Tangible Programming Environment

Anthony Baker, Scott Penman, Andrew Ringler

** Slides presented 11/17 in class: Scratch On Transform (PDF) **

implementation idea #1

  • physical blocks as tokens on TransFORM
  • transform can recognize block shapes by pins
  • display output on another transform surface

exploded axon sketch

implementation idea #2

  • blocks are displayed virtually to the side of board
  • blocks are gestured onto the board, at which point they become “real” (3D)
  • blocks can be resized, reordered, removed, etc.

loop-axon-sketchinitial sketches-1

looping example

Scratch_Loop_ScreenshotTransparency

Loop

tactile benefits

  • “building” code – without always staring at a screen
  • running code – dynamic, physical representation (with adjustable speed) of steps in program
  • debugging code – physical interaction with pins brings up specific portions of code for further analysis

radical benefits

  • abstraction/scalability
  • holistic programming environment: source code + working surface + output
  • tangible programming environment: physical manipulation of code/state