GlowSteps - A Decentralized Interactive Play Environment for Open-Ended Play

In this paper we present the interactive play environment GlowSteps. GlowSteps consists of ten flexible tiles that respond with light feedback on player's actions. The play environment is developed to support both social and physical play and is designed with the intention to encourage children to create their own play and games. The tiles can be programmed with different interaction behaviors leading to a variety of play experiences. This showcase illustrates our design approach for such interactive play environments, combining the fields of decentralized systems and open-ended play.