Home Media Selection
1
Home Media Selection
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T
2
Part A - Proposal, Research and Findings
1.0
Abstract
2.0
Introduction
5
3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
Investigation into Appropriate Home Media Interactions 6 Xerox Platform 7 Tangible User Interface (TUI) 8 Beyond Usability 9 Multimodal Interaction 10 Tangible Device Platforms 11 Conclusion to Chapter 12
4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5
Related Interaction Projects Navigational Blocks Physical Shortcuts For Media Remote Controls Playlist Player Sharing Digital Photos Through Tagging Memorabilia Conclusion to Chapter
13 14 14 15 17 17
5.0
Project Theme
18
6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4
User Observations and Questionnaire Questionnaire Questionnaire Results Observations Observation Results
19 19 19 20
7.0 7.1 7.2
Research Through Design - User Testing The User Test Set-up Results
21 24 24
8.0 8.1
Conclusion to Part A - Proposal, Research and Findings 25 Project Findings 25
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
4
20
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
3
Part B - Design, Construction and Testing
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
Design Design Aims Appropriate Domestic Interface Forms System Design Concept Development Technologies Design Development and Prototyping Programming Finished Design
26 26 26 28 31 32 35 46
2.0
Construction
52
3.0
User Test
62
- Set up
- Findings
4.0
Conclusion to Part B - Design, Construction and Testing 64
References
47
- In Action
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
65
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
4
HOME MEDIA SELECTION 1.0
Abstract
The media we interact with in our homes is continually changing and yet the method in which we engage with this media has not. This project, the media table will open up a new realm of interaction with music, images and video in our homes. Soon the realization will come that the need for separate physical vessels to carry information is no longer needed. These vessels such as CD’s and DVD's are carriers of information to devices which can extract that data and turn it into vision and sound. Throughout this project the term media is in reference to the material that are interacted with in the home these are the collections of Music, Pictures and Videos. What if these vessels are no longer needed? With the progression of technology, the idea that we need to carry this media data in separate vessels is starting to change. We only have to look as far as the Apple Ipod phenomenon to see this progression from a stack of 1000 vessels to 1 vessel which allows access to all of this media in one singular object. Also, there will be no reliance on an external device to the play the media. The home has not been immune from this progression of technology, if anything has embraced it with open arms. From digital photos stored on a computer, to the mp3 music devices and home media servers that allow access to all computer based files throughout the home via home networks. Although it has been embraced, the interaction between a user and their digital media is not any easier nor more intuitive, relying on old mono-interactive methods like the thumb to remote or vision to graphical list interactions. These methods do not enrich the experience, nor push any boundaries in home media interactions. This is where this project comes in. It aims to investigate appropriate physical forms for digital media as a tangible interface to help create more intuitive , physically involved and easier ways to select and play digital network based media in the home.
Keywords: Media, Vessel, Interaction, Tangible, Platform, Paradigm, Physicality, Intuitive, FeedForward, Multimodal, Augmented
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
2.0
5
Introduction
The singular thumb to button interaction and screen based feedback has not changed from introduction of the Television remote developed by Zenith radio Corporation in 1950, with all other devices in home media following the same paradigm. Due to this lack of interaction development, the home media interaction has become static, often unintuitive and complicate with the remote controls over populated with buttons that are rarely used, making the simple task of playing media in the home much harder and less engaging then it could be, whilst confining the interaction to a tightly packed form to allow portability. Although this interaction has not changed the technology has, from the collections of Cd’s in shelves and photos in albums to the mp3 digital format of music and digital cameras, driving the storage location for this media to the home computer, this leaving an opportunity to investigate different ways to interact with digital media in the home. Offering interactions that are more physically engaging, intuitive and easier interactions. The aim to this project is to investigate an appropriate physical form to digital media in the home and create more intuitive and easy way to select and play this media. This project is run as part of the Interactive Ecologies studio which runs in conjunction with Maurice McGinley at Philips Design. The main focus of the studio is investigating interactions in the home environment, on designing interactions that will make a more engaging user experience. This project as part of the studio is aimed towards the interactions between people and the media in their home such as music and video. As an activity in context the project is looking at how a user selects media in the home and finding a more intuitive, physically engaging and easier way to interact with this media.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
3.0
6
Investigations to appropriate home media interactions
The form of media has moved from the physical realm to the digital, cd’s replaced with files on a computer. All the richness of the cd’s interaction in feel and purpose in its embodiment has given way to the static interaction of a mouse and GUI (graphic user interface), with the click of a button the only means to achieve the appropriate goal. To regain the richness of interaction to this digital form the media needs to be augmented in some way, given an embodiment that is more intuitive and physically engaging. This chapter will discuss the ideals of interaction, TUI’s, Multimodal interaction and also the importances of enchantment in an interaction. As put forward the realm of home media interaction has remained unchanged with its forms of interaction, all the while the technologies in this environment have rapidly changed. This lack of evolution in home media environment was the inspiration to create a better interactions had with media in the home. The technology for media in the home has changed quite extensively from the Cd and Cd player’s convergence to the computer, the Apple iPod one of the key devices to drive the media to be stored in mass on singular vessels. The computer has now become the hub for media information in the home, with the storing of photos from digital cameras, music in the form of mp3’s and movies readily available over the internet, the home network is the key to location for media in the home. As the interaction have not evolved, the user is left to the remote control to search through lists of files through a media server to find the media they want to play. This system is not intuitive, easy or physically engaging and often takes a long time to achieve the task needed. This in where this project come in, investigating appropriate physical forms for digital media in the home and create more intuitive and easy way to select and play this media. This paper will explain the progress of the project through the research stages, from interaction literature, related works, user investigation and user testing. the paper will also concluded the current position of the project and state where it is to go as it carries on through the later design stages and to a fully formed design. The first step in the project was to look into the realm of interaction, its principles and key focus points as well as the tangible opportunities in interaction.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
7
3.1 Xerox platform The Xerox project on ubiquitous computing (7) has long been the precedent interaction design sphere as a key vision for interaction, its concepts were far ahead of its time and still very relevant in todays interaction sphere. The personal computer platform which has been the beginning of digital interaction, revolved around a singular base of interaction, only allowing the interaction a the direct location. this stationary mode of interaction with the exception of of the laptop, had been dragged from the white collar world of office base work, this interaction format is not appropriate for the home interaction space and the way the users preform in this space. The Xerox group new this issue back at the beginning of the PC but the idea was never taken up as the PC paradigm work so well in it primary location the office. The Xerox group put forward the a more common sense approach to the computer based interaction, the aim was to work to the human condition and not the other way around. The Project put forward idea of no singular devices but a collection of devices, everything interconnected and no one interface to interact with. This system offering many interfaces that can be manipulated to carry the needed information for the user. In its physical form the platform was made up of portable interfaces that varies in sizes and portability allow them to go with the user not the user coming to them. On the conceptual level this system was an open ended interaction for the user allowing the user to change the interface used to form a more efficient and responsive interaction, fluid removing boundaries between interfaces making a fulling interconnected system like the human brain. Ubiquitous computing is one of the key ways that an interface can truly create a complete user interaction allowing users to feel comfortable with technology and for it not to impose itself on our lives but contribute when it is needed, this is a key way that ubiquitous computer can have a place in the interaction with digital media in the home environment as the home is a place for fun and relaxation not work so technology should not create the feel of work nor make us work to achieve the required result.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
8
3.2 Tangible User Interface (TUI) Augmenting the digital to the physical is the key premise of a Tangible User interface. The digital world is confine the pixels on the screen and sounds through a speaker. Detached from the physical world that we live in, offering no connection to the users other senses of touch feel and physical manipulation. This Lack of sensory interaction is where the TUI allows for a more inclusive interaction experience opening digital media to direct physical manipulation and a more experience. The TUI interaction has been explored through many papers and with many theories on the best method in the creation of appropriate physical forms to digital information. “The TUI offers a physical form to digital information and computation” Hiroshi Ishii (33) states that without tangible interfaces our bodies will remain trapped in the physical world unable to truly engage with digital information on a human level. Ishii offers the idea of TUI’s as the next progression in computation based interaction allowing more control to the user, pulling the proverbial iceberg further out of the water to give greater manipulation to information.
Tangible User Interface. By giving tangible (physical) representation to the digital information, TUI makes information directly graspable and manipulable with haptic feedback. Intangible representation (e.g. video projection) may complement tangible representation by synchronizing with it.
Graphical User Interface. GUI represents
information with intangible pixels on a bit-mapped display and sound. General-purpose input devices allow users to control those representations.
The Feedback a user receives in an interaction is everything, from the Inherent feedback the feedback offer direct through the physical action touch, feel. Augmented feedback the actions direct information give from action and the Functional feedback in the resulting achievement that the action was the purpose. The frogger framework another view on the TUI, written by S.A.G .Wensveen, J. P. Dajajadiningrat and C. J. Overbeeke. (29)This Framework although not very applicable to all interactions does offer some great insight into the coupling of actions and appropriate feedbacks which are the true key to a well round tangible interaction.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
9
There are two forms of feedback, the obvious feedback the resulting reaction to an inputed action but there is also feedforward the refers to the information given to the user before the user has given any input. There are three forms of feedback and feedforward, Inherent, Augmented and functional. Inherent Feedback and feedforward are defined as the information given to the user through the physical act itself and the form the defines the physical capabilities of the interaction. Augmented feedback and feedforward is the indirect information not the required outcome but information that informs the process, either that information is being processed or the item is waiting for interaction. Finally the Functional feedback and feedforward which is the actual information received as the end goal or the perceived possible information through the form of the device. To create a great tangible interaction the designer must take into account feedforward and feedback implementing them into the design.
The different types of information that an electronic product can offer to guide the user’s action towards the intended function.
3.3 Beyond usability To achieve an interaction that is truly engaging the interface must look beyond the the lines of just usability through the the ideals of playfulness the element in an interaction that inspirers and draws the user into the experience. Intrigue is a key goal of playfulness if the user is able to enjoy the interaction with a devices they will be far more interested in using the device again. The paper “Beyond Usability, Computer Playfulness”(14) by Jan Noyes and Richard Littledale, give an insight into the idea of playfulness in interaction design and the ways that it allows for a greater user experience. This paper puts forward that to gain a spontaneous, free and imaginative interactions with devices the users need to feel an element of playfulness to be reassure the they a free to explore. This information is very important to incorporate in a home media design as the experience with media in the how should be fun and not a task to be done.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
10
3.4 Multimodal interaction The true recognition and understanding of information can only be achieved through the use of multi-modality, we only have to look as far the human memory system where the retention of information is increased with every sense that used to absorb it. Multimodal interaction focuses on leveraging the human sensory, perceptual, cognitive and motor capabilities in creating user interaction. The idea of multimodal interaction allow the utilization of the greatest computer system available the brain, unlike a computer the brain has enormous processing power that is not even utilized even when we are using all our senses. The quantity of information that the brain can process if more sense are used in an interaction rather then just one or two is enormous, the potential of a multimodal interaction achieve tasks far greater then that already done with the existing interfaces. The paper “Multimodal Interaction� By Shatha N. Samman and Kay M. Stanney (23) puts forward the potential of multimodal interactions and also the key information that each for of human sense should be aimed towards. The paper also states the information abilities of the human working memory modalities for instance the tactile modality has a greater capacity then the visual cache modality. To create a truly intuitive interaction the idea of multi-modality must be put forward as to ignore all the available human modalities is ignoring the potential of real interactions.
Multimodal - Table 1
Multimodal - Table 2
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
11
3.5 Tangible Interaction Design Toolkits There are many tools available for development that of a tangible interaction, physical sensor that are able to be used in conjunction with computer programming to to create a TUI. These tools often used in robotics and engineering projects, giving great insight into the ways in-which the different sensors can be used, then again the best results have come from when the tools are taken out of there comfort zone and experimented with. The are three major companies that produce these tools ready for development, Phidgets, Arduinos and Parallax. Arduino and Parallax are both PIC board manufactures, circuit board that allow sensors to be connected and programed with a computer to what ever the user desires. Phidgets on the other hand is an all inclusive platform that offers both interface boards and sensors that can be easily used together to create a great sensor based interactions. The down fall to the Phidget platform is its size, being bulky compared to the Arduino platform which is small an easy to fit into a prototype, saying that the Arduino is harder then the Phidget platform to write programming for, so each platform has positives and negatives. For this project the Phidget platform was chosen as a starting point due to the simplicity of the set up. I have purchased a phidget interface and a infrared distance sensor to used as a learning tool in the tangible device development. The learning curve with programming is steep but future prototypes will benefit from the use of this tangible tool.
Arduino Platform
Phidget Interface 8x8x8
Phidget Sensor Interfaces
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
12
3.6 Conclusion to chapter The tangible interface is the key to true human computer based interaction, without enabling the used of the human modalities the interaction can never really be inclusive for a user. With the current GUI paradigm the will never be a chance for an enriching form of interaction, the progression has to be made to a TUI that give the chance for the use of the human modalities. In the home environment the physicality of digital information does not exist, the only form of interaction with digital information or media is through a computer or media server both of which are stuck in the PC paradigm, a graphic interface and singular button interaction. This project will take the home media interaction beyond the PC paradigm into a tangible space allowing for a more intuitive, physical and easier interaction experience. The keys to carry forward through the design are that of a tangible interface that works to the human modalities not the modality working to the device. The Focus on true feedback and feedforward which true interaction is based, without these elements the user will be completely detached from the experience. Finally the Interaction must offer more the pure purpose, it has to offer the user an experience that is joyful, an experience that inspirers the user to engage completely with the interaction.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
4.0
13
Related Interaction Projects
The home media experience in its current form revolves solely around the users remote control based mono-interactions, with only the users thumb as an input method there is a massive lack of true interaction, when the human body is capable of so much expression and also receiving far more feedback then what is current made available to the user. To give the user a more engaging interaction experience, the opportunity in this is for the interaction to become more augmented using a tangible user interface. There have been a number of tangible devices presented that hope to enable this need for greater interaction with media, projects such as Navigation Blocks, Physical Shortcut Remote Control, Playlist player and the Digital Mementos are great examples of Tangible interaction devices designed to enhance the interaction with digital media.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
14
4.1 Navigation blocks The navigation block (31) project is a tangible interface the allow a user to physically engage and explore a virtual gallery, via the movement of the Tangible blocks. Each of the block hold a different collection of information and when they are used together they allow the user to navigate to all the locations in the virtual space created. The system used a ranged of sensors to gather locational, movement and identification data, then translates that into digital movements and output information on a graphical interface. The
Navigation Blocks
Navigation Blocks have been designed as an historical navigation device to guide users virtual gallery of historical content. This device consist of four blocks who, what, where and when, each block allowing the user to select physical the information they are searching for. Although the interaction level is very basic still relying of visual feedback like the PC paradigm the project did win favor through its ease of use where in user testing the object use was figured out with 1-3 seconds suggesting that its physical for was very easy to received and engage with, this aspect a key theme that should be carried through into the design of a tangible interface.
Navigation Blocks
4.2 physical shortcuts remote Physical shortcuts for media remote controls (27) is a project very close to the values of this project ,looks towards a more multimodal way to interact with media in the home. The differing point is that the physical shortcut project focus on manipulating an existing media server graphical interfaces with the re-invention of the remote control the choice of modal interaction. Where as this project aims to break free from the remote control mentality singular device and offer the user a more Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
15
intuitive and physical way to control the devices . The Physical shortcut project predominately rethinks the button paradigm of a remote making the form fit to the human condition and allowing movements to be the input modes to the media interaction. The project really focused on creating a more engaging physical form for a remote, prototyping a range of forms based on observations of user engagements with objects finally refining down to a rounded cube shape, that would allow rotationally selections and easy physical grasping. This project allows the user to move, lift and rotate a control cube to navigate a GUI of a media server moving this the lists of the GUI and allowing selections and control in a physical platform although all the feedback is received visual through the GUI. The physical shortcut project although offering a new way to interact with a GUI of a media server, is still relying on a GUI to much for feedback and for this project the reduction in GUI based feedback needs to be a key concern.
Physical Shortcuts-Object Grasping Sketches
Physical Shortcuts-Prototype
4.3 Playlist Player The Playlist player Project by Martin Skelly is is great combination of physical modality and digital media interaction. The Playlist player combines the classic aesthetics of a vinyl player, its physicality touch, feel, function form with the realm of digital music allowing the vinyl to represent digital music in physical form and the known actions of a vinyl player to manipulating the playing functions of the digital music. The system works off a retro fitted record player that selects and plays preformed playlists on a Mp3 player. Each playlist is connected to a vinyl so when the vinyl is placed on the record player the playlist begins to play. The player also uses light through Leds in the record player to represent the progression of music playing like the pin of a record would. Unfortunately the device does not allow the extent control functions that are apparent in existing music players, like skip tracks, pause stop and rewind. The play on sentimentality with the vinyl and player is a really nice feature, it
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
16
also draws on peoples existing knowledge of the form as feedforward to inform the user, this connect between the new and the old would work as a great feedforward connection in an interaction. The use of lighting as a feedback form is one of the key aspects of this design providing key feedback on the actions of the playlist player, the playing of tracks and controls done toe the device. The light with the sound is a very direct and instant way to inform the user.
Playlist Player
Playlist Player
Playlist Player
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
17
4.4 Sharing Digital Photos through Tagging Memorabilia With the progression of the digital camera and the decline of film and printing photos, the interaction to be had with these digital images has been left to the GUI, list and folder system to access and view the images taken. This is where the Digital Memorabilia project (5) aim to address and create a better interaction. The TUI uses a very simple concept, that is to tag objects with RFID tags and link these objects to a collection of images, The item is then placed on a RFID reader which brings the collection of linked images to a GUI to be view. The system aims to remove the list based search systems using tangible object as an access points to the images want making the selection process a fully embodied action allowing multimodal human interaction with these digital image, giving them a physical identity. The TUI in really the key way to make an interaction with digital information multimodal and inclusive, drawing on memory and physicality to create a truly intuitive interaction, as the user can use of their senses to choose the wanted image. Sharing Digital Photos through Tagging Memorabilia
4.5 Conclusion to chapter Through the investigation into existing TUI it is clear that there are key factors to achieve an intuitive, physically engaging and easy to use interaction. The feedforward element highly enhances the users ability to use a TUI especially if the device plays preconception of media in form or functional form. The use of TUI’s as selection tool really makes the bridge between digital information and the physical world allow the solution to one of the key issues in digital information which is access. Giving the selection process a physical form truly makes a multimodal experience allowing more the the visual senses to interact in the selection process and removing the obstructions of processes in a GUI based system. The Playlist player had one great advance in the TUI experience by removing the need for a GUI for feedback allowing the physical form and movement to provide all the information needed, This is a key feature that should be carried on into a design. In all the TUI projects it was shown that with a little augmentation the interaction with digital media is greatly enhance, making intuitive, physically engaging and easier Digital media interactions.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
5.0
18
Project Theme
To really give the project grounding and focus, there needs to be a guide to reference throughout the process. Drawing from all the existing literature and other recourses a guide was put together that suited this project. There are an abundance of existing methodologies floating around so these were used and combined to make a well rounded interaction theme that would not only serve in the project, but also be used as key focus points in the design and analysis of user observations, testing and review of later conceptual work. The Project theme for this project has three focus points as keys to reference through out the project, Intuitive interaction, Physical Engagement and Ease of use.
Intuitive Use - The way that a user can approach an interaction and know within a short time of use how the devices should be interacted with and what the devices can do. Physically Engaging - How the interaction enables multimodal interaction from the user allowing them to use more of their body and movement to engage with the interaction. Ease of Use -The usability of an interaction, how easy the user finds to use, engage and manipulate an interactive device.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
6.0
19
User Observations & Survey
To gain a greater understanding of the Home media environment and to also confirm assumptions about the interactions that occur in this environment, the home media interaction needed to be investigated. Through the use of a user survey and user observations early in the investigation, it allowed the project a guided approach through the rest of the investigation process.
6.1 Questionnaire To get the opinions on home media from a large audience, a survey was used to gauge the current state of home media interaction. The survey questions were written in multiple choice and short answer format that would keep the questioned parties interested and willing to answer all the questions. The questions where aimed at getting the extent of digital migration in the current home media environment, and the indifference's that any of the users had with media interactions. The questionnaire also ask the extent of separate interaction situations in a home, the number of remote based interactions that are had and the numbers of devices that had to be interacted with in the home that complete similar tasks. The questionnaire was sent out through the social networking site Facebook to gain as much exposure as possible, running for two weeks to allow plenty of users time to reach the questionnaire.
6.2 Questionnaire Results The questionnaire was received very positively by the facebook audience over the two weeks that it was up. The questionnaire was completed by 47 people with 98% answering all the questions. In analyzing all the answers there were a number of key statistics that came through. The questionnaire showed that 87% of the people owned an ipod, this means that 87% of people have music digitally stored on the computer. 93% of the people survey have photos in digital form on their computers, but 47% still went to the effort of having them printed as well as because the enjoyed the ability to hold the image. From the people surveyed 80% had more then 5 media devices in the home and 64% had media server capable devices meaning that they all had the ability to access digital media throughout their homes. The answers also suggested that the most common devices were the ipod and the computer, that physical copy of material is desired even if the media is put on the computer and the majority of users are irritated with the complexity of the media systems they had to engage with.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
20
The questionnaire in all gave a great insight to the current state of home media interaction and confirmed the assumption that had been put forward. It is clear that the home media environment is moving from the physical vessel form to that of digital storage in the computers and that the current interactions with the media in the home are causing frustration due to there lack of intuitive use and ease in use. With the digital migration the survey did also give the insight that people still want the physical engagement in an interaction even if it is only a representation of the object. From this it clear that in designing a home media interaction the device needs to be intuitive, physically engaging and easy to use.
6.3 Observations User observations were another method used to gain an insight into how people interact with media in their homes. By allowing the people to interact with the media devices in their homes there was the ability to see the users untainted and using their devices as the normally would, all the successes and issue would be true and not forced. In the User observations the people were asked to preform three general home media interactions, play music, watch video and look at photo. With theses interactions the devices used were recorded, the number of steps to achieve the task, number of errors that had occurred, the type of errors and also the users state of mind through all the tasks. There were 4 individuals observed in this occasion each in their own home interacting with their own media devices.
6.4 Observation Results Through the analysis of the observations there were a number of common traits were revealed. The results suggested that all the interactions with digital based systems that used a GUI as the key interface had the highest number of steps involved in achieving a task and also incurred the highest number of errors when trying to achieve the task. The observations also found that when the devices that were interacted with used more manual methods such as Cd’s load into a playing device they had a lower step count to achieve the task and also had the least number of errors during the process. The mind state of the users was also noticed to be much more at ease when dealing with more manual methods, they felt more comfortable and confident with the task to be done., this was noticed through the demeanor, vocal responses and physicality. One of the people observed using a universal remote system incurred 0 errors through out the tasks, suggesting automation systems are a great advantage in completing the home media tasks. The key points to been drawn from the observations are that even with the digital migration the physical nature of manual system are easier to use and more efficient at achieving tasks, therefor to engage with digital media a TUI that relates to the simplicity of the manual methods will made an interaction the is easy to use and more efficient to achieve a task. Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
7.0
21
Research through design User testing
This chapter defines the creation of a user test and implementation of a user test that has the aim to to gather impressions of how a user will interact with a media device that is foreign to them, using completely different modalities to engage with it. This is used to gather how well a user can interpret a physical form and use a tool with no knowledge of the device. For this project the aim is to make a home interaction experience that is intuitive, physically engaging and easy to use, to achieve this the user test need to get a user to engaging with a device that the are unfamiliar with and see how well they are able to learn and understand the object when only provided feedforward in form to draw from. This test is import to see how users will respond to devices that are new to them and also to see what role importance feedback and feed forward to the user experience.
Design of gesture Prototype The design of the user test is a light sensitive TV control, with light is removed from the sensor a signal is sent to a corresponding button on a TV remote which then through infrared sends the signal to the TV telling it what to do. This user test gets the users to use their whole hand and arm extremities to engage with the device,removing light from the sensors a controlling the TV. There are 5 sensors in this device to correspond to the 3 most common functions of a TV the power switch, the channels up down and the volume up down. The design also use the common button grouping in the layout of the sensors to engage the users intuition, the sensors are not named but the channel up down sensors are grouped together as well as the volume, leaving the power sensor by itself creating the illusion of significance.
Concept User Test - LDR connected to TV remote control
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Concept User Test - Light Dependent Resistor reversal circuit
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
22
Concept User Test - Form and sensor layout development User Test - 3D Modeling Development
User Test - 3D Modeling Development
User Test - 3D Modeling Exploded View
User Test - Laser Cut Box User Test - Building the Box and Glueing
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
23
User Test - Testing LDR Sensor Circuit with TV remote Light On
User Test - Testing LDR Sensor Circuit with TV remote Light Off
User Test - Testing LDR Sensor Circuit with TV remote
User Test - LDR Sensor Circuits connected with Remote
User Test - Final User Test Package
User Test - Final User Test Package
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
24
7.1 Set up The user test was run in a home environment set up in a lounge room, the user test device placed on a coffee table opposite a television and a camera set up in the corner of the room to record the interactions. Over the space of 7 hrs people were encouraged to go into the room and interact with the devices. In total the user test was used by 17 people each recorded and analyzed.
7.2 Results After the analysis of the video footage, there were a number things that became evident in how a user approach and work with an unknown media interaction. One of the most common things found with all of the users was that they would approach the device noticing the 5 holes and begin by waving their hands over the device. Next the users would gradually move the hand movements closer to the holes until the TV responded with visual and audible feedback. Once feedback was received generally all users understood that if the cover the hole from the light at a close enough distance something would happen, realizing this they all began to test all of the other holes in the box to see what would happen. With the grouping of the volume and channels sensor the users became aware straight away that their functions were link playing with the consecutively to manipulate the same function. Although the slow feedback did cause a small amount of confusion, on average all the users had figured out what to do within 4 seconds of their first movements. It was also found that when there were more then one user, if one of them understood before the other they would inform the others of what to do and how it worked. There was also an element of intrigue taking place, with almost all users being quote saying “this is cool” and “how does it do that” . In summation the user test gave some great information to carry on to the design stage and put into a design, to increase the usability and intuitive use of an interaction device. One of the most prominent issues was direct feedback, the user needs to some form of confirmation of their actions to enable them to move on and also to stop the unnecessary repetition of an action. also the interaction need to be physically arranged in a way that if a user attempts to do one action they will not accidently set off another action. Otherwise in the test the users confirmed that with a simple arrangement of sensors, clear feedback and less complexity in a device they were easily able to learn, understand and interact with a device.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
25
8.0 Conclusion to Part A - Proposal, Research and Findings In conclusion this project preposed a new form of interaction digital media in the home. The project aims to investigate appropriate physical forms for digital media in the home environment. Throughout this project there were a number of methods used to investigate the interactions in the home environment,from the gathering of information on tangible interactions, to the analysis of existing TUI projects. Through a greater understanding of the precedents in tangible interaction and the principles that are involve the investigation went forward to investigate the current state of home media interaction and the way the users felt about their media interaction. A Survey and Observations were used to investigate this and in the process offered up a number of good conclusions and confirming a few assumption that were made. From this point the investigate push into the experimentation with tangible interfaces such as the phidget platform and it also led to the design of a user test, which was aimed at gaining a understanding to how people will interact with a foreign form of home media interaction or interaction in general. It allowed a gauge of the users intuitive abilities, recognition of an interaction and use of a multimodal tangible user interface.
8.1 Findings This research inquiry has found that in the area of media interaction in the home the current paradigm does not do enough to to make a truly engaging, intuitive and multimodal interaction. The current paradigm only allows for a singular movement base interaction via the thumb to button and GUI, leaving interaction with digital media completely remove and allot harder to work with. The user observations it was revealed that with a GUI based interaction there were allot error and the users found them harder to use. The research made it clear that with appropriate physical forms need to clearly describe through feedforward and feedback there role to the user and how the device is to be used. This idea was backed up in the user test, through the use of sensor grouping a simplicity of form all the users were able to use the device all having an understanding off it. With the migration of media in the home to digital formats and the clear evidence that people are able to engage with a physical multimodal interactions better then the PC paradigm, the next step in the home media environment is a TUI and with the greater understanding of what is needed to create a physically engaging, intuitive and easy to use TUI the next step of the project is to begin the design using all the knowledge gained in the investigation.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
26
Part B - Design, Construction and Testing
1.0
Design
This project has put forward an aim to find a physical form to digital media in the home. From the research done, the design portion of the project will take the knowledge gained and put forward a design to make the interaction with digital media in the home a more for-filling experience. Making the digital media interaction in the home relate more to the domestic environment and work with the user not make the user mold to using the device.
1.1 Design Aims To give the design a grounding to the project a to guide it to solve the problems in home media interaction a set of aims were put forward to reference to through-out the development process. In keeping with the earlier Project themes used in the user testing, the design must have the allow for good interaction between the user and the device. Through offering intuitive use, a form allows the user to know what to do with the device without the learning of the device first. The device should also offer an ease of use not to be over complicated with things that a not immediately needed nor involve a large number of steps to achieve a goal, as was found with earlier user observation that the more steps involved the higher the chance of errors. The media interface should also allow for physical interaction which would allow a more multimodal experience for the user. In designing a home media interaction, the domestic environment itself should be taken into account, the design should detract from the home environment but contribute to it , by not being the center focus of the home but a ubiquitous form that provides function when need but falls away into the environment when not needed, as after all the design is for the home and not a house, it is not to imposes itself on the occupants of the home.
1.2 Appropriate Domestic Interface forms In designing for the home environment there were a range of interaction forms that could be approached in a design for an appropriate physical form for digital media and to start the design process the different forms were mapped out and defined to find a form the would in this instances serve its function best.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
27
Interaction forms Mind Map
In exploring appropriate interface forms for media interaction in the home, there were four main areas of interaction that were explored, the form of spatial interactions which would work on a room based context and a users position in the room. Another form was the idea of personal device based interactions, for example the iphone and ipad are media devices that can be moved with the user. The media space form which designates a location in a space where the interaction can be preformed and left there to preform. Then Finally the user based interaction form which in always on the user whether it be through gestures in any location or micro devices that are carried at all times.
Apple iPhone Expansion On Interaction keys for home media interaction
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
28
Exploration of interaction Forms
In exploring the forms of interaction it was decided that the best form of interaction for the design of appropriate physical forms for digital media would be to have a Media space based interface which would allow for availability for all users in the home as-well as the ability to form a ubiquitous interface that would not impose on the user, nor the home environment. Following this decision the system of interaction needed to be define how and where would the user access the media
1.3 System Design With the current state of how media interaction leaving the majority of the media in digital form contained to the computer and home networks. The system to be designed should use and connect to the media storage spaces seamlessly and playback where-ever its needed, without having to deal with the complexities of network protocols. As put forward in the project vision media tokens could be used at a central hub to enable the playback of any media that the user desires. This device will use a token based system that each token is relative to a digital piece of media for example a music album or a movie, this token could then be brought a a media space where the token is placed down the space and the relevant media begins to play. No need for the user to turn any devices on the media space does all that is needed, the intention of placing a token down is enough to suggest the action wanting to be achieved. This system would use a central computing device to access the media on the home network and talk to the media space, responding to the users interactions and collecting all relevant media, switching on the Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
29
appropriate devices like stereo for music and output the media through these devices. Due to the use of of tokens as identifiers form digital media the form should be indicative of its use and function to allow the users to understand and navigate them easily.
Retail System In addition to this home interaction system and the way it would work in the home. A retail system was preposed to cover the aspect of the token based system that would differ from the current retail systems where the user would carry the media home with them from the store or download online and have no physical representation. As the token system does not carry the media the user would need a new way to get the media home as well as receiving the tokens to use in the system. The system preposed focuses on the two methods of media purchase, one being in store purchases and the other online purchases with the way in which a use would receive the media and the tokens to use with the home media interface. Online Purchase - To make an online purchase the user would go to the online store where the media could be purchase. Once payment is made the media would then directly download to the users computer and free to play on the home network. The token would then be sent in the mail to the user. Once received the token can then be place in the media space and the system would be fully functional and free to use. In-store purchase
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
30
- To make a store media purchase the user would simple go to the store where they would purchase a token and bring it home. Once at home they user would place the token into the media space which would then tell the system to download the media from the online store and play as soon as it is done. Once download the system is then free to use. Preposed device system map
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
31
1.4 Concept Development With the media system defined, the media space itself can design and shaped to a form which is appropriate for the domestic environment. A key to the media space is that it’s location in the home should be related to its function and role in the home, therefor it was preposed that the space be situated in the living room of the home where the majority of media interaction happens. With this location the forms that would be suited were explored.
Development Sketches Media space forms
Media Space Development Table Space
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
32
Through development the coffee table in the home was found to be a perfect location for a media space in the home not only for it ubiquitous nature of a table in the room. Its purpose and function are subtle be there when needed and this will allow the media space to become a part of the home and not impose on the home environment. The general location of the coffee table is also a key advantage as it is central to most rooms, easily accessible to the users and manipulatable as well as offering another use when the media action is not needed. From here the interactions in terms of controls and there forms need to be developed in the media space table, forms that also are not imposing but useful and more engaging.
1.5 Technologies The TUI requires a number of technologies to create a usable physical interface with digital information and the main tool that will be used in this project as previously stated are the phidget tangible interfaces which allow for a range of sensor devices, interface kits to create feedback and a huge range of supporting programming protocols. Before defining the devices that are to be used in the media space there was a form of feedback which had inspired this project. The Mac Book pro laptop computer release by the Apple company in 2009 had a small yet amazing feedback function. When the laptop is in sleep mode like all apple computers it emits a glowing pulsing white lights to let the user know that it is in sleep mode, what was unique about this laptop model is the location of the sleep light. hidden behind what seems to be a completely solid facia of aluminum a light glows then disappears completely. This amazing effect is created through tiny laser cut hole almost invisible to the Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
33
eye but will allow light to penetrate through creating a completely subtle ubiquitous lighting system only visible when needed. This feature i has been a strong influence to the development of this ubiquitous media space.
Mac Book Pro Sleep Light Off Seamless finish no indication of a light.
Mac Book Pro Sleep Light ON - light piercing through the laser cut holes..
Laser Cut speaker hole on macbook pro - larger then sleep light holes but same pattern.
Led and Laser Cut holes Diagram
This form of lighting could create an amazing ubiquitous feedback loop and device that is able to disappear in to the environment but show up when needed through the use of hidden lighting and hidden sensors.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
34
Phidgets - The phidgets to be used in this project will be a collection of sensors, interpretive interfaces and output controllers for led and controls of existing media devices in the home through Infrared (IR) outputs.
Phidget Interface 8x8x8 - Used to connect the sensors and control outputs
Phidget Linear Touch Slider Sensor to provide input.
Phidget Touch Sensor Sensor to provide input.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Phidget RFID InterfaceUsed to identify each token to the computer.
Phidget IR Interface Send and receive IR signals
Phidget Led Interface allows control of 64 Individual Leds
Phidget IR Distance sensor determine the distance of any object 30 cm to 1.5m
Phidget SBC Interface Connects all devices and allows control through wireless network
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
35
1.6 Design Development and Prototyping The development and prototyping stage consisted of the design of the table, phidget testing, material testing and the design of the tokens, all the elements that are part of the system. This following section is a collection of all the work sketches and prototypes in the development. To begin a Phidget interface space was created to allow any easy workstation when learning to program the devices.
Phidget Interface Space - To help with programming
Table Development Whilst learning and doing programming the design for the table for the media space was being developed. Due to creation connection to media through aesthetics of the tokens it was felt that the table itself although aimed to be subtle could share an influence from the vintage music furniture of the 70’s and these forms were a good source of inspiration for the designs. Inspirations
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
36
Table Sketches
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
37
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
38
The two final designs for the media space to choose between.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
39
Table Interface Development The layout of the controls for the media space and the way in which the user interacts with the interface was another phase of development. What actions would be used in the control of the media once the token has been placed on the table. There were two main interface ideas which were put forward, were one where hand gestures of touching are used to control, the other idea was to use tokens to apply changes to the playback different tokens to locations to initiate actions.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
40
Button Layouts Development
Touch Button Layout idea
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
41
Table interface Prototypes Table prototypes were made to get an impression of how the forms of interaction would work, one with tokens to control the system and the other with light up laser cut holes to indicate where the touch sensors would be. The prototypes were then show to a number of users to get there views on the interface ideas. With a number of good opinions on both the touch interface had placed ahead due to is simplicity and no need for token control which could get lost, The idea of light through the pierced hole was an idea well liked. Token controlled Interface
Token Controlled interface has token collections and icon marked spaces to depict placement of action zones for
Table has Volume tokens to the left and the control tokens to the right
Tokens get placed into the center circle to begin playback
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
42
Controls in Action
Center rotating slider for playback position control
Control tokens in action zones to apply the control wanted
Volume tokens in control zone the more tokens the higher the volume
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
43
Touch Based Interface
Touch based interface which uses light to show the location and state of the sensors. the black sections are laser cut patterns where the light would pierce through, and the marks would not been seen when
The rings in the center depict the location for the tokens and the icons along the bottom display the available controls
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
44
Lights shine through the laser cut holes but due to the thickness of the material allot of light is lost
Lights will fade in and out, off and on to provide feedback for the users
The final version would use veneer cut and stuck on acrylic to provide allot more light.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
45
Token Development One of the keys to the design of the token is that in its form it should be representative of its function and play off the preconceptions of the users. The Cd artwork and dvd artwork are one of the key ways a user employs to search for their media, so to use this key advantage for media searching in their form would be the best way to draw on the pre- conceptions. The size of the token was another things that was looking into as the token does not need to carry any data other then an RFID tag the proportions are up for development.
Size tests for the tokens
Token test for Music and Video tokens
RFID tags stuck into the tokens
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
46
1.7 Programming For a TUI interaction to come to fruition there not only needs to be physical sensors but software to read these devices. As this project is using the phidgets interface a the tangible sensors and tools all programming platforms are available to use in get these devices to control digital media. The are a number of key things that the programming needs to achieve in this system. The programming need to translate the sensor inputs into usable data, find, access and control multiple forms of media, as well as send this data to the appropriate devices that output this media and also control those devices. Max/Msp 5 I have had to teach myself the max msp program, though thanks to some great forums the process was made allot easier. this platform is graphics based which is a great method to program and works with the phidget devices perfectly. The only issue with this platform is the its methods of media access and playback is limited so a way needed to be found to run the media in their native spaces such a the itunes player. This is where after allot of searching the platform of Applescript was unearth and with a lot of help through inter platform programing the max/msp software is able to speak to the applescript to run commands.
Applescript Applescript is a platform that allow the control of any apple based program through scripting commands, from the searching of files to the playback of media then these scripts can be run through some mediator programs from max/msp.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
47
1.8 Finished Design Token Design The final design of the tokens was based on the previous size proportions as the earlier test tokens, using user based discussions about these sizes, the users found the token size was perfect for handling to being easily identifiable visually, The design also uses magnets and a fold out booklet as to simulate the qualities of previous forms of physical media like Cd covers.
Token Prototype with fold out booklet
Final Token Design - Movie and Music Sizes
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
48
Fold out Token Booklets
Fold out booklets to provide info on media.
Sizes comparison DVD cover to movie Token
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
49
Surface Interface The interface design in this project is not strictly set to the form of a table, the interface is primarily a surface which can ben adapted to a number of forms. The interface is malleable to any surface locality from walls to bench tops. In this project the choice was to follow one of the possible forms this interface could take, one that would not only be most accessible to its application but appropriate for the locality of the interaction. The images below show a concept create for a all based set of the interface using magnets to hold the tokens in place.
Flat Packed Concepts During the design process the idea of the system being provided a a flat packed form was put for to the project. This idea was developed and a number of concepts were create, that would allow for the system to be flat packed and easily distributed as well as being available for user personalization. Although this was a good idea, it was felt that as a part of the overall the system the idea did not deliver the right qualities of permanence and ubiquitous nature that was wanted if the final interface.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
50
Final Table design The final table design was create through the concept development and responses to early prototype results. The design uses a collection of touch sensors with light feedback through laser cut veneer. The Table design has a white inner surface with a Wenge Crown veneer on the outside and folded aluminum legs.
Table 1:3 scale model
Table 1:3 scale model showing the internals
Final Table Design - Rendering
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
51
1.9 Construction The first stage of the tables construction was to get all the timber for the internal structure of the table and cut it to size with the miter edges cut to all the sides.
Wooden frame cut with miters
Wooden frame cut with miters
Holes Cut For LED lighting and sensors
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
52
Timber Frame Once the timber had been cut to size then the inner structures were glued and nailed together, making sure all the miters joined perfect and installing laser cut spacer which space the two box frames and will hold the cover panels.
Box Frame being glued Spacers glued into place
Inner box glued into place
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
53
Cover Panels Following the frame being put together the cover panels, cut on a laser cutter to get the perfect angles were then stuck into place these would cover up the frame work and create a continuos surface.
Cover panels glued into place
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
54
Bogging and Sanding Once the panels were installed the table is then bogs and sanded smooth to prepare for the paint veneer to go on. Automotive bog was used to fill all the low spots and leave a smooth surface once sanded.
Bogging hole and sanding it back
Painted with high filler then sanded smooth.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
55
Painting
Painted with white acrylic paint
LED Lighting and Acrylic Holders/Diffusers The next step of the construction is to create the LED lighting set up and the acrylic holders for these lights which are also used as a diffuser to allow the light from the LED’s which are direct light to spread evenly for better light when used behind the laser cut veneer.
Acrylic pice cut out on laser cutter
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Acrylic then glued together and LED’s glue into place
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
56
LED’s being tested with phidget interface - light diffuses well through acrylic
LED’s and sensors glued into place
Wiring up the LED’s
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
57
Large Ring Lights
LED’s glued in and wired up in the center ring for the table.
Testing the ring LED’s
Wiring and placing the acrylic into the table
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
58
Installing Components
Wiring and placing the acrylic into the table
All the LED’s and sensors wired up.
Wiring 6V batteries into series to make 12V with 12AH
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
59
Table lights In-situ
Lights on in the table
Veneer Application This stage was to apply the laser cut veneer over the table and the lighting modules. this process involve very carefully glue the veneer to the table surface, then filing and sanding it down to fit perfectly.
Stick on the veneer, filing and sanding smooth.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
60
Aluminum Table Legs For this table a set of aluminum legs were designed , laser cut from 3mm sheet by “Advanced Laser� then I folded and sand blasted them for a textured finish.
Fold aluminum table legs
Screwing legs into the table
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
61
Finished Interactive Table
Lights Off
Lights On
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
2.0
62
User Test
To test the home media surface a user test was run to see whether the concept was able to provide an appropriate physical form for digital media in the domestic environment and offer an easier, more intuitive and physical way of engaging with this media. This test allowed for the analysis of untainted first interactions of users with the device and see if is a successful solution to the issues with existing digital media interactions.
User Test Set Up The user was set up in an living room of a house, the exact environment that the device would be used as to best simulate the true and intended use of the device. The table was set in the center of the room with a T.V set and stereo set against a wall. Once set up the user were sent into the room with the device with no direction of how to use the device only that it was a device for playing media. All the interactions were recorded to later be analyzed.
In action The user test had been set up on two occasions, in the exact same way and throughout a period of 4 hours the user test was undertaken by 18 people, all the users were recorded, analyzed and all the common factors between the users were noted.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
63
Findings Throughout the user test there were of key things that were able to be drawn from the way in which each user and collectively they were able to interact with the device. When approaching the device the users were often shocked at the ring illumination in the tables surface which came on as they approached the table. The majority of users soon recognizing the location as significant often touching in the circle. Once then users then noticed the collection of media tokens the users were quick to combine the two grabbing a token and placing it into the glowing ring. When the token is place in the ring immediately the media starts playing and the controls in the table light up. As this happen the users often showed signs of surprise and satisfaction that the item they wanted was playing. The illumination of the control surprised the majority of the users, but they almost instantaneously connecting the logos as controls to the media. Although having reservation when first touching the controls, most of the users began manipulating the media playback with the controls. the volume control seemed to be the most common control that each user went for first and played with the most. Once the volume control was established the majority of users the went on to the other controls one by one until satisfied with their functions. When the users had figured out the controls they all seemed to be drawn to the other media tokens quick applying them to the table to then see the playback of that media. The key things that were seen amongst the majority of users were that for one although approaching with caution the average time for comfortable use of the device was under a minute, this is from the first touch of the device to the comfortable pressing of control and changing of the media. The speed at which the users were able to choose the media through physical tokens was also notable as the were quickly able to find or not find any media they would like to play, Whether they liked or dislike the media choices through the use of physical tokens to choose from the users were quickly able to identify the media available. Beyond the tokens the user test also showed that once the system was understood the comfort with changing and enjoying media was very high users often flicking through tracks of music to ones they liked and even being consumed be the media that was being played back, applying the controls as if second nature to achieve the desired manipulation. The instant feedback through control illumination was key to the sense of comfort, user only pressing once and stopping when they receive the instant feedback. They only issue was due to the fast response time of the pause control, as they would often by accident press the button twice as its touch sensing continual check i had programed to be to fast which would be amended with later programming. In all the users Comment that they had found the device very pleasing to use and were often keen to have one of these devices for themselves.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
3.0
64
Conclusion to Part B - Design, Construction and Testing
In conclusion to the design and prototyping part of this project, this portion of the project aimed to find a solution to the proposed problem in Part A and through design prototyping and user testing, it is felt that the home media surface has done just that, offering a solution in the form of a surface based interface. Once the item had been designed, programmed, prototyped and the user test it was clear through the results it was clear that this interface was an improvement to the existing platform, From the speed of use to the accuracy of the actions, and comparing this to the early tests and observations in part A it is clear to see an improvement. The users test also provided comments to support this fact, stating that they would definitely like the system to replace the existing paradigms. In reference to one of the key aims of the which was to make the device not imposes itself on the environment, the use of the hidden light has achieved this effect perfectly looking like a coffee table when lights are off and drawing attention with the lights when the device is needed. The users in the test often approaching the device as a coffee table until the lights illuminate to show further possibilities. In all the outcome of this project throughout the design process, programming and user testing in all results appears to be positive and well established solution to the issue of connect to digital media in the home in a truly inclusive and physical experience.
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
65
References 1. Brygg Ullmer (2006) - Token+Constraint Systems for Tangible Interaction with Digital Information 2. John McCarthy, Peter Wright, Jayne Wallace, Andy Dearden (2004) - The experience of enchantment in human窶田omputer interaction 3. Daniela Petrelli, Steve Whittaker (2008) - Family memories in the home: contrasting physical and digital mementos. 4. Carman Neustaedter & Saul Greenberg (2003) - The Design of a Context-Aware Home Media Space:The Video. 5. Michael Nunes & Saul Greenberg (2009) - Sharing Digital Photographs in the Home by Tagging Memorabilia 6. Nicolai Marquardt (2008) - Physical lU User Interfaces 7. Mark Weiser (1991) - The Computer for the 21st Century 8. Bill Gaver, Tony Dunne And Elena Pacetti (1999) - Cultural Probes 9. David Kirk, Abigail Sellen, Stuart Taylor, Nicolas Villar, Shahram Izadi (2009) - Putting the Physical into the Digital: Issues in Designing Hybrid Interactive Surfaces 10. Scott R. Klemmer, Jack Li, James Lin, James A. Landay (2004) - Papier-Mﾃ｢chﾃｩ: Toolkit Support for Tangible Input 11. William Odom, James Pierce, Erik Stolterman, & Eli Blevis (2009) - Understanding Why We Preserve Some Things and Discard Others in the Context of Interaction Design 12. Jacob Eisenstein, Wendy E. Mackay (2006) - Interacting with Communication Appliances: An evaluation of two computer vision based selection techniques 13. Alexander Grundner (2010) - Parks Associates Confirms: Web-Connected Game Consoles Outpace HTPCs in U.S. Households 14. Jan Noyes and Richard Littledale (2002) - Beyond Usability, Computer Playfulness 15. Characteristics of Older Adult Users (2009)
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
66
16. Libby Hanna (2007) - DESIGNING ELECTRONIC MEDIA FOR CHILDREN 17. Joel Cooper and Matthew B. Kugler (2008) - Human-Computer Interaction Designing for Diverse Users and Domain 18. Luke Hohmann (2000) - Creating GUIs Users Can Use: Usability Analysis 19. Yukikazu Nakamoto and Naoko Kuri (2009) - Home Networking System with SIP 20. Hugh David (2008) - HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION:THE ELEPHANT IN THE CORNER 21. Chih-Kong Ken Yang (2005) - Input/ Output Devices 22. Importance of human–machine interaction in maritime safety (2008) 23. Shatha N. Samman and Kay M. Stanney (2006) - Multimodal Interaction 24. Alan Dix (2008) - NETWORK-BASED INTERACTION 25. Andrew Sears, Julie Jacko (2008) - FUTURE TRENDS IN HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION 26. David Hawkridge (2000) - Using media and technologies for flexible workplace learning 27. Alois Ferscha, Simon Vogl, Bernadette Emsenhuber, Bernhard (2008) - Physical Shortcuts for Media Remote Controls 28. Andreas Butz, Michael Schmitz, Antonio Krüger, Harald Hullmann (2005) - Tangible UIs for Media Control – Probes Into the Design Space 29. S. A. G.Wensveen, J. P. Djajadiningrat, C. J. Overbeeke (2004) - Interaction Frogger: A Design Framework to Couple Action and Function through Feedback and Feedforward 30. Brett Wilkinson, Paul Calder (2008) - Investigating Touch Interactions for an Augmented World 31. Ken Camarata, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Brian R Johnson, Mark D Gross (2002) - Navigational Blocks 32. Hilary Hutchinson, Wendy Mackay, Bosse Westerlund (2003) - Technology Probes: Inspiring Design for and with Families 33. Hiroshi Ishii (2008) - Tangible Bits: Beyond Pixels 34. Vivienne Waller and Robert B. Johnston (2009) - Making Ubiquitous Computing Available
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010
Home Media Selection
67
35. Einar Sneve Martinussen, Timo Arnall (2009) - Designing with RFID 36. Andrés Lucero, Tatiana Lashina, Elmo Diederiks, Tuuli Mattelmäki (2007) - How Probes Inform and Influence the Design Process 37. Richard Atterer, Albrecht Schmidt (2007) - Tracking the Interaction of Users with AJAX Applications for Usability Testing 38. Hayes Solos Raffl e, Amanda J. Parkes and Hiroshi Ishii (2004) - Topobo: A Constructive Assembly System with Kinetic Memory 39. Andreas Butz, Markus Groß and Antonio Kr¨uger (2004) - TUISTER: a Tangible UI for Hierarchical Structures. 40. Phidgets - http://www.phidgets.com/projects.php 41. Arduino - http://www.arduino.cc/ 42. Parallax - http://www.parallax.com/ 43. Revision 3 - http://www.parallax.com/ 44. Hal Automation - http://www.ozhifi.com/hal/index.php 45. Reativision - http://reactivision.sourceforge.net/
Ryan Van den Dolder S3109087
Industrial Design Pre-Major 2010