SynFlo: A Tangible Museum Exhibit for Exploring Bio-Design

ABSTRACT

We present SynFlo, a tangible museum exhibit for exploring bio-design. SynFlo utilizes active and concrete tangible tokens to allow visitors to experience a playful biodesign activity through complex interactivity with digital biological creations. We developed two versions of SynFlo: one that combines active tokens with real concrete objects (i.e. labware) and one that consists of only abstract active tokens. Results from an evaluation in a museum indicate that both systems support learning. We discuss design choices for biology education tools to overcome confounders of biology and facilitate positive engagement and learning.

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Index Terms

• Human-centered computing