Forming Interactivity : A Tool for Rapid Prototyping of Physical Interactive Products

1. Forming Interactivity:A Tool for Rapid Prototyping of Physical Interactive Products • Daniel Avrahami • Scott Hudson • Carnegie Mellon University, HCII

2. in this talk • overview (what?) • motivation (why?) • tool design (how?) • future work • summary

3. switcharoo • a tool for rapid prototyping of physical interactive products • involves a collection of inexpensive, wireless physical input components that communicate with a Macromedia Director prototype on the screen • a model + switcheroo components + Director interface becomes a functioning physical prototype

4. overview

5. overview

6. overview

7. overview

8. switcharoo demo • a model + switcheroo components + Director interface becomes a functioning physical prototype

9. motivation • a divide between exploration of form and exploration of interactivity • what is this divide? • why does it happen?

10. motivation • with fewer iterations, fewer problems can be found • starting testing late in the process means that problems found are less likely to be fixed • difficulty envisioning interactivity of a non-functional prototype • many problems cannot be revealed through the interaction with a mouse and keyboard

11. switcharoo • a design exploration tool • a design-testing tool • a data gathering tool • a communication tool

12. tool design – goals & process • fit the tool into the current work practice • allow the use of materials designers are used to • use the tools designers are familiar with • require minimum additional technological skills

13. input components RFID tag reader • passive RFID tag RFID tag RFID tag reader

14. input components switched passive RFID tag RFID tag reader switched RFID tag • passive RFID tag RFID tag

15. input components • switched passive RFID tag switched RFID tag RFID tag

16. prototyping material & attachment mechanism

17. prototyping material & attachment mechanism

18. software component on tagReceived me, tag temp = sprite(2).locH if (tag = "right") then sprite(2).locH = temp + 10 else if (tag = "left") then sprite(2).locH = temp - 10 end if end RF Tag Reader Java Switcharoo Macromedia Director Computer (Mac or PC)

19. future work • work with RF tag manufacturer on smaller tags and wider range antennas • work on wired version with output capabilities intended to support later stages of the process • wireless output and not only input • evaluate

20. summary • a tool for rapid prototyping of physical, interactive products • a design exploration tool • a design-testing tool • a data gathering tool • a communication tool • builds on existing work practices and knowledge • does not require special technological skills

21. acknowledgments • Joe Ballay • Bruce Hanington • Jodi Forlizzi • Francine Gemperle • Carl DiSalvo • Eric Anderson • Ami Drach • Katja Battarbee • this work was supported in part by the National Science • Foundation under grants IIS-9800597 and IIS-0121560

22. thank you