PostPC Computing

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PostPC Computing

• Embedding Intelligence

2002/3
Prof. Scott Kirkpatrick, HUJI Amnon Dekel, Bezalel
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Class 4 Nov 5 2002 Bezalel

• Student Introductions (HB)
• Introduction From Problem to Product.
• What is value?
• How Engineers Think 15 min
• How Designers Think 15 min
• Set up Groups
• Class Exercise Identifying problems and
  Solutions
• HW

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Introduction

• Some Administrative info
• Classes will be on Tuesdays 1400-1700
• Class location will alternate between Bezalel and
  Givat Ram (depending on subject)
• See class lecture schedule on web site
• Class website
• http//www.cs.huji.ac.il/postPC

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Student Introductions

• Name
• Background
• Experience
• Interests

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Introduction

• This course is about Interactions
• interaction of different ways of thinking
• interaction of different ways of doing
• interaction of ideas
• ideas about usability, functionality, ergonomics,
  problem solving, style, and aesthetics.
• interaction of computational capabilities and
  physical, everyday objects.

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Introduction

• This course will try to create an environment
  within which cross-disciplinary teams will
  explore the ramifications of adding computation
  intelligence to everyday objects while striving
  to understand what value such a process might
  hold for such "empowered" objects.

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Value

• What value does adding computational power to a
  pen create?
• What value can be created by adding such power to
  a block of paper, or to eyeglasses, or shirts, or
  cameras, or chairs?
• What might happen if a computer mouse becomes
  intelligent?
• What might happen if a room, or other space
  inhabited by people, becomes computationally
  "empowered"?

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What is Value

• Don Normans view
• Engineering values are real and measurable
• First to market
• Best technology
• Standards and infrastructure support
• But there is a danger of losing sight of the
  customer, who alone determines value
• Example Thomas Edison

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How Engineers ThinkThomas A. Edison

• Edison was leader in 19th Cent. Technologies
• Telegraph, electricity, batteries, sound
  recording, movies
• Created the first industrial research laboratory
• Understood the need for infrastructure
• Electric light required electric power
  distribution
• This was a time of star technologists influencing
  public opinion
• Edison, Bell, Marconi, Steinmetz, Westinghouse

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How Engineers Think Thomas A. Edison

• Invented the phonograph (1877).
• Tinfoil on cylinders
• Recording as well as playback
• Solved a problem (dictation in the office), but
  was it the right problem? Predicted the
  paperless office!
• Too complicated at first for office use two
  week learning curve.
• The technology evolved
• Cylinders constant speed, low wear, better
  fidelity
• Disks changing speed, scratchy, high wear, BUT
• Louder
• Easier to store and ship
• Cheaper to manufacture
• Edison's companies were slow to follow.

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How Engineers Think Thomas A. Edison

• Emile Berliner was third to enter the field, with
  first disc machines, and what became RCA Victor.
  Horizontal modulation, not vertical.
• When Edison switched to discs (1913), he used the
  higher quality vertical modulation. INCOMPATIBLE
• Berliner established exclusive contracts with the
  most famous musical artists, and promoted
  heavily.
• Edison reasoned that customers couldn't tell the
  work of less-known artists from the famous ones.
  Saved lots of money. Artists not even listed on
  the labels.
• Result "Victrola" became generic for 50 years.

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What is Value

• Don Normans view
• Our View Ways to enhance the
• Functionality
• Usability
• Enjoyabilty" of an object
• In the process, enhancing the capabilities of
  those who use such objects.
• By capabilities we mean a mix of cognitive and
  physical performance parameters.

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How Designers Think

• Designers deal with
• Context
• Attention
• Human perception and psyche

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How Designers Think

• Designers deal with Gestalt
• with the overall effect of their creations on the
  viewer
• It is not that they do not analyze and break
  things apart in their process of exploration and
  discovery- but the end product is the packaging
  of their ideas back into a whole system.

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How Designers Think

• Designers can be seen in many ways as Applicative
  Psychologists, Sociologists, and Anthropologists
• They use what they know about people, and about
  how society affects them, as tools to manipulate
  those people.

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How Designers Think

• Designers are manipulators.
• They try to make you think and feel about
  something in ways that they have planned and
  packaged for you.
• Not only is the most obvious form, advertising,
  manipulative, all forms of design are.
• The choices of color, of shape, of material, of
  layout, of type, have been chosen to manipulate
  your perceptions in specific ways.

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How Designers Think

• Designers are manipulators.
• This should not be seen as Negative.
• In most cases this is not a conscious process
• Designers develop ways of seeing and manipulating
  the visual world in ways that change the way
  people see things
• Many times this is done in an intuitive way- but
  what is intuition in this case if not a heuristic
  way of looking, thinking, and acting on the world.

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Designers

• Deal with wholes, with the synthesis of
  multi-modal and multidimensional content.
• Designers analyze things- breaking them up in the
  process of trying to understand how perceptual
  schemas work.
• They break things apart in order to know how to
  create more successful wholes.
• Designers are manipulators, trying
• sometimes intuitively, sometimes consciously, to
  make you see things in ways that they control.

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What is a Good Design?

• A good design succeeds in manipulating its
  viewers- making them see what it meant them to
  see
• A good design manipulates in various ways
• Creates a context which affects how viewers will
  look and understand a design
• Nudges the viewers attention to specific elements
  or areas
• Creates a planned emotional response in the
  viewer
• More ?

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In Class Exercise

• Context the Office

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In Class Exercise

• Part 1 5 minutes
• Each person should make a list of 5 problems that
  exists in an office.

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In Class Exercise

• Part 2 10 minutes
• Create joint groups Bezalel and HUJI students.
  No less than 2, no more than 4
• Each group should discuss the list of problems
  that they have.
• Each group will then select a final list of 5
  problems
• Criteria for choice interest, seems solvable,
  can benefit form computational power

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In Class Exercise

• Part 3 30 minutes Discussion
• Each group will read their list of problems
• We will discuss one problem from each group

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Homework

• Finalize Groups (each group should have at least
  one designer and one engineer)
• Develop initial idea as a Group
• Prepare 5 minute idea presentation (Due Nov 19)

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problems

• Balagan
• Without dynamic adaptation to my needs, this is
  the result of context switching
• Sometimes need all information, sometimes need no
  distractions,
• Voice cueing to trigger automatic aids
• Physical environment that helps organize without
  overwelming
• Paper/keyboard interference

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problems

• Office climate (physical environment)
• Multiperson offices but the climate follows the
  person.
• The climate should change during the day
• (track the outside, or variation for its own
  sake?)
• Improve outside awareness (virtual or real
  window)
• Respond to mood
• How to control this? Or does it happen
  automatically?

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problems

• Personalization of work environment
• Dynamic privacy (no distractions), yet
• Or instant access to co-workers (the wall goes
  away)
• Info anywhere, anytime, free of its physical form
• Hardware independent, multiple directories, such
  as phone numbers,
• Some customization of the types of information
  according to setting or tasks

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Info

• Class website http//www.cs.huji.ac.il/postPC
• REMEMBER Class Next week (Nov. 12) at GIVAT RAM
  Campus, Computer Science Building (Ross), in the
  Hardware Lab (Room 19 Downstairs)

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• Class website
• http//www.cs.huji.ac.il/postPC