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WhitepaperEindhoven University of Technology22 Oct 2026

Playful Interactions Reimagined: Technological Innovations for Inclusive and Connective Play

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Current digital gaming and immersive technologies face significant systemic challenges, including user toxicity, sedentary lifestyles, social isolation, and the reinforcement of confirmation bias through generative AI.See it on page 1
02
Technological advancements like Extended Reality (XR) and agentic AI offer new opportunities for personalization and education, but they simultaneously risk creating 'fake' bubbles and limiting direct human-to-human interaction.See it on page 1
03
Digital media often fails to be inherently inclusive, as existing designs frequently lack accessibility for users with diverging needs, such as those requiring tailored interaction methods for physical disabilities.See it on page 1
04
The 'Playful Interactions Reimagined' workshop, scheduled for November 2-5, 2026, at CHI PLAY in York, UK, aims to shift industry focus from reactive harm mitigation to proactive, inclusive design from the ground up.See it on page 2
05
The workshop utilizes design thinking methodologies, such as the Focaccia method, to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration between XR researchers, AI developers, and accessibility experts.See it on page 2
06
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified a clear link between screen-based entertainment and negative health outcomes, driving global policy discussions regarding the restriction of digital media in educational environments.See it on page 1

Summary

Playful Interactions Reimagined: Technological Innovations for Sebastian Cmentowski Sukran Karaosmanoglu Giulia Cosentino Industrial Design Human-Computer Interaction Department of Computer Science Eindhoven University of Technology Universität Hamburg Norwegian University of Science and Eindhoven, Netherlands Hamburg, Germany Technology [email protected] sukran.karaosmanoglu@uni- Trondheim, Norway hamburg.de giulia.co...

Playful Interactions Reimagined: Technological Innovations for Inclusive and Connective Play

Playful Interactions Reimagined: Technological Innovations for Inclusive and Connective Play

Key insights

Summary

Next steps

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