Blokları işitmek: Çocuklar için sinestetik mekansal sistem önerisi

Children have more imaginative power than adults. They are able to transform objects and create related narrations in their daily expressions. When they match their cognitive and individual views, they interpret daily objects according to their own fiction. They see daily objects differently in their symbolic viewpoint rather than in their real function; therefore it is easy for them to transform functions. It is already known that children are active builders of their own mediums. Yet current technologies offer confined spaces that children cannot actively participate in. Even if these spaces have easy accessibility, they are mostly inadequate for interacting due to their definite purpose. Screen-based devices are commonly used for supporting children's active participation in educational environments but do not provide bodily or spatial experience. The tactile relationship is essential for children to understand the object and its permanency and to be aware of their environment. The thesis proposes a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) system that children can explore, imitate and through which learn. The system is for learning by doing in a multi-sensory environment where children are able to create their own rules and develop learning methods. As in synesthesia, the ability to perceive simultaneously two senses together, the proposed setup is devised to imitate the union of different senses and provides the user feedbacks in the interaction. The setup basically consists of blocks and an embedded interactive system with which children synchronously can create formal and musical combinations. The block size are thought in sizes that 8-10 years old children can easily grasp and the interactive system is able to fit in. Each block is described with a unique musical note that activates by touching the block. The experiments with blocks are conducted in the virtual environment to make further predictions. The process and the final products are modeled in the three-dimensional modeling program to examine which situations are created. Different formal situations and musical responses are investigated by adding, removing or repeating blocks. Therefore, both visual and audial feedbacks are considered constructive that enhance children's cognitive abilities.