CHI 99 Press Releases

Press Releases:

Jakob Nielsen, most websites failing

Cyberspace Civil Wars - censorship and the web

How to Succeed in Business by Really Trying

Digital Library or Digital Store?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Computer Controlled Kids Toys

PALO ALTO, Calif -- (April 12, 1999) The multi-billion dollar toy industry is leading the way in a new way of interacting with and controlling computers. And the results vary widely, from the unqualified success of Lego's Mindstorms robot construction set to dolls that download spoken phrases from the family computer. Interactive plush toys such as an interactive Barney doll have recently come to the toy market and many more computer connected dolls are sure to follow.

Such toys have the potential to deeply shape a child's daily activities. Is this a good thing? Children may perceive interactive dolls as living beings. Is this good, bad or neutral? What are the ethical implications of interactive toys? What issues do interactive plush toys raise? Should we be concerned about guiding the development and use of such devices? In a panel discussion to be presented at the next CHI 99 Conference on Human Factors and Computing Systems, experts in the field will attempt to shed light on this new development and its impact on our children.

Some experts feel this new development is a good thing. "I think it's about time that our children can hug their technology. For too long 'playing with computers' has meant pecking at a keyboard or staring at a hard plastic box," notes Allison Druin, with the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland. Druin and others also see potential harm, noting that it is easy to get excited about the potential for smarter toys, but that it is necessary to stop for a moment and imagine the potential negative effects such as a toy convincing a child that the toy has a real emotional attachment to the child. Such behavior has been seen before with adults, notably in the famous Eliza program which emulated a psychologist.

CHI is the premier worldwide forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of how people interact with computers. The annual conference on human factors in computing systems features a full program of presentations, tutorials and vendor exhibits. Approximately 2500 professionals from over 35 countries will examine the future of human-computer interaction from 15-20 May in Pittsburgh, PA at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at CHI 99.

CHI conferences are sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM)'s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI). The CHI conference is traditionally supported by industry organizations. The CHI 99 champion sponsors include: Microsoft, Motorola, National Science Foundation, Sun Microsystems and Yahoo! Inc.

For more information about CHI 99 or the field of human-computer interaction, please contact Ace Public Relations at: chi99media@PublicizeIt.com