{"id":286,"date":"2026-02-20T20:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/?page_id=286"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:42:07","slug":"sokids-week-5-devlog","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/blog\/sokids-week-5-devlog\/","title":{"rendered":"SoKids \u2013 Week 5 Devlog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This week marked an important transition in how we frame SoKids, not just as a game prototype, but as a developing research instrument. During our advisor meeting, we discussed how our upcoming research presentation should move beyond reporting development progress and instead articulate the broader research questions our work is attempting to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than organizing our presentation around technology or art production, we were encouraged to structure our argument around core methodological challenges in early childhood research, such as how we might gather meaningful behavioral data from young children through play, or how interaction design choices could unintentionally introduce bias into assessment outcomes. This shift helped us reframe our work as contributing to an ongoing academic conversation around game-based assessment, rather than simply demonstrating a playable experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"Paper Prototype Iteration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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In response to earlier feedback, we continued developing our second paper prototype this week. These prototypes explore interaction scenarios that translate established developmental research tasks into game-like formats that are intuitive for children aged three to five. Our focus at this stage has been on prototyping a diverse range of mini-game interactions, allowing us to test multiple assessment approaches before committing to more polished implementations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As discussed with our advisors, gathering early feedback from domain experts (e.g., developmental researchers) on these low-fidelity prototypes is especially valuable at this stage. This allows us to identify potential confounding variables, like visual features that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes, before moving toward higher-fidelity playtesting with children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"Unity Prototype & Data Structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Parallel to our paper prototyping efforts, we now have a first working draft of our Unity-based prototype. This implementation allows us to dynamically generate non-player characters (NPCs) based on predefined attribute sets, supporting both randomized and researcher-controlled configurations for future experimental use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the backend, we have begun structuring how player interaction data \u2014 including group selections and attribute associations \u2014 can be stored and exported in formats such as CSV for downstream analysis. These systems will form the basis of the assessment pipeline that researchers may eventually use to study early social cognition through gameplay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"Preparing for Playtesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we are preparing for early playtesting sessions with preschool-aged participants following spring break. In the meantime, we have identified several potential playtesters across different age groups and are finalizing consent materials and logistics for regular testing sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our advisors noted, early access to consistent playtesting opportunities will be critical in shifting our development focus from prototype diversity toward usability and engagement for young children in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This week marked an important transition in how we frame SoKids, not just as a game prototype, but as a developing research instrument. During our advisor meeting, we discussed how our upcoming research presentation should move beyond reporting development progress and instead articulate the broader research questions our work is attempting to answer. Rather than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":43,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-286","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/286\/revisions\/472"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/sokids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}