The research here described represents the small starting point of a bigger research project which objective is to develop a Virtual Learning Environment based on the popular Massively Multiplayer Online Games for Brazilian students. Following the player’s flow in the gameplay, the first step to be considered is the avatar creation and customization. The objective of this paper is to settle the initial parameters for the character’s creation system based on the cultural aspects of Brazilian people. Using an exploratory and comparative methods, this work has analyzed three different online games in order to determine which avatar’s characteristics should be customizable. Seven distinct Brazilian ethnic groups were found formed by five other groups, including international immigrants, like Japanese. Based on these groups and the games analyzed, the next steps for this work and a new research were established as results. From now on, the character’s archetypes should be developed to set up the customizable body parts. Additionally some complex problems were found to be answered in future researches, as the player’s class assignment in an educational game. It was considered important to assign some technical directions in this early stage of development, such as the Game Engine selection and software parameters that are not directly related to the culture, but to economic and social aspects of the target audience. Three Game Engine with free version available were analyzed and the results has pointed to Unity, for its low cost and flexibility and multi-platform as well. The Web Browser game deployment capability really suits the requirements of this project.

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Along with the arrival of the information age, people have started to pay attention to user experience design based on the human sensory organs. Instead of traditional user experience design based on vision and hearing, the experience based on tactile feedback has gradually become the mainstream in the field of product design. With this paper, we‟re discussing the designing and production of the haptic vest, originating in our development of the haptic navigation system. We aim to actualize “symbolization” or “implication” of the haptic information. Haptic vest is a design of conveying electronic information using tactile feedback, with 60 actuators. Through these actuators, haptic vest provides users with navigational information. Thus, the vest not only serves as the medium for the actuators, the experience of tactility here comes from the vibrations of the actuators and the information it attempts to convey.

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Interaction Design (IxD), which is the design process that considers how users communicate or interact with computers, has been growing in importance in recent years. Of particular note are new interface methods that go beyond the capabilities of legacy devices, such as the standard mouse and keyboard. In this study, we focus on such IxD innovations. However, it should be noted that, even though research into intellectual property (IP) management issues pertaining to IxD is important, there are currently no established precedents. Therefore, to explore the IP risks faced by IxD practitioners who engage in open management practices, we will begin by researching patent risks and the countermeasures for open management practitioners, and then explore proper countermeasures that relate specifically to IxD.

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We developed original solenoid actuator units with several built-in sensors, and produced a box-shaped musical interface named “PocoPoco”, using 16 units of them as a universal input / output. From the beginning to the time when a professional artist used it for live performance, we were confronted with many problems and had to solve them. In this paper we present a design process of PocoPoco, explaining actual problems and solutions. Then we discuss the process to design a artistic and practical interface.

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