Measuring Playground Activities
Play, seen as an essential human activity, was hardly defined. Its lack of definition contributes to its social and spiritual application in childhood development. Playground, places where play happens in the city, was designed to preserve the nature of the play where we would otherwise get from playing in a less defined environment (Fjørtoft 2001). This study will examine playgrounds design and its relationship to kids’ activities in Starlight Park, the Bronx, New York City. As a project for the class — Urban Data II: Sensing and Urban Places, multiple sensors will be placed on the playgrounds. The researcher will data collected from this project to study how and when the playgrounds are used, and used by whom.
Design
One human presence sensor will be placed on the side of the slides. The sensor will detect the direction of the movement. Do users like to slide down or climb up? LED light will show different colors accordingly (i.e. blue led light will light up if the user slides down, green will light up if the user tries to climb up). An Arduino will be used to collect data on how many times the slides are used for sliding and climbing, at what time of the day)
Three proximity sensors will be placed on top of the monkey bar, spaced out evenly. An Arduino board will collect signals from sensors — how many times the monkey bar is used and at what time of the day. If someone finishes the monkey bar, a light signal will be given in the form that still needs to be decided.
Sensors: Human presence sensor, proximity sensors (x2)
Site: Older Children’s Playground (see image below)
One human presence sensor will be placed on the side of the slides. The sensor will detect the direction of the movement. Do users like to slide down or climb up? LED light will show different colors accordingly (i.e. blue led light will light up if the user slides down, green will light up if the user tries to climb up). An Arduino will be used to collect data on how many times the slides are used for sliding and climbing, at what time of the day)
Three proximity sensors will be placed on top of the monkey bar, spaced out evenly. An Arduino board will collect signals from sensors — how many times the monkey bar is used and at what time of the day. If someone finishes the monkey bar, a light signal will be given in the form that still needs to be decided.
REFERENCES
Fjørtoft, I. (2001). The Natural Environment as a Playground for Children: The Impact of Outdoor Play Activities in Pre-Primary School Children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 7.
Sensors
Human Presence Sensor — AK9753 (Qwiic)
Detect human, tell which direction the person is moving
Proximity Sensor — VCNL4040 (Qwiic)
Detecting if something has appeared in front of the sensor; detecting objects qualitatively up to 20 cm away.
