COSC 341 Design Challenge #3

Due Date

Submit your video(s) and report in PDf on Connect by 11:00am on Tuesday 10/17.

Problem Description

See the task for "interaction with physical objects" below.

Tasks

Mini-keyboard: Take turns having a conversation using the mini-keyboard "in your pocket" (tie the yellow bag around your belt). Pretend to complete the following tasks while having the conversation:

Type in other people's name, gender, hobbies
Be subtle while you're typing (don't take the keyboard out)
When you are done, give the mini-keyboard and yellow bag to someone else in the group and make sure everyone gets a turn.
When your team is done, answer the following questions:
- Assuming you know the layout of the keyboard, how hard or easy was it to type using the mini-keyboard?
- Were you able to type without the others in the conversation noticing?
- If you notice someone using a mini-keyboard in your conversation, how would that make you feel? How might it be different if you were in a meeting and someone uses his/her laptop to take notes during the meeting?

Immersive surrounding: Take turns using the Google cardboard. Try to click on some objects and interact with them. In particular, try out the following apps:

Launch the Cardboard app, select "launch cardboard demos", then try out: Explorer, Exhibit, and Urban Hike
Launch the Roller Coaster app, orient yourself to make sure you are going forward, "ride" the roller coaster for a minute
When you are done, give the Google cardboard and phone to someone else in the group and make sure everyone gets a turn.
When your team is done, answer the following questions:
- How does this experience differ from watching a movie at home or in a theatre?
- What kind of interactions were possible in the app (e.g., click, point, etc.)? What would have been more natural interactions for you?
- What kind of applications are more suited for virtual reality interaction?

Tabletop: Stand around the table. Pretend this is a tabletop with a digital surface for interaction and complete the following tasks:

Read a newspaper, zoom in/out, annotate by underlining and circling important phrases
Browse photos, pick one picture, select the background, change it to another background, share it with someone else across the table
Play a hockey game with someone else
Draw a house, save to file, pick different colours, colour in various parts of the house
When you are done, switch tasks with someone else on your team so each of you get to try all the tasks above
When your team is done, answer the following questions:
- What kind of interactions did you use for menu selection?
- What kind of interactions did you use for sharing documents with someone across the table?
- What kind of interactions did you use for editing photos?
- What kind of interactions did you use for playing a hockey game?

Interaction with physical objects: Objects are placed on the each desk along the right side of the room. Try out each object and think about how digital surfaces may be projected on it to foster a better user interaction experience. In your design, think about the object's inherent shape and purpose (affordance).

What to Submit

By the end of the in-class sessions, you will need to submit your video prototypes and report for your team consisting the following:

The full names and student number of each of your team members
Answers to the questions in each of the three experiences (see the "Tasks" section above).
Two objects of your choice (choose from what's given in class). For each object, explain in a paragraph what novel digital interaction you have designed for it, how it conforms with the objects' affordance, and how a person would interact with that object.
A video prototype (be sure to narrate or subtitle) for each of the objects of your design.

Grading Criteria (Out of 23)

[1 pt] Progress checkpoint (from lab TA)
[6 pts, 2 pts each] Answer to alternative interaction experiences
[4 pts, 2 pts each] Descriptions of design objects
[10 pts, 5 pts each] Video prototypes
[2 pts] Team evaluation matrix (see design challenge 1 for format, but using scores of 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.20 only)