Sticking Together: Handcrafting Personalized Communication Interfaces.

We present I/O Stickers, adhesive sensors and actuators thatchildren can use to create personalized remote communicationinterfaces. By attaching I/O Stickers to special greeting cards,children can invent ways to communicate with long-distanceloved ones with personalized, connected messages. Childrendecorate these cards with their choice of craft materials, creativelyexpressing themselves while making a functioning interface. Thelow-bandwidth connections leave room for children to design notonly the look and function, but also the signification of theconnections. We describe the design of the I/O Stickers, a varietyof artifacts children have created, and future directions for thetoolkit. Preliminary results indicate that I/O Stickers are beginningto make a space for creative learning about communication and tomake keeping in touch playful and meaningful.

• General Science