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Thesis Info
- LABS ID
- 00391
- Thesis Title
- I Mirabilia, taking care of the emotional life of hospitalized children
- Author
- Erika Rossi
- E-mail
- erikarossi86 AT gmail.com
- 2nd Author
- Philip Tabor
- 3rd Author
- Gillian Crampton Smith
- Degree
- Visual and Multimedia communication
- Year
- 2011
- Number of Pages
- 143
- University
- Iuav University of Venice
- Thesis Supervisor
- Philip Tabor
- Supervisor e-mail
- ptabor AT iuav.it
- Other Supervisor(s)
- Gillian Crampton Smith
- Language(s) of Thesis
- Italian
- Department / Discipline
- Interaction Design
- Copyright Ownership
- Erika Rossi
- Languages Familiar to Author
- Italian, English, Spanish
- URL where full thesis can be found
- www.erikarossi.com/wordpress/?page_id=20
- Keywords
- Interactive dolls, emotional life, hospitalized children, psychology
- Abstract: 200-500 words
- I Mirabilia (“The Wonders”) are a family of three interactive dolls for hospitalized children. These dolls, through different interactions and behaviors, would allow children to improve their relationships with other people inside the hospital such as doctors, psychologists and other hospitalized children. The main aim of existing projects is basically to improve the relationships between the child and external stakeholders such as family, classmates and teachers, without considering the relationships and emotional states of children in their everyday life. The concept is based on a set of dolls, more physical and direct than screen applications, each providing for the different emotional needs that children with terminal or chronic illnesses often have but don’t easily show. I Mirabilia have a funny and weird aspect and are for a wide range of ages of 6–12 years, because they are suitable for different periods of childhood and hospitalization. Using non invasive interactions and intimate contexts of use, I Mirabilia offer a playful emotional support for hospitalized children, making the work of doctors, psychologists, nurses and all those who take care of the psychological aspects of children easier. The thesis explores the existing projects based on this topic, recounts the creation of the idea and its development on three relational levels through designs and prototypes and describes the interactions and the results obtained from interviews at a hospital.