Big insights into little minds
Team
A Pioneer exploration on research-driven design
- A multidisciplinary team from Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center
- Designers, researchers, programmers, and storytellers
- Part of the CMU CTP Copilot project exploring transformational play and inquiry
- Focused on ethical, child-centered, research-driven game design
Project
Play-based assessment tool for preschoolers
- Designing a touchscreen-based game to support developmental psychology research
- Embedding behavioral assessment directly into playful interaction
- Collecting quantitative interaction data from preschool-aged children (3–5)
- Building a system that functions as a research instrument, not an intervention
Collaboration
CMU Department of Psychology
- Working with Dr. Catarina Vales and Molly Niehaus from the CMU Psychology Department
- Supporting research on early social perception and categorization
- Aligning game design with research methodology and IRB standards
- Contributing to scalable, game-based assessment approaches
“A playful, game-based research tool that helps psychologists observe how young children express early social perception through natural interaction.”
– An ETC Project Website