{"id":780,"date":"2018-10-06T13:37:02","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T13:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ideasutra.in\/web\/?p=780"},"modified":"2021-01-27T12:55:31","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T12:55:31","slug":"pencilplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideasutra.in\/web\/2018\/10\/06\/pencilplay\/","title":{"rendered":"Pencilplay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pencilplay uses children’s drawings as a potential diagnostic tool for tracking development stages. We see a viable tool that may provide supplementary data for specialists by semi automating the process of drawing analysis using computer vision techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Table of Contents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  1. What is special about Children’s Drawings?<\/a><\/li>
  2. Are a child’s drawings a useful development indicator?<\/a><\/li>
  3. Using a Mobile App to collect Data<\/a><\/li>
  4. Next Steps for Pencilplay<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    What is special about Children’s Drawings?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Children’s drawings are unique. When children draw, they explore themes that are often snapshots of the mental models of their world. Drawings, in this case, are representations – not just of their understanding of their environment, but also of their shifting mental states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    A child displays his painting during one of our workshops at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    During the early days of the project, we were referred to Viktor Lowenfeld’s work by a child psychologist. Lowenfeld’s theory of artistic stages resonated with our own work with both Autistic and NT children. There were indeed distinct stages, and each of these stages was somewhat predictable. The child progressed from scribbles to symbols to shared symbols, all the way to attempted realism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Are a child’s drawings a useful development indicator?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A theme emerged from our early discussions with pre-schools and child specialists. We observed that development stages broadly match a child’s artistic stages. So, what does it mean when a 10 year old child draws like a 4 year old? Or vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    During the early days of data collection, we used a simple card clipped on to the sheet to identify metadata for each drawing. We eventually created a digital means for data collection through a mobile app.<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We observed that the use of material, shapes, colour choices and thematic patterns all contribute to a gestalt that indicates the child’s current level within Lowenfeld’s stages of artistic art. We used this as the basis for developing ways to visually identify the stage that each child is at using a data-set of the child’s artworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Using a Mobile App to collect Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n