In-car game design for children: Promoting interactions inside and outside the car

Long car rides can become a source of boredom for children, consequently causing tension inside the car. Common solutions against boredom include entertainment devices suitable for in-car use. Such devices often disengage children from other family members inside the car, as well as from the outside world. We set out to create a novel in-car game that connects children with their family and their environment, instead of only their entertainment devices. The game, called Mileys, integrates location-based information, augmented reality and virtual characters. We developed Mileys in an iterative process — findings from the first round of prototyping and evaluation guided the design of a second-generation prototype and lead to additional evaluations. In this paper we discuss lessons learned during the development and evaluation of Mileys, present challenges for location-based in-car game design, and suggest potential solutions for promoting interactions inside and outside the car.