The majority of the public is not aware that common objects in their backyard can be mosquito breeding sites, thus leading to an increase in mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases affecting humans and animals during the peak seasons. An engaging app that instructs people of all ages how to identify, prevent, and eliminate breeding sites may be of use in increasing positive behavioral changes in people, and therefore reducing available breeding sites for mosquitoes. The Embodied Games Lab in Psychology at Arizona State University created an educational game phone app using machine learning to teach students how to identify and eliminate mosquito breeding sites. Skeeter Breeder is an interactive, educational game that teaches participants about potential mosquito breeding sites and how to eliminate them from the immediate environment as documented by smartphone imagery. Currently, there is no educational game phone app that uses machine learning to teach this topic. This Thesis describes a pilot study focused on educating about common mosquito breeding sites and increasing the knowledge of 5th graders on the topic through an agentic (by taking their own pictures), engaging (game-like platform with rewards), and interactive (receiving immediate feedback on pictures) game developed from scratch at ASU.

This product design thesis paper aims to explore innovative strategies for making the process of learning oral and hand hygiene habits more engaging and interactive for children. The study aims to identify effective teaching methods, incentives, and technologies that can be incorporated into product design to promote healthy oral and hand hygiene behaviors in children in a fun and playful way. The research will involve conducting a comprehensive literature review of existing literature on hygiene habits in children, effective teaching methods, and relevant psychological theories on child learning and motivation. The study will also examine how visual elements such as packaging and product design influence the sales of children's toys and what regulations and standards are in place for children's toys, and how corporations comply with them. The data collected from the literature review will be analyzed to identify the most effective strategies for incorporating oral and hand hygiene education into product design. This research aims to contribute to the field of product design by developing a product system that makes teaching healthy oral and hand hygiene behaviors to children more enjoyable and playful. The findings of this study will provide valuable insights into the current hygiene habits and attitudes of children and serve as a foundation for future research in the field of product design and hygiene education.