Title: Cultural differences in preference for which character the child would prefer to be
1Using Storyboards to Guide Virtual World Design
Lynne Hall, Sarah Woods, Kerstin Dautenhahn
Polly Sobreperez
- Cultural differences in preference for which
character the child would prefer to be
Storyboard Evaluation
Storyboard Generation
- Aim
- To evaluate the bullying scenarios produced for
FearNot - Direct physical ( boys)
- Relational - social exclusion (girls)
Aim To capture the stories and experiences that
children tell about bullying behaviour.
Method Storyboards were generated by 15 pairs of
8-11 year old UK children over a 40 minute
period. Feedback was gained through a Classroom
Discussion Forum
Method 81 children (2 UK, 2 German schools)
watched the storyboards They then
completed a scenario evaluation questionnaire.
Questions inquired about reactions to the
scenarios, character preferences, empathy,
emotions and coping strategies. A 20 minute
Classroom Discussion Forum concluded the session
aiming to explore childrens attitudes and
reactions towards the bullying scenarios and the
characters.
Cultural Preference for Characters
Design implications Correct language
configuration for the bullying
scenarios Development of detailed bullying
character profiles that children will
comprehend Storyline design and progression and
enhanced synthetic character design
- Results
- Storyboards depicting bullying behaviour
successfully generated by all participants - Most children found the storyboarding software
package fun and easy to use and would use it
again. - Children stated that it made them think about the
serious nature of bullying behaviour in a novel
way
In summary
Using storyboards supplemented with written
questionnaires and Classroom Discussion Forums
has
- Promoted a child-centred approach in VICTEC
- Enhanced the design of scenarios
- Allowed an exploration of the importance of
empathy in creating believable and engaging VLEs.
- Revealed important cultural and gender-related
design implications for developing believable and
engaging scenarios
- Results
- Scenarios and characters found to be believable
- Cultural differences in levels of comprehension
of the scenario - Children empathic towards victim characters
- Children identify with same gender characters
(particularly in the UK) - Girls have a more sophisticated understanding of
bullying
Design Implications Our approach to exploring
bullying was found to be novel and engaging by
children Bullying scenarios were refined based on
insights into childrens social behaviours and
language capabilities. Clear need for both
relational and direct bullying scenarios
FearNot! Interface Characters