Design and Testing of Full-Body Wearable Emotional Experience Devices: A Preliminary Exploration of Emotional Education Tools
摘要
With the rapid advancement of media technology, internet-based media and online games provided by smart devices have become deeply integrated into children’s daily lives. However, prolonged immersion in such media reduces opportunities for face-to-face interactions, which negatively affects children’s emotional perception and expression abilities. Research and clinical observations indicate that children who frequently use internet media and online games often exhibit decreased social sensitivity and limited emotional regulation abilities, further impairing their capacity to recognize and interpret emotional cues. In this context, the development of emotion education tools tailored for children to enhance their emotional perception and recognition skills is particularly significant. In response to this need, this study designed and developed a multi-component full-body wearable device to explore whether such a device can assist users in accurately perceiving and recognizing different emotions. The research employed a workshop approach involving six designers to integrate sensory elements and create paper prototypes of the device. Subsequently, six additional participants were invited to engage in interactive experiences while using the device. During the experiment, the participants used the device to receive emotional feedback and attempted to interpret and identify the associated emotional meanings. The researchers evaluated the participants’ performance in emotional perception and recognition by observing their behavioral responses, psychological feedback, and interview results. The findings revealed that most participants accurately perceived and identified the emotional information transmitted by the wearable device and regarded the experience as meaningful. This study demonstrates the potential of wearable devices in emotion education, providing valuable insights for the future development and improvement of such educational tools. These findings contribute to the cultivation and development of emotional intelligence.