Storyboard Example

Below is a basic example of the functionality of the prototype.

(1) David receives a phone call from his friend James. James tells David to meet him at the "i Browse" at 12:00pm. David agrees. David checks his watch and sees that it is 11:45am, so he sets off to the "i Browse"

(2) David arrives 10Min's early so he goes over to the "i Browse hub", the "i agent" activates as he sits down at one of the empty spaces at the hub. He asks the "i Browse" to provide him with the cinema listings for the local Cinema

(3) "i agent" displays the results in the palm of his hand,David finds the film, which he selects by asking the i agent to display times for the film he wants to watch. i agent displays the times. David stands up and walks away, the i agent deactivates.

(4) David still has 5minutes to wait so he goes and sits down in the seating area in one of the comfy chairs provided, he sends a text to his friend telling him where he is.

Where we stand in the design Process?

Currently the Design of "The Interactive Space - i Browse, i Agent" is focused more towards the Role of the space and how the space will look and feel.

• The "Role" of the space is important to achieving the goals set at the beginning of this project, making sure we achieve a space that is focused on providing an interactive solution that promote communication and interaction between students and the community.
• The "Look & Feel" of the space is important to show the principals of how we would achieve the requirements of the space, an important factor of the interactive space is to provide a safe comfortable area that enables users to interact and communicate. How we determine the Look & Feel of the area is essential to how we portray what we are promoting.

Fig 1 shows i diagram example:

(Fig 1)

Benchmarking

The below questionnaire was generated in order to gauge the response of the previously identified stakeholders as to their opinions on the space. The results were as follows:

1. Most people were not aware of the significance of the praying hands and did not know what the space was used for.
2. A low number of people used the space directly, with most using it as a through fare.
3. Most people felt the space was not being used to its full potential.
   
4. Participants indicated the space could be improved through the addition of a shelter with seating area and a more friendly, community driven atmosphere.
5. Most people would not object to carrying more personal information on their student cards if it meant a more personalised service.
   

Benchmarking

University of Central Lancashire Interaction Design Questionnaire

In order to enhance the “praying hands “ space, located alongside the Computing and Technology Building, please could you take a few minutes to answer the following questions. The questionnaire is anonymous and any information disclosed will not be passed on to any third parties. The questionnaire should take no longer than 5 minutes. Your time and honesty will be greatly appreciated.

Gender: Male Female

Age:

Nationality:

Do you consider yourself to have a disability? Yes No If so please state:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Are you currently a student at UCLan? Yes No

Do you live in the Preston area? Yes No

Have you ever seen the “praying hands” space, adjacent to the Computing and Technology Building?

Yes No

Do you know what the space is currently being used for? Yes No If so please state:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Have you ever used the space? Yes No If so, please state:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Do you think the space is being used to its full potential? Yes No

If no, what changes would you like to see?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Would you object to carrying more personal information on your student card if it meant providing you with a service tailored individually to your needs? Yes No


Thankyou very much for your time.

End of Questionnaire.

Initial Conceptual Ideas

Interactive wall space (focusing on touch screen technologies) that promotes Communication via a help forum board. Users post digital "Post it notes" with a question they require help on. i.e "How hot is it in Greece?" - then... Another user would post a "Post it Note reply" to that specific question or post one of their own dependent on what they want to do. The user would be able to select colours, pen size, type of font, and if they want to add pictures. Questions asked would be contained in their own hierarchical Structure with multiple sub questions (quires) and answers all displayed on the interactive wall space at the "Hands"

William Carter


The chosen overall concept was to create a space which appealed to the target audience and key stakeholders. The ideas generated are aimed at capturing imagination, usability, comfort and interaction amongst pears. As well as a central point providing a specific purpose, the space around it will provide suitable usable surroundings enhancing the experience for the user. The desire is to create a partially enclosed space which mimics the emotion displayed by students sitting on grass on a hot summer’s day. It is deemed through observation and participation that a positive emotion is displayed whereby the comfort and relaxation brings about a greater sense of interactivity amongst groups of students and also between groups of students.

The following idea was proposed:


Holographic interactive fountain/game

This would be the inspiring focal point of the space generating campus wide interest and provoke discussion and interaction amongst key stakeholders both in and away from the actual space.

The holographic interactive game should be one which could be collaborative such a Jenga. The display could appear in a box type screen with touch sensors corresponding to the image displayed. The game could also be rotated periodically or could be chosen from a selection.

The hologram would also when not in direct use consist of a flaming/water fountain dependant on the weather. On cold day the hologram will show a flame generating a warm feeling of the space and on a hot day the watery fountain display will create a cooling sensation.


Seating

The warm and cooling features could be enhanced through an under floor/seated heating and cooling system. Around the central holographic display and to the edge of the space soft cushion type flooring would be used. It is hoped that padded flooring will both allow for people to pass through the space but also once on there would encourage the person to sit down and relax.

Roofing

It was thought that the best way to encapsulate the desired effect of relaxation and comfort thus provoking interactivity amongst people was to partially enclose the space and create a roof. This would be a contemporary non flat design and could be used to further emit the display of the fountain, i.e. Flames or waterfall effect.

Screen

A large projection screen placed on the cat building can provide an outlet to display work from across various departments. Departments can use it to showcase new developments and students work. Short films, animations and still images can also be shown. This also opens up a media outlet which could raise funds for the upkeep of the project through advertising.

Arron Harrison



Richard Hamer

UCLan WikiBox
A unit is placed in the space that allows users to find information out about all aspects affecting the university and surrounding area. Like a traditional wiki the content is user generated allowing a bottom-up approach to ascribing content with its context/meaning. Entries can be edited and debated and it is hoped that such a system would encourage a collaborative learning/publishing environment to develop within the university and local community.
Paul Rowe

Existing Technology

In order to understand how our system will be implemented it is important to understand the current available technology and whether the designs are feasible in a real world scenario.


Internet Kiosks
Internet Kiosks are the closest example of an analogue to the i-browse software agent. Such a system is already implemented around UCLan in the form of the i-stops which provide access to the University Intranet. The main difference between them and our proposed system is that the i-browse provides a more intuitive user interface having the capacity to be personalized to the individual users. It also proposes a greater use of metadata to increase its functionality within the University Intranet and the wider community.

RFID Tags


RFID Tags are becoming more and more prevalent within ICT and society in general. i-browse makes extensive use of RFID Tags to create a personalized user experience. However the use of storing sensitive data and in the use of RFID Tags in general raises many ethical and security issues.

Holographic Interfaces


Holographic interfaces have yet to be fully realized although there are many companies who are coming close to implementing them. This would be an ideal technology for our i-browse software agent as it promises vandal proof technology in public spaces. Whilst this would be the ideal the i-browse service could function just as well within a traditional screen GUI environment.

Motion Sensors + Input Devices


I-browse would ideally utilize an advanced input device including voice recognition, retina scanning, facial recognition etc. This would create a more intuitive and adaptable user experience and has the capacity to increase the overall accessibility of the i-browse system. However with more limited means basic motion sensor technology could be employed to create pseudo artificial intelligence with a reactive user interface.

Prototyping

Initial Interface Prototype

An initial draft of the user interface was created to help understand how users would interact with the software agent that forms the focal point of the space.


After various design phases a cubicle design enabling four users to use the i-browse simultaneously was decided upon. This was a compromise between having a focal point whilst maintaining the privacy of the individual users.

When users enter the cubicle zone an RFID tag installed in their student cards would identify the user to the software agent and load their personal settings. Users could also specify the level of information disclosed to the software agent and even choose to disable the agents access and just use the default i-browse agent.


When the user steps inside the cubicle the i-browse agent springs to life, ideally a hologram but could also work using conventional screens. In this instance the user is late for his lesson and doesn't know which room his class is in. i-browse utilizing the student profile held on the RFID Tag communicates with an advanced database system and automatically brings up a map displaying the students classroom and the directions on how to get there. Ideally such a system would be able to access a range of composable services on the University Intranet making the above scenario just one of many functions the i-browse could be used for.