Our next task was to explore every day assistive technologies (AT) and then to see what sort of tangible interactions could be applied to an AT. So to start off with we were given definitions of both. These were to help direct our research and ideas.
Assistive Technology:
...any device, system or design, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified or customised, that allows an individual to perform a task that they would otherwise be unable to do, or increase the ease and safety with which a task can be performed.
Independent Living Centre Australia
on Assistive Technology
(http://www.ilcnsw.asn.au/home/assistive_technology/assistive_technologynext)
Tangible Interaction:
"Umbrella term" that describes a set of related research and design approaches focusing on: the design of the interaction instead of the visible interface.
It prioritizes as principles of design:
As you can see from the definitions we are now left with an extremely broad range of products to select from.
An AT is simply a product that assists day-to-day activities. It could be anything from a waterbottle to glasses to a large appliance such as a dishwasher or washing machine or even a car.
A Tangible Interaction is any interaction that can be felt with the body in the real world.
What follows here are some ideas that I came up with in class.
Musical Proximity Indication:
Through the use of Bluetooth or GPS or some form of wireless connection two or more friends' mp3 players could be paired or grouped so that play a particular song when they are within range. This would notify the friends that they were close to eachother which stimulates spontanious connections or enabling the friends to know when they had arrived at their destination.
Audible Cutting Board:
A myth that many people believe is that a knife is safer if it is blunt. This is often incorrect as the additional effort required to cut the item can cause the user to slip causing even more damage. What if a cutting board could indicate how much "pain" it was in due to a blunt knife?
Night Sight:
When a person has glasses they find it even more difficult to find things in the dark... especially when it is the glasses they are looking for... I know from experience. Can a pair of glasses be fitted with a motion sensor so that the user can find their glasses in the dark? (Brief research shows that this has been done... but could I do it better?)
Drink Up:
Drinking water is a common mundane day-to-day task. Can I make it more interesting? My idea is a bottle that is fitted with a level indicator that shows the water level and water movement of somone elses bottle, either just one or multiples. The bottles could be paired or grouped via the internet or other wireless technology.
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Assistive Technology:
...any device, system or design, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified or customised, that allows an individual to perform a task that they would otherwise be unable to do, or increase the ease and safety with which a task can be performed.
Independent Living Centre Australia
on Assistive Technology
(http://www.ilcnsw.asn.au/home/assistive_technology/assistive_technologynext)
_________________________________________________________________________
Tangible Interaction:
"Umbrella term" that describes a set of related research and design approaches focusing on: the design of the interaction instead of the visible interface.
It prioritizes as principles of design:
- tangibilityand materiality
- bodily interaction
- embeddedness in real spaces and contexts
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As you can see from the definitions we are now left with an extremely broad range of products to select from.
An AT is simply a product that assists day-to-day activities. It could be anything from a waterbottle to glasses to a large appliance such as a dishwasher or washing machine or even a car.
A Tangible Interaction is any interaction that can be felt with the body in the real world.
What follows here are some ideas that I came up with in class.
Musical Proximity Indication:Through the use of Bluetooth or GPS or some form of wireless connection two or more friends' mp3 players could be paired or grouped so that play a particular song when they are within range. This would notify the friends that they were close to eachother which stimulates spontanious connections or enabling the friends to know when they had arrived at their destination.
A myth that many people believe is that a knife is safer if it is blunt. This is often incorrect as the additional effort required to cut the item can cause the user to slip causing even more damage. What if a cutting board could indicate how much "pain" it was in due to a blunt knife?
When a person has glasses they find it even more difficult to find things in the dark... especially when it is the glasses they are looking for... I know from experience. Can a pair of glasses be fitted with a motion sensor so that the user can find their glasses in the dark? (Brief research shows that this has been done... but could I do it better?)
Drink Up:Drinking water is a common mundane day-to-day task. Can I make it more interesting? My idea is a bottle that is fitted with a level indicator that shows the water level and water movement of somone elses bottle, either just one or multiples. The bottles could be paired or grouped via the internet or other wireless technology.
________________________________________________________________________
Other ideas from class members:
Head Mounted Navigation:
One of the ideas that I particularly liked that came from someone else is a head mounted GPS unit that projects a guidance arrow onto the ground infront. This would be very helpful for cyclists and would remove the need for a screen that requires riders to take their eyes off the road. This may also have implications for in-car navigation displays.
One of the ideas that I particularly liked that came from someone else is a head mounted GPS unit that projects a guidance arrow onto the ground infront. This would be very helpful for cyclists and would remove the need for a screen that requires riders to take their eyes off the road. This may also have implications for in-car navigation displays.
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I'm gradually realising that although some of these ideas may seem useless right now the technology and mechanisms that we develop in this class could potentially solve issues that arrise in the future or even problems that people have and we don't know about yet.
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