The main aim of our research is to design and develop principles and technologies that allow everyday users to develop complex technological artefacts, and we exemplify this by initial explorative studies of the use in ICT education that would serve the needs in developing countries, in math training, in learning activities for speech therapy in cases of dyslexia and aphasia, and in story telling performed through the construction of physical characters exhibiting emotional states. The studies were performed with children and young people from Denmark , Italy , and Tanzania .

The studies are based upon our development of Intelligent Building Blocks (I-BLOCKS) to support learning by construction and, more specifically, to support “programming by building”. By attaching a number of basic building blocks (each containing a microprocessor and communication channels) together, the user constructs an artefact, which can perceive input, process it, and produce output. In general, the I-BLOCKS are an innovative concept of building blocks allowing users to manipulate conceptual structures and compose atomic actions while building physical constructions. They represent an example of enabling technologies for tangible interfaces since they emphasise physicality of interaction through the use of spatial and kinaesthetic knowledge. Differently from other approaches, I-BLOCKS do not only specify a computation that is performed by the target system but perform at the same time the computation and the associated action/functionality. Manipulating I-BLOCKS do not only mean constructing physical or conceptual structures but also composing atomic actions into complex behaviours.

Based upon the development of this initial prototype tool kit, we engaged in development of technology in a cultural context. Here, I will describe initial experiences in involving users from Tanzania in the development of I-BLOCKS technology for the African cultural context. Users of the intelligent building blocks (I-BLOCKS) can do ‘programming by building’ and thereby construct functionality of artefacts in an intuitive manner without the need to learn and use traditional programming languages. We allow both secondary school pupils and university students in Tanzania to investigate possibilities by building with I-BLOCKS within three scenarios, for (1) mathematical training, (2) emotion construction, and (3) language grammar training. Based on the experience, the pupils and students engage in description of future development of the African I-Blocks. Also, the concept of modular building blocks can be used on a larger scale for outdoor activities. For this exemplification, we developed modular processing tiles for a novel playground, which includes sensing and actuation. In this case, the modular system allows reconfiguration of the playground.

The keynote is based on research by the speaker in collaboration with J. Nielsen, P. Marti’s group, and E. Sutinen’s group.

Henrik Hautop Lund is full professor at the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute for Production Technology, University of Southern Denmark . He holds a Ph.D. in computer systems engineering, an MSc in computer science, and a BSc in mathematics. Henrik Hautop Lund heads the AdapTronics Group that has won world championships (RoboCup Humanoids Free Style World Championship 2002, and FIRA KheperaSot World Championship 2002) and which has been awarded several best paper awards. He has published more than 80 peer reviewed papers in international, scientific journals and conference proceedings, and he is member of the Danish National Research Council. Previously, he founded the LEGO Lab at the CIT/University of Aarhus in 1997, and worked as research associate from 1992 to 1995 at the Institute of Psychology , The National Research Council, Rome , Italy , doing research in the fields of artificial life, neural networks, and evolutionary computation. Further, he worked as research associate during 1996 and 1997 in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at University of Edinburgh , UK , doing research on biologically inspired robotics and evolutionary robotics. Together with the Odense city and the Fyn region, he founded the RoboCluster, a cluster of competencies in robotics comprising more than 70 interested parties (mainly industrial partners) in the region of Southern Denmark . RoboCluster activities include educational initiatives between institutions and industries, projects between industrial partners, and a general knowledge enhancement for the modern robotic industry. As a partner in RoboCluster, the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute for Production Technology plays a crucial role of providing forefront research competencies to the industrial partners. The institute’s research concerns the development of autonomous systems, exemplified by robots, by integrating the three areas of core competencies: modern artificial intelligence, software engineering, and robotics. Currently, the institute collaborates with major industrial partners such as Odense Steel Shipyard, ABB, Siemens, Kompan, and LEGO.

http://www.adaptronics.dk