Eames, get this done.

Stuff to get done for 6th of April.

1. Define the set of "words" for a gestural syntax based around the Wiimote.
2. Examine the tasks.
   

In relation to 1.

• Map the set of movements out.
• Some of your previous research has some of their Pros & Cons
• the outline of the interface could probably be written based on these gestures. I.E. recivedRollX(), pitchIs(), aButtonPressed(), vibrationtionOn().
• Testing for this would be based on Gesture capture from previous post.
  

In relation to 2.

• Look at it two ways top down up which is effectively a menu hierachy or bottom up look at the tasks themselves and classify them.
• Look at the taxonomies and try and find clashes/flashes between the groups.
  
• Try and think of some situations the clashes occur and get some design ideas to work around them. The clashes will often be a fault of modal clash others may be more inherent. I.E. The speed of seek in music doesn't change but it does in videos

Note to self
Modal change methods.

1. Displaying the mode
1. Icon showing current mode (similar to channel 10 symbol in bottom right corner)
1. Colored border around the edge of screen.
2. Different borders around each screen to select a different mode. (similar to radial menu)
3. Inside a cube approach. I.Es Pictures show on a wall ahead, trun to the right to view the stereo.
4. Feedback to identify a clash, and to resolve. A power user may has a workaround (I.E. overided mode) to stop like remembering previous actions, or locking in a mode. J River does this with a "Party Mode" which only allows track changes and not picture changes, iPod does this as well.
5. User selects different actions depending on the desired result. Each action may be called the same but act differently.
   
6. User may select a set of task which are most common assigns them gestures and jumps into the different modes only when needed.
   
7. Feedback to prompt from specific task I.E. next Picture, next Song
   
8. Prompt for specific mode (I.E. gesture for music action version, gesture for picture actions version), think like the start of a game of charades (movie, person, place)
   
9. Learn which application combination means which next.
   
10. Different orientation of the remote to represent different modes.
    

Gesture capture

Just procrastinating about the research assignment still.

Gesture capture form the Wiimote.
1. button to start recording values
2. record all acceleration data/raw data value for each axis.
3. Rinse repeat
4. Compare the values for similarity and create and average graph for the motion.
5. determine the points of the motion where acceleration has the greatest variation.
6. Add a variance graph to allow for the different movement.
7. Use this for setting up the gestures

Note,
managed to the the IR working on the PC without the sensor,. Simple fix usnig candles and suynlight didn't seem to effect the result. But the constraints of the screen still appeared, I.E. Getting the cursor to the bottom of the screen, occured from aim much further down.

The idea is not original

Seems the idea was already out there about the same time.

http://www.hackaday.com/2006/12/02/wiimote-windows-drivers/#comments

Note the last line of the post, might be a good place to recruit.

Internet survey / prototype

Working on business research methods and got to Internet surveys.

The use of internet surveys are taken as acceptable data collection methods. Paper prototypes are also seen as acceptable data collection methods.

Reminder to ask Stephen:

1. Are internet prototypes used in current research?
2. Will using flash add to the technical difficulty ot the project?

Regrading 1.
I'm thinking that the use of flash would recieve that advantages of using paper prototyping for any design and also same advantages of using Matlab when designing software?

Regrading 2.
Since I have only dabbled in flash and matlab, would working in these environments add to the gulf in technicality of the project we talked about. I.E. If the implementation is to easy, does learning flash count toward the technicality of the project.

Media Center Home Pages

Just a quick look

1. J River Media Center - Connect all your Toys - http://www.jrmediacenter.com/index.html
2. Wii Media Center X - http://www.redkawa.com/mediacenters/wiimediacenterx/
3. PS3 Media Center X - http://www.redkawa.com/mediacenters/wiimediacenterx/
4. Elisa Media Center - http://www.fluendo.com/elisa/.
5. CentreStage - http://svn.centerstageproject.com/project.php
6. xLobby - None - http://www.xlobby.com/
7. Windows Media Center - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/default.mspx
8. Enhanced-Media-Center - http://freshmeat.net/projects/e-mc/
   

Update from Matt.

Matt says,
Wide screen on spring on armchair, wireless keyboard, not sure if its a media center but the screen and keyboard are link to another monitor. Unfortunately the guy is in Cairns (possibility of external video maybe, Looong shot),

Pros:

• uninfluenced observation,
  
• I don't know the guy
  
• He sounds like a user familiar with a system
  

Cons:

• Unsupervised
  
• Cost, if I have to get to Cairns
  
• Limited number of personal reviews
  
• Getting him the stuff
  

If its worth it the chance of a few trips to Cairns may be possible (Cousin's Wedding might be there on the 14th of April, chance of setting up a video procedure)

Eames, Get this done.

Stuff to get done for the 30th of March,

1. Review the Tabulate Media Centers on the market (including under development)
1. Include functionality, plausibility as coding platform, the context of use (media center, standalone box)
   
2. Generate user center design questions
1. Based around a few of Part 1. as a guideline
2. Look for 1) people's indispensable uses of the remote and 2) functions and uses people would like to see.

Side notes:
In General remember;

• Keep the focus on the remote control functionality and not the abilities of the system.
• But don't disregard the system completely, the specification may be important. Look for the trends of the systems (I.E. bluetooth, IR, what platform is the system designed for)
  

Part 1. remember;

• the context of the final application and its use. Ideally you want something you can add onto not fundamentally rebuild.
• List what you are looking for before looking. Don't go exploring without a general map of the area.
  
• Use a +/-/. scale to increase evaluation (not just binary)
  

Part 2. remember;

• Looking to find core component and also the extra/needed functionality OF THE REMOTE
  
• Find what people like and dislike and see if the functionality of other systems reflects this. Has one company focused on one set of functions in contrast to another.

Notes to self;

• Get hold of Matt and find out who hand the arm-chair tv/computer (maybe Pat ?)
• Think about the design methodology: domestic technology, multi-modal (gestural) deployment) Donald Norman & the Swiss Army
  
• Look for the possible problems ahead of time.

As an aside, with the actual software design and development, the use of plug-ins for the system sounds like a great idea but so is the idea of gestures as a plug-ins. Why? The Playstation 3 is wireless, so in the new Xbox360, which will both be available by the end of the year. I know the PS3 has accelerometers, I assume the XBox does. It should be a matter of time before mobile phones have them. Ergo, any system + any device = 1 hell of a customizable home system. I know this is to much, but thats still cool.

Problem Space and Description

The Project.
To design and build a menu systems based around the capabilities of the Wiimote.

Through Design, examine the effects of the Wiimote of menu design. More specifically the effects of the additional characteristics, when compared to a standard remote control device, present (3-dimensional control and User feedback) on device-user-computer interaction.
I.E. How do the additional ( and restrictions things get used by people.

For the build, take a current menu system, and modify it to exist in a form suited to the Wiimote and it's capabilities.
I.E. Build a menu for the Wii.

As for the problem space,
The first image is the problem viewed in connection between the device itself and the system, while the second image is clarification of the difference between a Remote control and a Wiimote.

Image 1. Problem Space Visualization
Image 2. Ability Comparison and Contrast

Christopher Reeve

Just broke the back of understanding the ways to attack the topic from. Seems to be just an analysis of the restrictions and ability to enhance given by the characteristics of; the current system, the Wiimote and the remote control.
Problem Space 1.
Defining how the Wiimote Characteristics are restricted/enhanced by the Systems characteristics.

Problem Space 2.
How the current system characteristics is restricted by the Remote Control Characteristics and how the current systems could be enhanced by the characteristics of the Wiimote.

A Look at the Wii

As I thought there is not really a specific menu for the Base console. It roughly consist of 16 blocks, which fill with applications such as a game, Wii shop, Mii and Wii Online. Systems settings are reach through a setup program. The systems still works on a point a click interface.

Both the nintendo games (Play and Sports) used a similar menu structure but the lay out was different. The other game (Red Steel) had a different menu structure but this would be expected because of the different format (FPS) whereas the two Nintendo games have the same basic format (multiple games). Both the menu systems used the point and click style, but Red Steel also used drag and drop as the selection method.

Vibrations are signaled when the cursor crosses boundaries and also when selections are made.

A limitation I found using the opoint and click is that you have to aim a the TV screen. The movements are restricted to the dimensions of the screen. Especially using the Wiimote to aim, I constantly kept aiming in my field of vision not the tv.

MCE and Wii Media Center

Media Center
Vista released a new version of Media center with a new reworked menu. The reason for the change (http://mediacenter.mattgoyer.com/archives/category/vista/)
1. Content is king
2. Context is king
3. Vista is more scalable

Looking at WMC, seems to have the common windows idea of putting everything handy even when people don't use it. Maybe reworking the menu to allow for a more personalized menu to be used. Though I think the this may be accounted for by the modular design so people can add and remove pieces. Possible idea if 2D/3D menu direction: Adaptive menu for each user.

Control still seems limited to the remote and therefore the same mismatch between control and menu that occurs on the Wii will occur if using Wiimote to control the PC. The gap will be even larger for the PC the the Wii menu.

Control of the media (i.e. music and video preview) will also be effected by the contyrol method. Use of the Wiimote may explore using gesture to control the universal aspects of the remote control buttons (i.e. skipping a song may be a gesture) but gestures may also be use to control new forms of media previews (i.e. show first frame or last frame).

The Window Media Center Vista Menu Hierarchy

• Tasks
• Burn CD/DVD
• Sync
• Shut Down
• Add Extender
  
• Pictures + Video
• Picture Library
• Play All
• Video Library
  
• Movies
• Movie Library
• Play DVD
• Movies on TV
• On Next
• Genres
• Top Rates by Star Rating
• On Now
  
• Search
• Title Search
• Actor Search
• Director Search
  
• TV
• Recorded TV
• Live TV
• Guide
• Search
  
• Music
• Music Library
• Play All Music
• Radio
• Search
  
• Spotlight
• More Programs
• Online Spotlight

• Tools
  

Seems to me that all reviews of media center note but ignore the massive upgrade required for most machine, I updated less than 6 months ago and still miss in HD Tuner(got a normal digital analog card), RAM and Memory. The frills seems to be a big focus. This may be just me but I still use Window Classic style windows and buttons without effects, so I think that things always look bad if its locking up and I don't think about it if its running quickly.


Hands up if you don't like being such looking through Windows

// Mac's hand goes up: http://centerstageproject.com/
// Freevo's hand goes up: http://sourceforge.net/projects/freevo/
// Sage's hand goes up: http://www.sagetv.com/
//Playstations's hand goes up: http://www.game.co.uk/lowdown.aspx?lid=6956&cm_sp=PS3-_-topnav-_-media
// Xbox's hand goes up: http://www.productwiki.com/xbox_media_center/
// Wii's hand goes up: http://www.redkawa.com/mediacenters/wiimediacenterx/
Fully integrated Media centers are the direction of Home computing.

About to go to friends house this afternoon and do some "research" on the Wii and its menu structure. Going to try and get the basic menu hierarchy. Depending on the fetaures of a base system (i.e. no game), going to see if the menu system on Nintendo games are similar (Wii PLay, Wii Sports) and look at other makers games. If the base systems's menu is lacking a particluar program may have to be looked at. (Idea follows http://www.redkawa.com/mediacenters/wiimediacenterx/). which may be a nice baseline for further research (i.e. Takes principles from bridging the gap in 2D/3D interface/control and using new technology with the current media center format.

Go McLaren, Ferrari can have Kimi we got new blood.

Eames, Get this done.

Get this stuff done for March 23rd,

1. A paragraph describing the current view of the project.
2. A view of the project space based around the context of the project

Other stuff to try and get done include; 1) gantt chart show the planned progress, 2) brief annotations of the articles previously excluded and 3) post the previous documentation to this blog.

Notes to self:

• Two possible directions for the project. 2D vs. 3D mismatch (critical view) or New technology being used on a current way.
• The project progress report includes a synthesis of the current literature which describes the problem space identifying the relevant aspect and the relationships between them, but preparing for it irrelevant aspects can be included. The focus is on the defining the connection between the aspects and justifying them with papers or some other method.