KIDS Vision

Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

KIDS VISIon

Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

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Credit: Chris Willis

KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Created by Latitude Studios in conjunction with 549 kid innovators from around the world. Copyright 2012 Latitude. All Rights Reserved.

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learning
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creating
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connecting
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Latitude is exploring where kids and technology can take each other.

Female, 10, Australia

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Credit: Lance Shields

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Introduction

The future is not laid out on a track. It is something that we can decide and, to the extent that we do not violate any known laws of the universe, we can probably make it work the way that we want to.
Alan Kay

We often are inclined to think of technology as external to us. While it is designed to and generally does enable human progress, technology - be it of the hardware or software variety - is not typically perceived as human. The kids whose ideas are expressed in this book think and feel otherwise. They look at technology - and in particular communicative technologies like computers, the Web and robots - and see themselves. They see computers that speak, robots who are friends and partners, and an Internet that is nothing more (and nothing less) than an extended version of a family. And more profoundly, they picture, at least implicitly, these technologies as both children and parents. That is, we give birth to them in a literal sense and yet they also give birth to us: humans whose capabilities and sensibilities and even very nature are both embedded in and changed by the technologies weve created. In this sense, children do not think

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Introduction

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of the human-technology relationship in terms of friend and foe nor even as intelligent being and assistant; rather, it is a journey of mutual discovery, inspiration, and increasingly vivid, sophisticated, even surprising expression. As you look at the drawings, photos, stories and ideas inside, allow yourself to travel with these kids and their hopes, dreams and envisioned realities. Whats here is just a starting point for us to explore the intricate ways a new generation approaches and interacts with technology.

Steve Mushkin Founder + President, Latitude

*The drawings in this book were collected by Latitude through two KIDS studies, Childrens Future Requests for Computers and the Internet, published in 2011, and Robots @ School, published in 2012.
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Credit: Marcus Kwan

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1. learning
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Credit: Tim & Selena Middleton

Do not, then, my friend, keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.
Plato
Credit: Nagarjun Kandukuru

BIG IDEA: kids are looking for technologies that accompany and inspire them...
Connecting 17

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Learning

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he serious business of learning has been separated from play for too long. Early childhood professionals have long emphasized the importance of play-based learning as an important way for young children to explore, understand and participate in enriching their world. Young children involved in domestic role-play or social play are testing the boundaries in imagined spaces. They are playing kitchen and talking about how the stove is hot or counting the number of eggs needed for the meal. They are investing in what we now call 21st century skills. Technology makes these experiences even more fluid and accessible; it allows children to learn to collaborate, to create new things, to process information all through play. The modern language of education and holistic learning has long been present in the education theories of Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Steiner. All of these foster play, celebrate and value the explorative, imaginative and creative learning

opportunities it offers. Through the integration of technology we are increasingly beginning to recognize that play has a role in our learning all through our lives. The playfulness of touch technology is reinvigorating self-directed learning in boardrooms and offices, as the playfulness of doing things with our hands is rediscovered. The hype around gamification is a way to try and justify what is essentially play. And, Latitudes research tells us stories of children and young people who expect play to be a part of how they learn, develop and grow with technology. Play is fun and engaging and at the heart of living an energized and enriched life.

Daniel Donahoo Director, Project Synthesis Author, Idolising Children

KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Learning

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te ach + inspire me

RJ is a cool dude robot. He looks like a transformer robot, and with a click of a button he shows me his screen. It then looks like a laptop. I may type my work into the laptop, instead of writing. Then RJ fixes my spelling, and tells me when my sentence is wrong. That way the teacher does not see all the mistakes, but can see how good my idea is.
Boy, 12, South Africa

That way the teacher does not see all the mistakes but can see how good my idea is.

Easy help with maths homework.

Girl, 12, Australia

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Learning

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challenge me and make it fun

I was excited because I was terrible at spelling and maths and thought that the robot could help me a lot. It can work out any math question in a second and knows how to spell every word ever inventMy robot finds ed. The robot helps anyone who me finish a times tables challenge in needs help and less than 1 minute helps them. and helps me on my spelling test. My robot finds anyone who needs help and helps them. He likes to help and is very kind. He has a screen in his body that says what he is saying.
Girl, 12, Australia

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Credit: MIKI Yoshihito

Latitude + KIDS KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Learning

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friend first - te acher second

Larry [the robot] said to me, Look, maths is an important part of your life and you will be using it a lot in the future. If you dont do maths now with me I wont be a close friend.

I said, Ok I will do it, so we raced each other with multiplication and he won but I got a better score than I got at school.
Girl, 11, Australia

My robot, Calvin, is a dancing robot. Its able to do the usual things like homework and cleaning up the house, as well as dancing when hes happy. Hes a brilliant dancer... and he helps me prepare for the school dance competition as well as helping out in the garden when I get tired.
Boy, 12, South Africa
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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

motivate me by making le arning fun

He made learning fun for me, by helping me to do my math and English. He then played with me at playtime. Hes much better at the monkey bars than me.
Boy, 11, United Kingdom

"I would like to have a computer that lets me know, when doing homework, if there are errors, or if I am correct. I would also like the computer to motivate me by showing happy faces or giving me emoticons."
Girl, 10, Mexico

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Learning

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help me with the little things, too

He is very smart and can answer a lot of questions for me and tell me interesting stories. My robot wakes me up every morning and reminds me to brush my teeth and to pack all the school supplies that I need today. He can also play music, dance, perform some funny tricks, light for me in the dark with his built-in flashlight and play with me.
Boy, 9, Germany

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Learning

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Logik kommt man von A nach B. Phantasie bringt Sie berall hin.

2. creating
Credit: Mads Bdker Credit: Samuel Mann

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Albert Einstein

BIG IDEA: kids want technologies that help them fly...

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Credit: Kai Schreiber

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Creating

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reating is at the core of learning, yet educational efforts often focus only on information delivery and forget to support the creative and social aspects of learning. For example, information delivery platforms, such as interactive e-books on iPads or video lectures on YouTube, are important and laudable, but they address only a small component of what learning is about. From Vygtotsky to Papert to Resnick to Lave and Wenger, scholars have argued that some of the richest learning experiences are those that engage people in creating personally meaningful artifacts in the social context of a community, or what Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich called learning webs. For example, people often think of programming as a lonely activity reserved for expert and geeky adults. My colleagues and I think that programming, like reading and writing, is

for everyone and, not only that, it is also social. Using tools like Scratch, Kodu, Alice and others, young people create personally meaningful digital artifacts, such as animations and video games, in the context of communities. They are not only learning computer programming; they are also developing collaborative skills through working together with others, remixing, and exchanging ideas. In the future, I hope to see a broader range of socio-technical platforms that empower amateurs to be active participants in a world increasingly mediated by social computing environments.

Andrs Monroy-Hernandez Researcher and Designer of the Scratch Online Community, MIT Media Lab

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Creating

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cre ate New adventures

"I want a computer that talks to me when I'm playing my games. It helps me build adventures of my own, and avoid obstacles in the game."
Boy, 9, United States

Id like to make up my own video game.

Boy, 8, United States

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Creating

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let me mix digital and physicaL

Id like to paint and draw right on the computer screen and have it show up.
Girl, 8, United States

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Creating

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"I would like it if my computer could convert images or food and make them real."
Girl, 10, Australia

im the designer

"This is a computer that's making a cell phone. I can design the phone however I want. When it's done, it puts it together and gives it to me."
Girl, 6, United States

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Creating

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le arn to cre ate

"I want an interactive system to help me get more detailed with my landscape design."
Girl, 12, United States

Id like computer games to learn about fashion designing.

Girl, 11, Australia
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cre ativity is for sharing

You should be able to record a video of yourself singing a song without a video or audio recorder attached to your computer. You should be able to put different backgrounds on, and make yourself wear different things. And share the videos with your friends if you want.
Girl, 9, Australia
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Credit: Pawel Loj

KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Creating

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Credit: Ishmael Orendain

3. connecting
Credit: LAI Ryanne Credit: Sam Howzit

A childs infatuation with robots and other human interfaces is at the image of our own endless human quest for renewed identity.
Edith Ackermann
Credit: Super Cozi

BIG IDEA: kids are looking for technologies that hear their voices and read their minds...
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Connecting

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ts no surprise that todays children begin their lives a step (or more) ahead of the rest of us, learning to relate to the world differently - often through technology. The drawings in this section remind us that kids expect technology will not only deliver information, but inspire action and, in many cases, befriend us, accompany us through different experiences, and help us learn and grow. For kids, true synchrony between physical and digital worlds is not a novelty, but an expectation one that unlocks many new possibilities. Unlike us, this is their starting point. Whats exciting is that kids not only recognize how technology can propel them into the world, but also how it can enable dialogue with their peers in new ways. They have a real desire for global connectivity and they expect technology to eliminate traditional barriers like language and distance, connecting them to kids all over the world in rich, new ways, whether its through real-time translated video-chatting or futuristic teleportation devices.

Many children implicitly believe that devices are an extension of ones self. If thats true, then as these devices are increasingly integrated with the physical world, it follows that technology is a gateway to expanding our own experiences with the world at large. No longer just an end in itself, technology helps us create more meaningful experiences with the world around us and with one another. It fosters new skills, creates new opportunities, and facilitates new relationships. All of this means that kids can teach us not only about their own needs, but also about how to connect with and articulate our own unexpressed desiresand even how to approach bigger, global problems in new ways. Kids are naturally intuiting this, and we as adults are following closely behind.

Neela Sakaria EVP/Managing Director, Latitude

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

robots are natural friends

I wish the computer was a robot I could take everywhere with me - to play chess or soccer outside... in other words, I want it to be a friend I can share with my other friends.
Boy, 7, Colombia

Help Computer: it knows what you are thinking and does it for youboth touch and voice controlled.
Boy, 8, Australia
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human or robot? we dont discriminate

We played together in my room and made cakes in the kitchen. We have fun together. He looks like a young boy. He can do everything a human can do.
Girl, 10, France

The entire class played with the robot hide and seek, for example. He looks like a robot, is grey, but has a face and is as tall as a child. He is a great fellow and everyone would like to take him home at the end of the day, but he has to go away (into space).
Girl, 12, Germany

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lets get beyond the touch screen

Id like to touch the things that are in the screen feel and move them.
Girl, 7, Spain

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Credit: Jennifer Morrow

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listen to my voice, re ad my thoughts

I want to be able to send messages with my mind, without moving the mouse or the keyboard.
Girl, 12, Mexico

I want to video kids on the other side of the world using a different kind of language.
Girl, 7, United States

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let me explore new places

Teleport through the screen to another computer at the place of your choice.
Boy, 9, Australia

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kids are also interested in:

Alternative Energy Sources A laptop that can be used outside and charged by the power of the sun.
Girl, 10, United States

Fashion Advice A robot that would help me pick out fashion clothes everyday and dress me.
Girl, 8, South Africa

New Gaming Possibilities Playing 3D games while earning real money at the same time.
Girl, 9, Australia

3D & Immersive Technologies I want a hologram or a picture that comes out of the screen.
Boy, 12, United States

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whats your future request?

Childrens Future requests for the Internet
In our Childrens Future Requests for Computers and the Internet study, we asked more than 200 kid-innovators, ages 12 and under, from six continents to draw the answer to this question: What would you like your computer or the Internet to do that it cant do right now?

KIDS Vision:
This book was prepared by:

robots @ School
In our Robots @ School study, we asked nearly 350 kids, ages 8-12, from Australia, France, Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States to illustrate and write a story explaining: What would happen if robots were a part of your everyday lifeat school and beyond?

Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Studios
Latitude Studios, a branch of Latitude research, re-imagines the way research is traditionally communicated through an emphasis on storytelling and highly visual, interactive ways of conveying knowledge and insights. We tell stories, from the perspective of individuals and groups of people across the world, about how the Web can continue to change the way we live for the better.
Designer: Kadley Gosselin, Content Manager kim Gaskins, Director of Content Development Neela Sakaria, EVP/managing Director Steve mushkin, Founder + President To learn more about working with Latitude, contact Neela Sakaria, at nsakaria@latd.com

Now its your turn! Whats your future request for technology or the Web?

Coming Up
Stay tuned for Trash to Treasure an upcoming installment of our kIDS Series, focused on the intersection of technology and future possibilities for a more sustainable world.

Keep in Touch
LATD.Com LIFE-CoNNECTED@LATD.Com @LATDDoTCom FACEBook.Com/LATITUDErESEArCh

Send us your idea: life-connected@latd.com. Thanks for exploring with us!

Recycle infusible things of trash from metal and make a bridge. Klra, 12, Czech Republic

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Special thanks to the Latitude team:

Kim Gaskins, Director of Content Development

Hasan Elsadig, Research Analyst

Mikyo Butler, Research Analyst

Dan Hemmerly-Brown, Innovation Engineer Victoria McComiskey, Research Analyst Steve Mushkin, Founder & President

Klara Gregory, Director of Administration

Kadley Gosselin, Content Manager

Ian Schulte, Director of Business Development

Neela Sakaria, EVP/Managing Director

Jessica Reinis, Senior Analyst

Chris Simpkins, Chief Software Architect

Andy Wiltshire, Lead Strategist, Analytics

Natalie Stehfest, Senior Analyst

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KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology

Closing Thoughts