bermuda more control than you are aware of
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table of content
bermuda is a light switch
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the center and periphery of attention
6
motivation and process for designing a peripheral controller
10
interaction mapping
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4
bermuda is a light switch that can be operated within the periphery of our attention and is compatible with Phillips Hue. Its design is aimed at adjusting a group of lights within a studio or living room simultaneously upon entering or leaving the location. Using tangible input the user can slide Bermuda along its rail to adjust brightness and roll it to change the color of the lamps to match it with one of its three presets. Over time this micro interaction will become a routine based on muscle memory, allowing the user to operate it outside the center of their attention. Using the latest version of the Phillips Hue App the users can tweak individual lamps within the preset and create new presets.
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The process was kicked of with literature research and some contextual explorations to define guidelines and boundaries to design for the periphery. We find that the awareness towards the notion of attention is the key to design peripheral interaction. There are two types of attention, selective and divided (Sternberg, 1999; Wickens and McCarley, 2008; Bakker, van den Hoven, Eggen, pp. 72). Selective comes with a strong
In the video research, in which we filmed ourselves performing different skills at home location, many peripheral interactions with our environment where spotted that happened outside our center of attention. E.g.: fixing hair while continuing reading, dancing to music while still using hands to perform tasks that require fine motor skills, singing while folding laundry. Providing us with insight of the vast amount of different interactions exploiting different modalities that can still happen within our periphery (Bakker et al., pp. 75).
the center and periphery of attention attenuation filter and actions performed demand all our mental resources. Within this form of attention, design for peripheral interaction is nearly impossible.
Through video observation we mapped out the peripheral interactions, center activities and whether multitasking (Salvucci and Taatgen, 2008) was occurring or not.
As one develops certain skill for specific actions, performs less complex interactions or relies on routines, less mental resources are required. We assume that it is within these situations possible to perform side-actions outside the center of attention. This is what we will refer to as divided attention.
This helped us to spot which different type of interactions could be considered peripheral, what modalities were used and to what extend they happen subconsciously. In line with the findings of Bakker et al. (2012) we found that especially tangible (Ullmer and Ishii, 2000; Hornecker and Buur, 2006; Mazalek and van den Hoven, 2009) and embodied interactions (Dourish, 2001) seemed suitable for the interaction and perception within the periphery of our attention.
Our center of attention is defined by the activity receiving the most mental resources. Activities in our peripheral are the activities that receive an amount of the remaining mental resources available (Bakker et al., pp. 77) . Two feedback loops, sensorial and cognitive-emotional (intellectual), make up the model for peripheral interaction we maintained. Sensorial input provides us with information on possible opportunities for activities in our surrounding. Whereas, intellectual loop is our main drive for decision making on which activity to perform which is driven by arousal, priming and intention. Based on this we concluded that the loops continuously influences the attenuation filter and selection criteria for the activities we perform, and thus the activities we perform.
We noticed that in scenarios of the videos it seemed as if the center of attention could be divided in an active center of attention and passive center of attention, next to the peripheral attention. Whereas, we refer mapping of environment (both visually and auditory) to the periphery of attention, activities like doing dishes and at the same time talking to a friend in the active center of attention, and activities like listening to music in the passive center of attention. The activities in the active center of attention are easily and often switched between, like multitasking, though the other activities take place more to the periphery of our attention wherein the activities that take place in the passive center of attention are not completely in the peripheral nor in the active center.
Responsible for the cognitive and emotinal part of mental resource division
tought processes
own intentions
back of the mind
state of mind and arousal
priming
priming
Height of the bar indiciates the amount of mental resources required to perform the task.
center of attention
The darker the bar the more likely a specific action wil be assigned these mental resources. These graphs (possible activities) are highly dynamic for both the emotional, cognitive and sensorial experiences influence the priorities and the activity opportunities available and which will get attention.
Attention
division of mental resources
reveals attention opportunities
division influences filter
overrules filter
salient sensorial stimuli
attentuation filter
senses
Stimuli of dierent modalities
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Peripheral interaction guidlines set for the module: Avoids priming and salient stimuli for they tend to claim the center of attention (Bakker et al., pp. 74). Embodied or fixed location to aid development of routines. For example, this helps to create a routine in which visual and spatial modalities are kept available. Most of our peripheral interactions rest within routine and experience and often require hardly any mental resources, staying clear of the center of attention (Tolmie et al., 2002; Bakker et al., pp. 77). Increase in skill, through habituation, emerging routines and practice help to free up senses (Wickens and McCarley, 2008) and reduce mental resources required to perform a certain action. We are by nature skilled in our hands. Tangible interaction introduces a lot of opportunity for peripheral interaction (Bakker et al., pp. 72). Priming can also be the sound of the voice or of footsteps that you recognize as someone important to you. Short interaction (no more than 4 seconds) can temporarily take up the center of attention without breaking the flow of the previous activities. An intuitive interaction is not the same as a peripheral interaction. Peripheral interactions are based on being a routine. A routine has a goal and is embodied in a procedure (a logic follow up of actions) (Tolmie et al., 2002). Graduate transitions (no interrupt changes) between phases make it easier to keep an activity in the periphery. The interaction of the peripheral design should have a low threshold; the interaction must be initiated and discarded at any time. Making the interaction open ended can help with lowering this threshold. A design for peripheral interaction must be, as any other design for interaction, experienced in context to validate its quality. Make use of the frequent shift of an activity / interaction between the center of attention and the periphery.
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After our initial literature research and movie analysis a design case was presented. In the beginning we kind of struggled with the idea of not designing from a context point of view but rather from the notion of peripheral interaction. Thus, our context, the shower, was at first well thought out but the interaction still rather undefined. We saw the shower namely as an interesting transition moment within the day to provide a user with the ability to match its light environment to its next activity.
environment by fiddling with / using their feet. Secondly, a wall slider with the functionality to adjust the light brightness, from zero to full, and apply either a warm (relax) or cold (work) glow in the light environment. Following the feedback from a discussion session we continue with the wall slider. We believed that the interaction of sliding an object over a rail over time could easily become a routine while still allowing to
For the continuation of the process the main focus was on the fine-tuning of the interaction. Within the development of the interaction we used discussions and scenarios to not only explore, test and expand upon the interaction but moreover also gain some feeling for interaction’s level of periphery. We also used role playing and explorations of light, through prototypes, to support the ideation. As a final step we combined the resulting designed interaction and integrated it into our realization of the concept , called Bermuda.
motivation and process for designing a peripheral controller Realising that we had to focus less on the context and more on the interaction itself we used additional rapid prototyping explorations to catch up with the group, exploring also with the sensorial perception and different kind of embodied interaction. Eventually we came to two main concepts. Firstly, a kneadable floor mat with which one could alter their light
literature research
influence a lot of control within their peripheral interaction. The concept which seemed simple, actually opposed quite some interesting opportunities for interaction. Thereby, did it included the possible to truly focus on the interaction instead of on the question on how to realise it.
analyzing movies
picking context for design case
discussion and rapid prototyping
peripheral interaction with feet making bermuda
slider on rail
final presentation
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ON/OFF & BRIGHTNESS BY SLIDING GRIP AUTOMATIC
work
I saves repeating patterns of user in presets
morning
III
PRESETS
II
100%
0%
20% brightness
PERIPHERY
CENTER
80% brightness
first configuration + changing presets
romantic
TEMPERATURE BY SPEED SLIDING GRIP CHOOSE COLOR PER LAMP
FAST = colder light
brightness
BALANCE BETWEEN LAMPS
SLOW = warmer light
represents current state of light in room
CHOOSING PRESETS BY ROTATING GRIP
OVERWRITING PRESET BY SQUIZING GRIP hand pressure
ate ot
r
SEEING PRESET BY VISUAL INDICATION
hand pressure
I
I
haptic feedback
III
II
III
II
The functionality of our final prototype Bermuda can be described in three parts; center of attention, peripheral and automated. Peripheral main interactions (peripheral) Its main features, light intensity and picking a preset (color and the ratio between lamps) are located in the peripheral aspect of the interaction mapping. These are the functions the users most likely will use the most. For example: when the user gets home and as routine pushes the Bermuda over the rail to immediately turn on the lights at his desired intensity and color.
The automated side (automated) If continuously changes are made to the system on specific days or at specific times the system will slowly adapt its preset to your liking. Peripheral awareness LED lighting on the corners of the Bermuda indicate the current state of each lamp connected to it. Glancing at the lamp can - in case of a household scenario - indicate who is home and what their activities might be.
Changing presets (center of attention) The user can change the settings of the presets of Bermuda within the center of their attention by using the latest version of the Phillips Hue interface. Furthermore, the app could be used to tweak the light of individual lamps in the current active preset. More advanced options (peripheral) A more advanced option is setting the warmth of the light. Moving the Bermuda gently will increase the warmth of the light, whereas moving it fast will result in a visually cooler light. If you adjusted one or more individual lamps using the app you can override the present preset with the current active light situation by simply squeezing the handle.
interaction mapping
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ON/OFF & BRIGHTNESS BY SLIDING GRIP PERIPHERY
CENTER
AUTOMATIC
100%
work
I saves repeating patterns of user in presets
morning
III
PRESETS
II
5
romantic
0%
20% brightness
6
80% brightness
first configuration + changing presets
1
TEMPERATURE BY SPEED SLIDING GRIP CHOOSE COLOR PER LAMP
FAST = warmer light
brightness
BALANCE BETWEEN LAMPS
SLOW = colder light
2 represents current state of light in room
CHOOSING PRESETS BY ROTATING GRIP
OVERWRITING PRESET BY SQUIZING GRIP hand pressure
ate ot
r
SEEING PRESET BY VISUAL INDICATION
hand pressure
I
I
haptic feedback
III
II
4
III
II
3
control
6 3
1 4 2
The activities on the left page are mapped out on the two axis graph based on their degree of control and whether they exist in the center of attention, the periphery or whether they are automated by the design itself.
automatic
non-control
center
5
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lecturer
Students
module
Industrial Design
Saskia Bakker and Karin Niemantsverdriet
DG314 Designing for Peripheal Interaction
Tijs Duel, Marjolein Kors and Ronald Helgers
University of Technology, Eindhoven. 2014
references Bakker, S., van den Hoven, E., Eggen, B., 2012. Acting by hand: Informing interaction design for the periphery of people’s attention. Interact. Comput. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. intcom.2012.04.001.
Salvucci, D.D., Taatgen, N.A., 2008. Threaded Cognition: An Integrated Theory of Concurrent Multitasking. the American Psychological Association. Psychological Review. 115, No. 1, 101–130.
Bakker, S., van den Hoven, E., Eggen, B., Design for the periphery, Industrial Design Department, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven.
Sternberg, R.J., 1999. Cognitive Psychology. Harcourt College Publishers, Orlando.
Dourish, P., 2001. Where the Action is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. MIT Press, Cambridge. Hornecker, E., Buur, J., 2006. Getting a grip on tangible interaction: a framework on physical space and social interaction. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conferenceon Human Factors in, Computing Systems, pp. 437–446. Mazalek, A., van den Hoven, E., 2009. Framing tangible interaction frameworks. Artif. Intell. Eng. Des. Anal. Manuf. 23, 225–235.
Tolmie, P., Pycock, J., Diggins, T., MacLean, A., Karsenty, A., 2002. Unremarkable Computing page, Camebridge. Ullmer, B., Ishii, H., 2000. Emerging frameworks for tangible user interfaces. IBM Syst. J. 39, 915–931. Wickens, C.D., McCarley, J.A., 2008. Applied Attention Theory: Time Sharing and Multiple Resource Theory. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 129-143
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more control than you are aware of