Querying and Navigating a Database of Images With the Magical Objects of the Wizard Zurlino

This work is part of a research targeted at experimenting the use of physical artifacts for the retrieval of multimedia information. Tangible interfaces – that couple physical artifacts to digital data – are described in different research works, and a number of studies focus on tangibles for children. In spite of that, most of the work done for the kids is related to gaming or learning. This work is focused on a less explored domain, that of the access to information systems. We propose a tangible interface for enabling preschoolers to query and navigate multimedia information. The approach was tested with a class of 27 preschoolers, that where engaged in a game with the magical objects of the wizard Zurlino. The experiment gave us interesting insights about the suitability of the system for preschool children, its ease of use and the need for support by educators.