventions revealed artistic design as a close second to gaming. a,b,c,d,e See page 3 for examples of user submissions. Type tois enter text research consultancy exploring how new information and communications technologies Latitude an international can enhance human experiences. Latitude’s user-centered research approach unites generative, media-based methods with robust quantitative analysis to identify concrete opportunities for Web-based innovation. content company social contact media Latitude LIFE, CONNECTED Latd, Inc., 2010, (cc) some rights reserved. photo: Marcus Kwan

Children’s “Future Requests” for Computers and the Internet Latitude 42s: an Open Innovation Series OPPORTUNITIES Create Action, Not Just Information To offer value to today’s children as they age, Already well-versed in online game-play that companies across industries will need to reach Inspiration triggers offline actions and offers tangible beyond merely delivering information to sensing Children Solve Problems, Edward de Bono rewards (e.g. virtual currency that can be used to and organizing information—then converting it to make “real-world” purchases), today’s kids will intelligent action automatically. “Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media,” continue to break down the digital-physical University of California, Berkeley (2008) Offer True Interactivity divide. This generation will expect to use real- Kids today expect interactive content time technologies that anticipate and assist Scratch, MIT Media Lab environments: a clear prediction that visually action; they will demand more applications for immersive features (like 3D-enabled home TVs) The Internet of Things (when objects are “What Influences Children’s and Adolescents’ alone won’t sustain any audience for long. connected to the Internet via RFID tags, sensors Understanding of the Complexity of the and barcodes), optimized for everyday life. As such, technology and media developers Internet?,” Zheng Yan (2006) should construct ways for people to interact not Imagine: your car GPS knows your location and just with the technology but with the actual story “Young Swedes: The Next Generation of estimated travel time with traffic; when you’re 30 being told through the device. Innovators,” Snilleblixtarna (2009) minutes from home, it turns on the air conditioner there. For more information on this study and its applications to your business, email Neela Sakaria (nsakaria@latd.com). THEMES IN CHILDREN’S FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES % of Submissions Incorporating Theme* Study Lead *response options were not mutually exclusive Jessica Reinis is a research analyst at Latitude. 30% 21% Study Partner ReadWriteWeb is one of the 12% 12% world’s top 20 blogs. It provides 11% 10% insightful analysis of Web-related 7% 7% 6% 5% news and trends. ing als o de rt & ts m ts ity l fri y od ds ve n de & mil or c Ga sig tiv im en a fe Fo nn l A Vi cia Sp Tr Fa ec ef An So 3D co METHODOLOGY (KALEIDOSCOPE™) Using a Web-based survey environment, parents of participants aged 12 and under (n=126) from across the globe answered a series of questions about their child’s knowledge and use of digital devices and their engagement with various online activities. Basic demographics were also collected. Children were then asked to imagine and pictorially represent a new technology product or service of interest to them (see page 3 for examples): “What would be really interesting or fun to do on your computer or the Internet that your computer canʼt do right now? Please draw a picture of what this activity looks like.” Images were uploaded into Kaleidoscope™, a Web application (part of Latitude’s Lumière Suite) which allows users to contribute and interact with visual input in a behavioral environment. Latitude developed a reliable coding scheme to delineate and quantify technology themes amongst the submitted images (such as device interface characteristics, degree of interactivity, physical-digital convergence, user’s desired end-goal, social characteristics, etc.). Type tois enter text research consultancy exploring how new information and communications technologies Latitude an international can enhance human experiences. Latitude’s user-centered research approach unites generative, media-based methods with robust quantitative analysis to identify concrete opportunities for Web-based innovation. content company social contact media Latitude LIFE, CONNECTED Latd, Inc., 2010, (cc) some rights reserved.

Children’s “Future Requests” for Computers and the Internet Latitude 42s: an Open Innovation Series ON THE VERGE A FEW VERY FORWARD IDEAS a d “The computer becomes 3-dimensional and, instead “I would like it if my computer could convert images of a keyboard, it's controlled by voice.” or food and make them real! I drew a picture of a girl —Age 11, Copenhagen, Denmark clicking on an image on the computer and it came real.” b —Age 10, Pakenham, Australia e “It's like guitar hero (you could do drums too) ... maybe with surround sound and the computer could be touchscreen so that you can interact directly with the instruments if you want. (That's not necessary; you can hold a guitar in real life that controls it.)” —Age 9, Miami, FL, USA “I want to video kids on the other side of the world using a different kind of language.” c —Age 7, Warwick, RI, USA f “Help Computer: it knows what you are thinking and “Being able to watch (for a fee) movies currently does it for you—both touch and voice controlled.” being screened at the cinema.” –Age 8, Brisbane, Australia —Age 11, Sydney, Australia Type tois enter text research consultancy exploring how new information and communications technologies Latitude an international can enhance human experiences. Latitude’s user-centered research approach unites generative, media-based methods with robust quantitative analysis to identify concrete opportunities for Web-based innovation. content company social contact media Latitude LIFE, CONNECTED Latd, Inc., 2010, (cc) some rights reserved.

Children's "Future Requests" for Computers and the Internet

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