During November we user tested the 4th generation of the RHYME Co-creative Tangibles, the Polly World, at the Haug School and Resource Centre. This is the last user tests the RHYME project conduct at Haug with the children that have followed the project for 4 years .  We like to take this opportunity to thank all Haug personnel, children and parents for their unique contribution and engagement in the RHYME project.

During the user study both children, parents, personal assistants, teachers, music therapists and occupational therapists participated and gave their responses to the Polly World. With the Polly World we have tried to put together all the demands, suggestions and wishes from users and experts related to the three earlier generations of RHYME’s Co-creative Tangibles, in addition to new Social Media functionality.
In the 4th generation of tangibles, family and friends explore interaction with social media, sending musical messages, using the PollyCompose App with a graphical interface and text in twitter. The family and other persons interacted and sent messages with picture projected in the physical tangibles Polly Land and Compositions to the mobile tangibles Polly Fire, Polly Ocean and Polly Planet

Testing the tablet interface on an iPad.

First you choose the Polly Compose APP on your desktop. The first, Scenes & Things-screen, of three  in the APP opens (see picture to the left).
There you choose Scene (music and visuals) and Thing (Polly Ocean, Polly Fire, Polly Planet). Then hit the [play] button at the bottom (see picture left).

The second screen with the chosen thing in the middle opens (see picture in the middle). Here you can test out the and learn how to play on the thing and how it sounds, before sending the composition to be played on the physical thing at home. You build up a composition by hitting the sensors on the screen representing the sensors on the interactive physical thing. You can also specify how you want the action to be performed (fast, slow, slow etc.).  A composition is being built up and visualized over the play and send buttons at the bottom of the screen (see right upper picture).
You play your composition by hitting the [play] button. You send the composition by hitting [send], and you edit  (see left lower picture) and save and give it a name by hitting [edit] .
You can go to the first screen and choose another Scene or Thing by hitting  [back].

The sent Twitter Composition is received in the Interactive thing. In our example here Birgitta sends a Composition to Polly Planet (see picture lower right) and Polly Planet plays the music and light Composition.