We acknowledge the current development of tangible interaction and wearable/e-textile materials while making children aware of the importance to have real contact with their peers and to enjoy bodily activities.
Paper and Talk at Cumulus Conference (20201)
June 2021
Exhibition at Dutch Design Week (DDW)
October 17th-25th 2020
Demo at Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS)
July 06th-20th 2020
Exhibition at Fuorisalone Digital (Milan Design Week)
June 15th-21st 2020
”Digital natives are comfortable with technology and computers at an early age and consider technology to be an integral and necessary part of their lives.”
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. 9 (5): 1–6.
The offspring of our society are mainly digital natives – they grow up surrounded by digital technologies. We don’t know yet what are the long-term impacts it might have, e.g. to use the smartphone when not even be able to read or write, or playing computer games instead of playing outside with friends. Our goal is to combine both – contemporary, digital technologies with social and whole-body interactions.
Our first toy is an almost 2m long interactive soft toy (a “worm-e”) that engages children in whole-body and social interactions after a long time of smartphone usage. The worm can be used as a key to activate new content. For this, the current activity on the mobile phone will be paused after a certain time of usage and concrete instructions to get active appear on the screen. Then the user can fulfill some activities with the worm to earn a reward and to continue the activity followed before.
Behind the Scenes
In this video, the team speaks about the idea and the process of creating WORM-E remotely.
Tools and Materials 
Early Mockups 
Final Prototype 
Removable Hardware 
NFC (Near Field Communication) Tags 
Inner Part and Outer Skin 
WORM-E in Action 
Screenshots of the Mobile Application