Micromundos

Micromundos is a collaborative physical computer for children to develop systems thinking through hands-on play in groups fostering human-human interaction.

We know that systems thinking is key to education. And so is computing. That’s why there are more or less low-cost devices for children to learn the language of computers. However, they are based on the personal computer, a human-machine interaction model that keeps the human physically isolated from other humans.

We need low-cost portable devices for a collaborative computing model, for physical in-situ fact-to-face collaboration.

Whether a laptop, a tablet or a mobile phone, regardless of its size, have a keyboard or a touch screen, the personal computer is made for individuals and is solely based on the image. These devices were born in the era of the graphical user interface (GUI): purely digital, general purpose. On the other hand, there are robotic kits for education, but they are either instructional (build your own robot following instructions), they don't integrate control and representation (children control robots remotely from a graphical interface, not physically in-place) or they completely lack a graphical representation.

We need low-cost portable devices that integrate objects and images, new educational devices for the era of tangible interfaces (TUI).

Micromundos is a collaborative physical computer for children to develop systems thinking through hands-on play in groups. A computer made of objects and images that fosters human-human interaction. A playful artifact that combines symbolic, iconic and enactive processes in a single space, taking advantage of our atavistic physical knowledge.

A computational construction kit comprised of augmented building blocks for children to play with dynamical systems, develop creative problem solving and articulate the physical and digital worlds in collaboration with others.

The physical blocks operate over a digital image that represents dynamical systems. The artifact allows us to associate the built systems with various real-world phenomena: data in one or more computers, electricity in microcircuits, numbers in mathematical functions, electrical signals in the brain, activations in artificial neural networks, energy in grids, particles in matter, fluids in hydraulic tubes, vehicles in cities, individuals in societies, words in texts, notes in music, so on and so forth. Infinite stories can be created with a system of elements that flow and transform to generate something new. And the power of association with the different phenomena will activate creativity and expression.

Our question is, what if we start today building a computer for the education of the future?

Design

The project design and development structure is loosely based on MIT's creative learning framework (Four P's by Mitch Resnick http://web.media.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/~mres/papers/constructionism-2014.pdf)

- Play: enabled by the computational construction kit, augmented building blocks and playful tinkering with dynamical systems.

- Projects: the tech stack is designed to be interoperable and hackable. There are two layers of intervention:

1) an API for developers to make content

2) implementation of programmable blocks and editable assets for children to make content

- Peers: enabled by

1) offline physical interaction: human-human interaction in groups

2) implementation of a social platform design for online sharing and community building.

Current educational technologies are confined to computing models that physically isolate people, bringing many social, cognitive and health problems due to the use of screens, keyboards, chairs, monitors and touch screens. Our solution aims to improve the quality of life by taking the computer out of its physical cage and promoting in-situ human-human interaction. Micromundos proposes a more humane use of machines by letting people move, use their bodies, grab physical objects and interact face-to-face with others, while integrating computation as a creative and expressive medium. We think that pushing computation towards a more humane relation with people is innovative.

We are building a new computer that integrates the physical and computational domains using computer vision to analyze the real world scene and projectors as light beams to overlap digital content on top of the scene. The device moves forward the computer interface. Following history:

First, it came the personal computer with keyboard and screen.

Then, it came the mobile computer with touch screen.

Now, we propose a collaborative computer with tangible objects and light projections.

We think this type of device is specially relevant on a educational context based on play, peers and projects

Develop educational content, games and activities

Data flow programming: most educational technology for coding is based on the imperative programming paradigm. Micromundos is more appropriate for data flow and functional programming paradigms (stateless functions that process incoming data and outputs results, composed in higher order networks of operators connected by inlets and outlets)

Deploy the project on educational institutions in Buenos Aires

Improve interoperability in the tech stack. Implement an API for developers to make content. Implement programmable blocks and editable assets for players to make content.

Lower device costs. Optimize performance to make it run in lower cost machines

As we improve the technology and the learning activities and we gain experience deploying Micromundos we will be able to scale the project and implement it with higher scale programs, at state and national levels.

The goal is to deploy open labs in educational institutions: public shools and after school centers. We tested the prototype in a public school in Buenos Aires. It was a success and the goal is to scale the project in that school as well as look for other educational centers in Buenos Aires.

We tested the prototype in the public elementary school N°07 Niñas de Ayohuma in Buenos Aires with 40 children of middle to low income. The school operates in the 7th commune (city district) serving around 400 children. Also, we tested it in privately held workshops with 10 middle class children.

For the next year the goal is to scale the project in the public school where we already tested the prototype. The plan is to integrate the project in the after school program. For the next 3 years we plan to expand it to other public schools as well as other educational centers in Buenos Aires.

 We are a highly skilled and creative team that blurs the barriers between disciplines. We are composed of
 - project lead, designer, engineer
 - game designer, game developer
 - musician, developer
 - teacher, activist, game designer

After testing the prototype in private workshops and successfully reaching the public school we are looking for financial resources in the form of grants or investment, strategic partnerships with institutions and human resources to scale the project.

We lack financial resources. We are looking for partners that could directly or indirectly facilitate financial aid or investment.

Secondly, our project has some technological challenges: lower the cost of the device and make it easy to deploy at scale. To solve these challenges we need engineering resources.