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May 19, 1995
KidSim is an environment that allows children to create their
own simulations and video games. They create their own characters,
and they create rules that specify how the characters are to
behave and interact. KidSim is programmed by demonstration, so
that users do not need to learn a conventional programming language
or scripting language. Informal user studies have shown that
children are able to create simulations in KidSim with a minimum
of instruction, and that KidSim stimulates their imagination.
We will demonstrate the system, discuss its design, and show
some worlds that children have built.
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Allen Cypher is a Research Scientist at Apple Computer, Inc.
His main interest is in end-user programming -- giving all computer
users capabilities that have traditionally belonged to programmers.
Allen is a co-inventor of KidSim. He also created the Eager system,
which observes a users' actions and creates programs to automate
repetitive activities. He edited the book "Watch What I
Do: Programming by Demonstration", published in 1993 by
MIT Press.
While on the Xerox "Star" project, David Canfield
Smith invented icons and the desktop metaphor for computer interfaces,
today used by 100 million people. For the past several years
at Apple, Dave has worked on educational software, particularly
on finding a way for children to program computers. KidSim(tm)
is the culmination of that work. Dave's research interests include
human-computer interaction, educational software, programming
language design, programming environments, end-user programming,
and getting rid of the "priests" of computing. The
unifying theme behind his work for the past twenty years has
been the attempt to make computers more accessible to ordinary
people.
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