Summary
This chapter consists of Dr. Mead giving an outline of Samoan culture as it appeared to her during her time there.
Discussion
One of the most interesting chapters of the book. I found borrowing California's legal code to be particularly humorous.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Microblog #41, "Why We Make Mistakes, Chapters 2 and 3"
2
Summary
In this chapter the authors speculate on what makes things memorable. They advocate the view that it is the meaning they have.
Discussion
This chapter...I don't know about some of the conclusions they draw from their facts. Anyway, I correctly picked A.
3
Summary
This chapter describes snap judgments, and also areas such as answer test taking on exams where results seem to contradict common wisdom.
Discussion
This chapter just seemed backwards. The stuff they couldn't explain seemed obvious, and the stuff they tried to explain their explanations didn't sit well.
Take, for example, the pictures of the Senate hopefuls. They said they didn't understand why the guy on the left was more 'Senatorial' looking than they guy on the right, when it was pretty obviously the flag and the pin, at least to me. He looks like a politician, and the other guy looks like a regular guy. (Neat experiment: frame it so you can only see their faces. The guy on the right is still a regular guy, but the guy on the left now looks like a villain from a Sherlock Holmes novel.)
As far as test answers, I'm willing to bet that takers don't change responses unless they're sure. If the common wisdom was that changing answers was better, then they'd only stay if sure and changing would appear to be the weaker approach.
Summary
In this chapter the authors speculate on what makes things memorable. They advocate the view that it is the meaning they have.
Discussion
This chapter...I don't know about some of the conclusions they draw from their facts. Anyway, I correctly picked A.
3
Summary
This chapter describes snap judgments, and also areas such as answer test taking on exams where results seem to contradict common wisdom.
Discussion
This chapter just seemed backwards. The stuff they couldn't explain seemed obvious, and the stuff they tried to explain their explanations didn't sit well.
Take, for example, the pictures of the Senate hopefuls. They said they didn't understand why the guy on the left was more 'Senatorial' looking than they guy on the right, when it was pretty obviously the flag and the pin, at least to me. He looks like a politician, and the other guy looks like a regular guy. (Neat experiment: frame it so you can only see their faces. The guy on the right is still a regular guy, but the guy on the left now looks like a villain from a Sherlock Holmes novel.)
As far as test answers, I'm willing to bet that takers don't change responses unless they're sure. If the common wisdom was that changing answers was better, then they'd only stay if sure and changing would appear to be the weaker approach.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Paper Reading #18, "Embedded Media Barcode Links"
http://wkhciblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-16.html
http://pfrithcsce436.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-17-uimarks-quick.html
Embedded Media Barcode Links: Optimally Blended Barcode Overlay on Paper for Linking to Associated Media
Qiong Liu, Chunyuan Liao, Lynn Wilcox, and Anthony Dunnigan of FX Palo Alto Laboratory
ICMI-MLMI 2010, November 8-10 2010, Beijing, China
Summary
This paper is an overview of the concept of and then a detailed look at the implementation of a barcode reader allowing multimedia information encoded in traditional paper documents to be viewed on cell phones. The two previous paradigms in this field are explained in some detail. First, there is the barcode that must be exclusive of text and is therefore reader unfriendly. Second, there was the barcode in invisible toner, which required phones to scan the entire document just to find it.
The innovation here is a semi-transparent barcode that can be distinguished clearly from both the text and the background. This has the best of both worlds and the worst of neither, as it allows data to be collected without making the paper unreadable on absurdly large.
The paper contains a wealth of technical information, and those interested can peruse it. The improved blending coefficient making the transparency feasible is the best aspect, according to the authors.
Discussion
This whole idea is very interesting to me, as this hadn't occurred to me before and is, frankly, pretty cool. Something subtle and at least conceptually easy, like what is done here, while still being a big advantage, is the pinnacle of innovation. I really like their idea. One thing they could improve would be more, better visual aids. I wasn't impressed with the illustrations.
I think the next thing I would want to do here would be to see this in action! User studies are important, and they don't appear to have done one yet. (I realize they self-tested, but that's never quite the same thing).
http://pfrithcsce436.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-17-uimarks-quick.html
Embedded Media Barcode Links: Optimally Blended Barcode Overlay on Paper for Linking to Associated Media
Qiong Liu, Chunyuan Liao, Lynn Wilcox, and Anthony Dunnigan of FX Palo Alto Laboratory
ICMI-MLMI 2010, November 8-10 2010, Beijing, China
Summary
This paper is an overview of the concept of and then a detailed look at the implementation of a barcode reader allowing multimedia information encoded in traditional paper documents to be viewed on cell phones. The two previous paradigms in this field are explained in some detail. First, there is the barcode that must be exclusive of text and is therefore reader unfriendly. Second, there was the barcode in invisible toner, which required phones to scan the entire document just to find it.
The innovation here is a semi-transparent barcode that can be distinguished clearly from both the text and the background. This has the best of both worlds and the worst of neither, as it allows data to be collected without making the paper unreadable on absurdly large.
The paper contains a wealth of technical information, and those interested can peruse it. The improved blending coefficient making the transparency feasible is the best aspect, according to the authors.
Best picture from the paper. Transparent barcode (barely) visible in top right.
Discussion
This whole idea is very interesting to me, as this hadn't occurred to me before and is, frankly, pretty cool. Something subtle and at least conceptually easy, like what is done here, while still being a big advantage, is the pinnacle of innovation. I really like their idea. One thing they could improve would be more, better visual aids. I wasn't impressed with the illustrations.
I think the next thing I would want to do here would be to see this in action! User studies are important, and they don't appear to have done one yet. (I realize they self-tested, but that's never quite the same thing).
Full Blog, "Emotional Design"
Emotional Design
Donald Norman
Basic Books, New York, 2004
Summary
Calling this a full book blog is something of a misnomer, as we only read the first three chapters. The introduction and first chapter detailed the flaws in the earlier Design of Everyday Things, being not really a complete rebuttal Norman's earlier book but rather an acknowledgment that the design-only philosophy is perhaps too narrow. The second chapters explores the way emotion works in design, and the third visceral, behavioral, and reflective design and how to distinguish them.
Discussion
Emotional Design is classic Norman, starting out by making a bunch of good points in rapid succession and then repeating them over and over through the next two chapters and, I infer, the rest of the book. He suffered far more here from overstating his case than in points previous, and I felt his points were less well supported. The three layer model I find to be too stratified; the lines should be much blurrier than they are made here. Of course, you've already heard my opinion on that in class w.r.t. the midterm and probably aren't interested in a rehash.
Donald Norman
Basic Books, New York, 2004
Summary
Calling this a full book blog is something of a misnomer, as we only read the first three chapters. The introduction and first chapter detailed the flaws in the earlier Design of Everyday Things, being not really a complete rebuttal Norman's earlier book but rather an acknowledgment that the design-only philosophy is perhaps too narrow. The second chapters explores the way emotion works in design, and the third visceral, behavioral, and reflective design and how to distinguish them.
Discussion
Emotional Design is classic Norman, starting out by making a bunch of good points in rapid succession and then repeating them over and over through the next two chapters and, I infer, the rest of the book. He suffered far more here from overstating his case than in points previous, and I felt his points were less well supported. The three layer model I find to be too stratified; the lines should be much blurrier than they are made here. Of course, you've already heard my opinion on that in class w.r.t. the midterm and probably aren't interested in a rehash.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Ethnography Results, Week 7
I took the time out of my schedule to go to AggieCon, figuring I would get in on the "flexible" D&D game and spend a couple of hours studying that (as well as the Con itself, having never been to one). As it turned out, the game was full when I showed up and a non-RPG (but still tabletop) game kind of developed at the table I was waiting at. Obviously, I never got to the D&D table. Still, the convention was an interesting experience, and I had a great time for the two and a half hours I could spare from the Capstone project and other obligations. What I learned there reinforces what I had seen elsewhere during the course of this research; gaming groups will let just about anyone play, and are generally really easy to get along with.
I'm thinking the last big thing that needs to be written up for this project is a good example of a game session; it doesn't have to be a full, detailed transcript but anything to give our faithful readers a good idea of what one of these things actually look like. (Although, the kibbitzing may be hard to record properly, and it seems that there are always many inside jokes). I intended to write such a post today, based on a partially free-form game my brother and I played over Spring Break (since I didn't really learn anything new from it, I didn't , but I've decided that is better saved for the grand, Gamma World finale Stuart has proposed (assuming it happens, which is iffy given our current workloads) for week 8.
So, instead, today I'm going to play the inside man and write about some things that I've learned as a game-master for the groups I have played with in the past. I'm going to use the aforementioned game as the format for examples. I'm going to present it as a list of things I did and tried to do, with a little of my thought process, and let the reader fill it in from there, rather than trying to self analyze too deeply. Oh, the setting was (relatively) hard sci-fi. Hopefully this will give a better understanding of how these games operate, and what an effective GM has to do.
*Improvisation. This was one of those sessions that materialized on the fly, but the pacing still remained excellent and the setting worked well. Considering that I had about one sentence of plot written when it started I thought was great.
*Engaged the player(s). With only one player, who I knew well, this was easy. Give him a girl to rescue and a flag to paint on his shiny new spaceship (we'll get to that in a minute) and he can really get rolling.
**For example, my brother is one of the "Pluto is still a planet" crowd. One line about how Pluto is really "sketchy" because all the corporations pulled out to "fund real planets" and we have gone from "space pirate" to "space pirate with a cause".
*Gave the villain(s) a distinctive trait. The Earth Secret Police have had their eyes removed and replaced with computer sensors. It served to give them character as well as make them "faceless".
*Rewarded creativeness. I should have seen "I throw four bombs and four fakes out the airlock at the secret police" coming, but I didn't and they wouldn't have either.
*Didn't arbitrarily kill off or otherwise eliminate PCs for no reason.
*Made locations memorable (or at least tried to). Pluto was the best one, but I'd like to think some other elements can across well as well.
*Let the players add to the setting while its in progress. I had no idea there were lifelike holograms available, but if the players pitch something reasonable work it in. It makes everyone more engaged, and helps really flesh things out.
**On the same note, the character known only as "Always Angry" (A space punk pirate from Venus) got some unexpected character development when we realized we'd both switched to calling her "Almost Angry" without realizing it.
*I'm also really proud of how Switzerland was the only politically independent body in the Solar System. I'm not sure why, but it worked great.
*This was a very crunch light game. We must have been 7-8 hours in before rolling a die.
*I've found sometimes that working in a world that exists only for that campaign as opposed to a well defined and established one that has to stay somewhat the same can make for really great games. I can have my characters right at the heart of the universe and still make it make sense.
*Always, always, always have read or watched a lot of genre relevant fiction that your players haven't, especially when knowing you are going to have to improvise. That doesn't mean you have to be better read, but it does mean there can't be one to one overlap and you have to know what they know. This lets you borrow elements of the plots and/or settings, with the necessary tweaks to fit, quickly. It also gives you a bunch of character names to assemble quickly.
DANIEL STOP READING HERE
Sources I was heavily inspired by include:
The Lensman series. (E.E. Smith)
The Voice of the Whirlwind
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Babylon 5
...and most of the names were random recombinations of given and family names from characters in John Wayne westerns.
I'm thinking the last big thing that needs to be written up for this project is a good example of a game session; it doesn't have to be a full, detailed transcript but anything to give our faithful readers a good idea of what one of these things actually look like. (Although, the kibbitzing may be hard to record properly, and it seems that there are always many inside jokes). I intended to write such a post today, based on a partially free-form game my brother and I played over Spring Break (since I didn't really learn anything new from it, I didn't , but I've decided that is better saved for the grand, Gamma World finale Stuart has proposed (assuming it happens, which is iffy given our current workloads) for week 8.
So, instead, today I'm going to play the inside man and write about some things that I've learned as a game-master for the groups I have played with in the past. I'm going to use the aforementioned game as the format for examples. I'm going to present it as a list of things I did and tried to do, with a little of my thought process, and let the reader fill it in from there, rather than trying to self analyze too deeply. Oh, the setting was (relatively) hard sci-fi. Hopefully this will give a better understanding of how these games operate, and what an effective GM has to do.
*Improvisation. This was one of those sessions that materialized on the fly, but the pacing still remained excellent and the setting worked well. Considering that I had about one sentence of plot written when it started I thought was great.
*Engaged the player(s). With only one player, who I knew well, this was easy. Give him a girl to rescue and a flag to paint on his shiny new spaceship (we'll get to that in a minute) and he can really get rolling.
**For example, my brother is one of the "Pluto is still a planet" crowd. One line about how Pluto is really "sketchy" because all the corporations pulled out to "fund real planets" and we have gone from "space pirate" to "space pirate with a cause".
*Gave the villain(s) a distinctive trait. The Earth Secret Police have had their eyes removed and replaced with computer sensors. It served to give them character as well as make them "faceless".
*Rewarded creativeness. I should have seen "I throw four bombs and four fakes out the airlock at the secret police" coming, but I didn't and they wouldn't have either.
*Didn't arbitrarily kill off or otherwise eliminate PCs for no reason.
*Made locations memorable (or at least tried to). Pluto was the best one, but I'd like to think some other elements can across well as well.
*Let the players add to the setting while its in progress. I had no idea there were lifelike holograms available, but if the players pitch something reasonable work it in. It makes everyone more engaged, and helps really flesh things out.
**On the same note, the character known only as "Always Angry" (A space punk pirate from Venus) got some unexpected character development when we realized we'd both switched to calling her "Almost Angry" without realizing it.
*I'm also really proud of how Switzerland was the only politically independent body in the Solar System. I'm not sure why, but it worked great.
*This was a very crunch light game. We must have been 7-8 hours in before rolling a die.
*I've found sometimes that working in a world that exists only for that campaign as opposed to a well defined and established one that has to stay somewhat the same can make for really great games. I can have my characters right at the heart of the universe and still make it make sense.
*Always, always, always have read or watched a lot of genre relevant fiction that your players haven't, especially when knowing you are going to have to improvise. That doesn't mean you have to be better read, but it does mean there can't be one to one overlap and you have to know what they know. This lets you borrow elements of the plots and/or settings, with the necessary tweaks to fit, quickly. It also gives you a bunch of character names to assemble quickly.
DANIEL STOP READING HERE
Sources I was heavily inspired by include:
The Lensman series. (E.E. Smith)
The Voice of the Whirlwind
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Babylon 5
...and most of the names were random recombinations of given and family names from characters in John Wayne westerns.
Microblog #40, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 14"
Summary
In this chapter, Dr. Mead rails against the evils of parents teaching their morals to their children, using the perceived laidbackness of Samoa as her lever.
Discussion
This book would be considerably improved without this soapbox chapter tacked onto the end. Permission to choose may require permission to choose wrongly, and all the pain that can entail, but how much better that than to have no choice at all!
In this chapter, Dr. Mead rails against the evils of parents teaching their morals to their children, using the perceived laidbackness of Samoa as her lever.
Discussion
This book would be considerably improved without this soapbox chapter tacked onto the end. Permission to choose may require permission to choose wrongly, and all the pain that can entail, but how much better that than to have no choice at all!
Paper Reading #17, " Estimating User’s Engagement from Eye-gaze Behaviors in Human-Agent Conversation"
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-16-tag-expression-tagging.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-18-speeding-pointing-in.html
Estimating User’s Engagement from Eye-gaze Behaviors in Human-Agent Conversation
I. Nakano Yukiko, Seikei University
Ryo Ishii, NTT Cyber Space Laboratories
Presented at IUI '10, February 7-10, 2010 in Hong Kong
Summary
<very technical, confusing?, long>
<discusses the basis for this paper, eye movements as feedback>
<past work summarized, very briefly>
<Experiment structure - cell phone sales WoOz>
<technical details>
<conclusion - probing + proper timing>
This is a long and very technical paper compared to those from the previous conferences. In it, some Japanese researchers attempt to quantify eye movements as a measure for engagement, presumably in the hope that in future algorithms using the data gathered and more like it will be able to better interact with humans.
The experiment conducted was on the Wizard of Oz model, where a human acting behind a computer interface played the part of the interacting algorithm to see what was effective and how it would be used. The theme was a cell phone salesman trying to keep a subject, also motivated by a 1,000 yen reward for being correctly able to identify which cell phones are most popular with which age groups, engaged in the conversation. Engagement was measured by both the subject and an observer, each of whom had a "boredom" button, referring to the state of the subject.
I see no point in including the many detailed graphs - they would take up far too much space - but I will note that the conclusion was that the best way to maintain engagement is with properly timed probing questions. Also worth noting is a very significant disconnect between when subjects and observers pushed their buttons.
Discussion
The paper is significant because improved interaction with humans is a clear goal of CHI. The worst flaw is that is very difficult for the un-initiated to read - although this may be the venue rather than a flaw per se. My next move in their position would be to repeat the Wizard of Oz experiment with a different frame than cell phone sales and see if a different topic gets different results.
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-18-speeding-pointing-in.html
Estimating User’s Engagement from Eye-gaze Behaviors in Human-Agent Conversation
I. Nakano Yukiko, Seikei University
Ryo Ishii, NTT Cyber Space Laboratories
Presented at IUI '10, February 7-10, 2010 in Hong Kong
Summary
<very technical, confusing?, long>
<discusses the basis for this paper, eye movements as feedback>
<past work summarized, very briefly>
<Experiment structure - cell phone sales WoOz>
<technical details>
<conclusion - probing + proper timing>
This is a long and very technical paper compared to those from the previous conferences. In it, some Japanese researchers attempt to quantify eye movements as a measure for engagement, presumably in the hope that in future algorithms using the data gathered and more like it will be able to better interact with humans.
The experiment conducted was on the Wizard of Oz model, where a human acting behind a computer interface played the part of the interacting algorithm to see what was effective and how it would be used. The theme was a cell phone salesman trying to keep a subject, also motivated by a 1,000 yen reward for being correctly able to identify which cell phones are most popular with which age groups, engaged in the conversation. Engagement was measured by both the subject and an observer, each of whom had a "boredom" button, referring to the state of the subject.
I see no point in including the many detailed graphs - they would take up far too much space - but I will note that the conclusion was that the best way to maintain engagement is with properly timed probing questions. Also worth noting is a very significant disconnect between when subjects and observers pushed their buttons.
From the paper.
Discussion
The paper is significant because improved interaction with humans is a clear goal of CHI. The worst flaw is that is very difficult for the un-initiated to read - although this may be the venue rather than a flaw per se. My next move in their position would be to repeat the Wizard of Oz experiment with a different frame than cell phone sales and see if a different topic gets different results.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Paper Reading #16, "A Practical Pressure Sensitive Computer Keyboard"
http://wkhciblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-15.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-16-using-fnirs-brain.html
A Practical Pressure Sensitive Computer Keyboard
Paul H. Dietz, Benjamin Eidelson, Jonathan Westhues and Steven Bathich of Microsoft Corporation
Presentation venue not specified in paper, presumed to be UIST 2009
Summary
This paper is a report on research done in the area of an improved keyboard, in this case using pressure sensitivity to allow for increased features and versatility. Hopefully, this would all be achieved without paying a price in intuitiveness. For motivation, the authors lament that the current keyboard is still functionally the same as at 'the dawn of the computer'.
The authors follow by summarizing the prior work in this field, and explaining the technical details of the construction of current keyboards. These details are omitted, as I feel technical details are secondary and I want to focus on what this paper is doing, not what others have done before.
This keyboard is built as a 'modified flexible membrane design', with the goal of detecting increasing pressure only after the point where a conventional keyboard would have registered the key as pressed. I have also admitted the EE major's portion of the paper, because I don't understand and don't think I could do it justice. I will focus more on implications.
Suggested applications include gaming, where you could push a key harder to go faster, emotional IMs where font size scales with the force of key presses, and allowing minor increases in proficiency and accuracy in conventional typing.
Finally, they discuss the potential obstacles to market viability and why they think this keyboard overcomes them. Specifically, cost increases are minor compared to conventional keyboards, no functionality is lost, and pressure sensing can be adapted by software allowing users to adapt slowly.
Discussion
While this approach has some merit, I think they're trying to force a niche a little bit. After all, the hammer and nail have been along for how long without being fundamentally replaced? The keyboard has remained unchanged because it does its job and does it well. The cutoff for sensing pressure being the point where a conventional keyboard would activate is the best idea in the paper.
This paper is interesting because of the potential applications, and significant because anything affecting keyboards on a wide scale will be very significant. That said, I have some serious concerns about the device as presented here.
I think they can be summed up fundamentally as concerns with moving from a digital control to an analog control, which would seem on the face of it to be backwards. I think that although it may be only marginally more expensive to produce, upkeep and replacement costs would increase as this keyboard would begin to lose precision well before the point where a current keyboard - where it either is pressed at any time or isn't - would finally die. Also, giving different results for pressing the keys harder would encourage users to be rough with the keyboards, further increasing these costs.
This lack of precision is pretty concerning to me as a gamer, I think. I don't emotional response from my controls, I want precision. I know exactly how fast I am going when I use any forward motion key, and I am concerned that it would make my movements awkward in games I already know to use such a device. Of course, that would probably just mean an adaptation period, so this isn't nearly as much of a concern as the above overhead.
One thought, which is mostly funny and not a criticism, since it could be easily corrected for, is that not all keys are conventionally pressed with the same force. Would J usually be larger than Q in the emotional IM proposed?
The biggest weakness of the paper is the lack of any testing, with users or otherwise, so far as I can tell. Accordingly, my idea for future research is to do extensive testing.
Finally, if the stenographers today don't use QWERTY, what do they use? Was the wording of this paper just misleading?
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-16-using-fnirs-brain.html
A Practical Pressure Sensitive Computer Keyboard
Paul H. Dietz, Benjamin Eidelson, Jonathan Westhues and Steven Bathich of Microsoft Corporation
Presentation venue not specified in paper, presumed to be UIST 2009
Summary
This paper is a report on research done in the area of an improved keyboard, in this case using pressure sensitivity to allow for increased features and versatility. Hopefully, this would all be achieved without paying a price in intuitiveness. For motivation, the authors lament that the current keyboard is still functionally the same as at 'the dawn of the computer'.
The authors follow by summarizing the prior work in this field, and explaining the technical details of the construction of current keyboards. These details are omitted, as I feel technical details are secondary and I want to focus on what this paper is doing, not what others have done before.
This keyboard is built as a 'modified flexible membrane design', with the goal of detecting increasing pressure only after the point where a conventional keyboard would have registered the key as pressed. I have also admitted the EE major's portion of the paper, because I don't understand and don't think I could do it justice. I will focus more on implications.
Suggested applications include gaming, where you could push a key harder to go faster, emotional IMs where font size scales with the force of key presses, and allowing minor increases in proficiency and accuracy in conventional typing.
Taken from the paper.
Finally, they discuss the potential obstacles to market viability and why they think this keyboard overcomes them. Specifically, cost increases are minor compared to conventional keyboards, no functionality is lost, and pressure sensing can be adapted by software allowing users to adapt slowly.
Discussion
While this approach has some merit, I think they're trying to force a niche a little bit. After all, the hammer and nail have been along for how long without being fundamentally replaced? The keyboard has remained unchanged because it does its job and does it well. The cutoff for sensing pressure being the point where a conventional keyboard would activate is the best idea in the paper.
This paper is interesting because of the potential applications, and significant because anything affecting keyboards on a wide scale will be very significant. That said, I have some serious concerns about the device as presented here.
I think they can be summed up fundamentally as concerns with moving from a digital control to an analog control, which would seem on the face of it to be backwards. I think that although it may be only marginally more expensive to produce, upkeep and replacement costs would increase as this keyboard would begin to lose precision well before the point where a current keyboard - where it either is pressed at any time or isn't - would finally die. Also, giving different results for pressing the keys harder would encourage users to be rough with the keyboards, further increasing these costs.
This lack of precision is pretty concerning to me as a gamer, I think. I don't emotional response from my controls, I want precision. I know exactly how fast I am going when I use any forward motion key, and I am concerned that it would make my movements awkward in games I already know to use such a device. Of course, that would probably just mean an adaptation period, so this isn't nearly as much of a concern as the above overhead.
One thought, which is mostly funny and not a criticism, since it could be easily corrected for, is that not all keys are conventionally pressed with the same force. Would J usually be larger than Q in the emotional IM proposed?
The biggest weakness of the paper is the lack of any testing, with users or otherwise, so far as I can tell. Accordingly, my idea for future research is to do extensive testing.
Finally, if the stenographers today don't use QWERTY, what do they use? Was the wording of this paper just misleading?
Microblog #39, "Why We Make Mistakes, Intro. & Chap. 1"
Introduction
Summary
Hallinan uses a pediatrician, anesthesiologists, farmers, and global warming to set up the premises of his book. Generally, it is that by understanding how both humans and the environment contribute to mistakes we can minimize them.
Discussion
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? So far, this sounds like another angle at something we've been hearing all along. I hope you weren't expecting profound insights on the introduction.
1
Summary
This chapter mostly consists of providing examples of the kinds of mistakes that are made. Examples include petty things like finding beer and serious things like finding tumors. A cause pointed at is short attention spans.
Discussion
The tumors thing is pretty disturbing...the airport screeners less so. I guess everyone already knows you can get whatever you want on a plane if you try. I hope this guys finds some new points to make and doesn't just read like a rehash or Norman's slips & errors chapter.
Summary
Hallinan uses a pediatrician, anesthesiologists, farmers, and global warming to set up the premises of his book. Generally, it is that by understanding how both humans and the environment contribute to mistakes we can minimize them.
Discussion
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? So far, this sounds like another angle at something we've been hearing all along. I hope you weren't expecting profound insights on the introduction.
1
Summary
This chapter mostly consists of providing examples of the kinds of mistakes that are made. Examples include petty things like finding beer and serious things like finding tumors. A cause pointed at is short attention spans.
Discussion
The tumors thing is pretty disturbing...the airport screeners less so. I guess everyone already knows you can get whatever you want on a plane if you try. I hope this guys finds some new points to make and doesn't just read like a rehash or Norman's slips & errors chapter.
Microblog #38, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 13"
Summary
Dr. Mead discusses her view of the contrasts between the place of girls in Samoan and American society, and what she thinks we can learn from them. Or, rather, what we could have learned from them 80 years ago.
Discussion
This whole chapter just seems off to me. I guess it just goes to show that Dr. Mead and I are operating from very different moral codes.
Full Blog, "Obedience to Authority"
Obedience to Authority
Stanley Milgram
New York: Harper & Row, 1974
Summary
The book describes in great detail the results of Stanley Milgram's now famous fake electroshock experiments, and then describes in depth Milgram's psychological theories as to why he got the results he did.
The first section describes many different variations on the original experiment, and shows all the data (how many people cut off at which shock level in each variation, etc) in chart form for all of them. It also describes the cases of a few individuals in transcript level detail.
The second draws heavily on evolutionary theory to explain why people need the hierarchy Milgram feels his experiment shows they do, and what the effects of being "morally asleep" are. He cites additional supporting evidence for his positions.
Discussions
I'm going to say the nice things first. First, Milgram did a far better job of explaining his experiment and making his case than Mrs. Slater did for him. No surprise, but I felt it worth mentioning. Second, the level of detail was excellent.
Now the two criticisms: First, I still don't think the experiment shows what he thinks it does. I don't think the driving factor is obedience to authority; Authority is surely a factor, but I don't think it overrides morality in the way Milgram thinks it does. Rather, what I think is shown here that if you give people diametrically opposite social cues you will succeed in confuse them, hardly a groundbreaking revelation, but not really what most people seem to think this experiment shows.
Compare it to the experiment from a different chapter of Opening Skinner's Box. In the one I'm talking about, one subject, sometimes with one to five actors paid not to react, is sitting in a room where fake smoke is pumped in. Of course, the subject always reported it when by himself, but rates dropped precipitously when the actors were present. This is the same thing; when there were individuals in the room not acting as if there was fire, he at some level questioned (correctly) if there was actually a fire. Note that this situation shows very similar results in spite of having no authority telling him not to react to the smoke, and no strong moral component (rather, self preservation being the driving factor here).
I think that a far better explanation for the results here is that, at some level, the subjects questioned (correctly) if there was actually any danger to the subject, whether they realized it or not. FWIW, that destroys the Nazi analogy Milgram tries so hard to make entirely.
My second objection is to the assertion that beating one person to death with a rock is morally less objectionable than killing ten thousand with artillery. With both actions happening entirely in a vacuum I'd agree, but that isn't what is implied. Rather, beating one person to death with a rock is almost certainly a murder, where the death of thousands to artillery is a military action.
Now, if you remember your Clausewitz, you will recall that war is an attempt to achieve political aims by force, whereas a murder is either utterly pointless or serves only selfish ends. The simple fact of the matter is that killing 10,000* to save a million is morally less objectionable (at the very least!) than offing one man so you can have his wallet. Milgram's blanket assertion otherwise, frankly, is offensive to my intelligence.
*Don't think for a second I'm asserting that this is something that is fun or should be taken or done lightly; I am, however, asserting that it is sometimes necessary.
Stanley Milgram
New York: Harper & Row, 1974
Summary
The book describes in great detail the results of Stanley Milgram's now famous fake electroshock experiments, and then describes in depth Milgram's psychological theories as to why he got the results he did.
The first section describes many different variations on the original experiment, and shows all the data (how many people cut off at which shock level in each variation, etc) in chart form for all of them. It also describes the cases of a few individuals in transcript level detail.
The second draws heavily on evolutionary theory to explain why people need the hierarchy Milgram feels his experiment shows they do, and what the effects of being "morally asleep" are. He cites additional supporting evidence for his positions.
Discussions
I'm going to say the nice things first. First, Milgram did a far better job of explaining his experiment and making his case than Mrs. Slater did for him. No surprise, but I felt it worth mentioning. Second, the level of detail was excellent.
Now the two criticisms: First, I still don't think the experiment shows what he thinks it does. I don't think the driving factor is obedience to authority; Authority is surely a factor, but I don't think it overrides morality in the way Milgram thinks it does. Rather, what I think is shown here that if you give people diametrically opposite social cues you will succeed in confuse them, hardly a groundbreaking revelation, but not really what most people seem to think this experiment shows.
Compare it to the experiment from a different chapter of Opening Skinner's Box. In the one I'm talking about, one subject, sometimes with one to five actors paid not to react, is sitting in a room where fake smoke is pumped in. Of course, the subject always reported it when by himself, but rates dropped precipitously when the actors were present. This is the same thing; when there were individuals in the room not acting as if there was fire, he at some level questioned (correctly) if there was actually a fire. Note that this situation shows very similar results in spite of having no authority telling him not to react to the smoke, and no strong moral component (rather, self preservation being the driving factor here).
I think that a far better explanation for the results here is that, at some level, the subjects questioned (correctly) if there was actually any danger to the subject, whether they realized it or not. FWIW, that destroys the Nazi analogy Milgram tries so hard to make entirely.
My second objection is to the assertion that beating one person to death with a rock is morally less objectionable than killing ten thousand with artillery. With both actions happening entirely in a vacuum I'd agree, but that isn't what is implied. Rather, beating one person to death with a rock is almost certainly a murder, where the death of thousands to artillery is a military action.
Now, if you remember your Clausewitz, you will recall that war is an attempt to achieve political aims by force, whereas a murder is either utterly pointless or serves only selfish ends. The simple fact of the matter is that killing 10,000* to save a million is morally less objectionable (at the very least!) than offing one man so you can have his wallet. Milgram's blanket assertion otherwise, frankly, is offensive to my intelligence.
*Don't think for a second I'm asserting that this is something that is fun or should be taken or done lightly; I am, however, asserting that it is sometimes necessary.
Microblog #37, "Obedience to Authority, Chapters 9-14"
Summary
The second half of Milgram's book is an exposition on his theories as to why he got the results he did. This is of course the logical conclusion to the first half, where he explained the results.
Discussion
You know, to closed this book with "To focus only on the Nazis...is to miss the point entirely" is a pretty bold statement for a guy who talked about them so much. I also challenge the validity of his conclusions, since I still feel my previous objections to the experiment's validity hold.
The second half of Milgram's book is an exposition on his theories as to why he got the results he did. This is of course the logical conclusion to the first half, where he explained the results.
Discussion
You know, to closed this book with "To focus only on the Nazis...is to miss the point entirely" is a pretty bold statement for a guy who talked about them so much. I also challenge the validity of his conclusions, since I still feel my previous objections to the experiment's validity hold.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Microblog #36, "Obedience to Authority, Chapter 1-8"
Note: The assignments page is a little off kilter; this is listed as #34, but so is Chapter 10 of OSB.
Summary
These chapters describe the Milgram electroshock experiments in far greater than previous treatments. Examples include charts, variations, and descriptions of specific incidents.
Discussion
While I still feel the experiment is flawed at its core, the variations were interesting. Dr. Milgram tries far harder than is warranted to force a connection between his work and the Holocaust. Probably, this is an attempt to make his work seem more relevant.
Summary
These chapters describe the Milgram electroshock experiments in far greater than previous treatments. Examples include charts, variations, and descriptions of specific incidents.
Discussion
While I still feel the experiment is flawed at its core, the variations were interesting. Dr. Milgram tries far harder than is warranted to force a connection between his work and the Holocaust. Probably, this is an attempt to make his work seem more relevant.
Paper Reading #15, "A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device"
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-15-interactions-in-air.html
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-15-eddi-interactive-topic.html
A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device
Johnathan Hook, Newcastle University
Stuart Taylor, Alex Butler, Nicolas Villar, and Shahram Izadi, Microsoft Research Cambridge
Paper presentation not specified therein, but presumably UIST 2009.
Summary
This paper describes a general sensing technique using ferric materials over sensor coils to allow computers to detect manipulations of said ferric materials. The goal is to provide totally reconfigurable input devices, which could be customized at will for any user or any application.
I don't feel that the specific technical details, which are provided, are of particular interest to the likely audience of this blog post. One area of interest, however, was their ideas for future work which were remarkably specific. These included a tangible electronic music sequencer and joysticks that could sense the intensity of grip, as well as the less unique haptic feedback possibilities.
Discussion
While a completely reconfigurable user interface is something of a Holy Grail, at least in theory, but I don't see enough here yet to be convinced that the authors are Galahad. I think the most important future direction for the work would be to get any proof of concept program running using a completely custom interface that is reconfigurable while in use (note that both given examples are pre-set). That would take this from interesting sideshow to a big leap forward.
The big weakness of this paper was that both P.O.C.s relied on the ferrofluid bladder and not on general iron objects.
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-15-eddi-interactive-topic.html
A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device
Johnathan Hook, Newcastle University
Stuart Taylor, Alex Butler, Nicolas Villar, and Shahram Izadi, Microsoft Research Cambridge
Paper presentation not specified therein, but presumably UIST 2009.
Summary
This paper describes a general sensing technique using ferric materials over sensor coils to allow computers to detect manipulations of said ferric materials. The goal is to provide totally reconfigurable input devices, which could be customized at will for any user or any application.
I don't feel that the specific technical details, which are provided, are of particular interest to the likely audience of this blog post. One area of interest, however, was their ideas for future work which were remarkably specific. These included a tangible electronic music sequencer and joysticks that could sense the intensity of grip, as well as the less unique haptic feedback possibilities.
Discussion
While a completely reconfigurable user interface is something of a Holy Grail, at least in theory, but I don't see enough here yet to be convinced that the authors are Galahad. I think the most important future direction for the work would be to get any proof of concept program running using a completely custom interface that is reconfigurable while in use (note that both given examples are pre-set). That would take this from interesting sideshow to a big leap forward.
The big weakness of this paper was that both P.O.C.s relied on the ferrofluid bladder and not on general iron objects.
Microblog #35, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 12"
Summary
This chapter describes the roles of adult women, old people of both sexes, and the taboos placed upon pregnant women.
Discussion
The most interesting thing noted in this chapter was that the change in status for non-titled individuals was determined more by age than by marital status.
This chapter describes the roles of adult women, old people of both sexes, and the taboos placed upon pregnant women.
Discussion
The most interesting thing noted in this chapter was that the change in status for non-titled individuals was determined more by age than by marital status.
Full Blog, "Opening Skinner's Box"
Opening Skinner's Box
Lauren Skinner
Published 2004, Norton & Company, New York
Summary
In this book Mrs. Slater gives us summaries of the facts about and her musings on several famous psychological experiments of the last century. Notably included are Milgram's obedience/electroshock experiment and Rosenhan's deconstruction of American psychological hospitals.
Discussion
This book is interesting and significant because the subject material is interesting and because it is by far the most important reading in terms of in-class discussions. The worst fault of Mrs. Slater's writing is a tendency to rely too heavily on her own prose and spend to little time on the facts; several of the experiments themselves had flaws which I discussed in the appropriate micro-blogs. Mrs. Slater also has an unfortunate tendency to stick to the traditional narrative of some events rather than question it; I think this was most apparent in the chapter dealing with Kitty Genovese.
I don't think "future direction" is a necessary section here, so I will omit it. Instead I will close by saying that although I think this book has less practical value to computers than, say, Design of Everyday Things, it was very interesting and informative and I feel smarter for having read it.
Lauren Skinner
Published 2004, Norton & Company, New York
Summary
In this book Mrs. Slater gives us summaries of the facts about and her musings on several famous psychological experiments of the last century. Notably included are Milgram's obedience/electroshock experiment and Rosenhan's deconstruction of American psychological hospitals.
Discussion
This book is interesting and significant because the subject material is interesting and because it is by far the most important reading in terms of in-class discussions. The worst fault of Mrs. Slater's writing is a tendency to rely too heavily on her own prose and spend to little time on the facts; several of the experiments themselves had flaws which I discussed in the appropriate micro-blogs. Mrs. Slater also has an unfortunate tendency to stick to the traditional narrative of some events rather than question it; I think this was most apparent in the chapter dealing with Kitty Genovese.
I don't think "future direction" is a necessary section here, so I will omit it. Instead I will close by saying that although I think this book has less practical value to computers than, say, Design of Everyday Things, it was very interesting and informative and I feel smarter for having read it.
Ethnography Results, Week 6
Nothing to report; no games happened among the groups we were tracking in College Station at a time that allowed me to attend, due to Spring Break.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Ethnography Results, Week 5
This week I had meetings all day Saturday to work on the capstone project (we have a Hello World running on our Galaxy Tab, now) and was unable to attend either the morning game Stuart was planning to go to or Wesley's Saturday evening game.
Fortunately, one of my old roommates was coming through on Friday for grad school orientation and pitched getting some people together to play a session. As such things go, the instigator himself wound up having to drop out - you can certainly chalk that one up to the difficulties of getting everyone on the same page! - but the rest of us decided to push ahead, since we were all looking forward to it.
The group consisted of myself and one other guy in my apartment in College Station and one other friend of mine VCing in from where he lives these days. There were several changes from games I've played in the past: First, although we've done some gaming by voice chat before, we've rarely done much. Second, the DM for this session was not the guy who usually plays that role, but a less experienced DM (while still being a veteran player). Finally, none of us had played Call of Cthulhu before.
Call of Cthulhu is unique in that the players are supposed to wind up losing - it's of course based on Lovecraft's work - which is, in theory, a conceptual break from games such as D&D. Of course, it's all up to how the DM runs the game anyway.
We started at 6:50, against a scheduled start time of 7:00. This group never really had a problem in the past with getting started late, which may reflect the personalities of the people involved (specifically, my personal predilection for grossly conservative time estimates) or may reflect that since we were all in the intended geographic locations by 5:00 getting the game set up there were no transportation related delays.
The game session started with the usual level of out-of-character joking around, which didn't really abate as Derek observed in the Saturday night game a couple weeks back. The plot revolved around our characters going to investigate a house where multiple people had gone insane and which was unsurprisingly rumored to be haunted.
Call of Cthulhu was a good system for the setup we had going. Unlike D&D, combat is sufficiently unstructured that it's not required for all players to be able to see a grid of squares or hexes - obviously a bonus when playing without visual communication. On the other hand, the setting thinks that the DM and the players should be trying to build a horror novel atmosphere, which didn't really wind up happening.
I think the strongest conclusion to be drawn here is that the personality of the players has a major effect on the progression of games.
Fortunately, one of my old roommates was coming through on Friday for grad school orientation and pitched getting some people together to play a session. As such things go, the instigator himself wound up having to drop out - you can certainly chalk that one up to the difficulties of getting everyone on the same page! - but the rest of us decided to push ahead, since we were all looking forward to it.
The group consisted of myself and one other guy in my apartment in College Station and one other friend of mine VCing in from where he lives these days. There were several changes from games I've played in the past: First, although we've done some gaming by voice chat before, we've rarely done much. Second, the DM for this session was not the guy who usually plays that role, but a less experienced DM (while still being a veteran player). Finally, none of us had played Call of Cthulhu before.
Call of Cthulhu is unique in that the players are supposed to wind up losing - it's of course based on Lovecraft's work - which is, in theory, a conceptual break from games such as D&D. Of course, it's all up to how the DM runs the game anyway.
We started at 6:50, against a scheduled start time of 7:00. This group never really had a problem in the past with getting started late, which may reflect the personalities of the people involved (specifically, my personal predilection for grossly conservative time estimates) or may reflect that since we were all in the intended geographic locations by 5:00 getting the game set up there were no transportation related delays.
The game session started with the usual level of out-of-character joking around, which didn't really abate as Derek observed in the Saturday night game a couple weeks back. The plot revolved around our characters going to investigate a house where multiple people had gone insane and which was unsurprisingly rumored to be haunted.
Call of Cthulhu was a good system for the setup we had going. Unlike D&D, combat is sufficiently unstructured that it's not required for all players to be able to see a grid of squares or hexes - obviously a bonus when playing without visual communication. On the other hand, the setting thinks that the DM and the players should be trying to build a horror novel atmosphere, which didn't really wind up happening.
I think the strongest conclusion to be drawn here is that the personality of the players has a major effect on the progression of games.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Microblog #34, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 10"
Summary
First, Mrs. Slater tells us the history of lobotomy. Then, she tells us it's better than Prozac.
Discussion
I can't agree with the argument of the second half of this chapter. I think there's a real fundamental difference between cutting out tissue and treating them with drugs, in spite of what Mrs. Slater says. In one case, we know there are consequences, in the other I suppose we can't prove there aren't. Those aren't the same at all.
First, Mrs. Slater tells us the history of lobotomy. Then, she tells us it's better than Prozac.
Discussion
I can't agree with the argument of the second half of this chapter. I think there's a real fundamental difference between cutting out tissue and treating them with drugs, in spite of what Mrs. Slater says. In one case, we know there are consequences, in the other I suppose we can't prove there aren't. Those aren't the same at all.
Microblog #33, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 11"
Summary
This chapters covers sources of potential conflict for Samoan girls. First it describes the various social pressures, then covers the cases of some specific delinquents.
Discussions
I find it hard to believe the rate of such things is as remarkably low as Dr. Mead says it is. Either the sample size is a lot smaller than I guesstimated, she missed something (the Samoans were noted to be a recalcitrant bunch), or I'm just weirded out.
This chapters covers sources of potential conflict for Samoan girls. First it describes the various social pressures, then covers the cases of some specific delinquents.
Discussions
I find it hard to believe the rate of such things is as remarkably low as Dr. Mead says it is. Either the sample size is a lot smaller than I guesstimated, she missed something (the Samoans were noted to be a recalcitrant bunch), or I'm just weirded out.
Paper Reading #14, "PhotoelasticTouch"
http://stuartjchi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-13-cosaliency-where.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-10-bonfire-nomadic-system.html
PhotoelasticTouch: Transparent Rubbery Tangible Interface using an LCD and Photoelasticity
Toshiki Sato, Haruko Mamiya, Hideki Koike
University of Electro Communications, Tokyo
Kentaro Fukuchi
Japan Science and Technology Agency
Venue of presentation not specified in paper; presumably UIST.
Summary
PhotoelasticTouch is designed to overcome the current limitations of tangible interfaces. The idea is for a tabletop system to be able to utilize an overhead table and an LCD screen to recognize deformations of an elastic object held in the user's hands. Any 3D elastic object can be used, either one provided or one created by the user (In this case, the researchers polyethylene and silicon rubber, to get the ideal balance between rigidity and deformability). Its position is detected by the camera detecting refraction of light from the table, and then displayed on the screen. Deformations are easily picked up and measured by the effect the stressed elastic has on the polarized light; the process is related to that used in photoelectric stress analysis.
Example applications given were a pressure sensitive touch panel (which I infer from the pictures to mimic the operation of a traditional touch panel by placing a sheet over the whole table, although use of more than one finger at once was certainly possible here) with which users were successfully able to manipulate a 3D object by pressure only, without sliding their fingers. The second application used an elastic face to allow interaction with a digital one. This wasn't much elaborated on.
The third and last was most fascinating. Taking a small piece of the elastic material, the user waves it in the air above the table, and when they pinch it the shape's shadow appears on the screen below. This enable the user of any shape provided as a paintbrush of that shape.
Some mentioned drawbacks of the system were the camera having difficulty functioning over a dark screen (as it runs on the polarized light from the table), occlusion of the camera by hands, and usage negatively impacting the transparency of the material. The light issue and the deteriorating transparency the researchers believe will be easily corrected.
Discussion
This project is pretty novel and has a lot of good ideas, although as the flaws section points out this was still just a proof of concept in a lot of ways. The best potential for applications here is for those that require specialized controllers; the transparent materials used here have to be less expensive than directly specialized electronics. I don't think I would want this for my base interface, but it can certainly be set to complement the mouse & keyboard rather than compete with them.
The biggest weakness of this research is the hands getting in the way of the camera. I realize this was already mentioned above, but it really is going to be the most difficult to solve and seriously impacts both degrees of freedom and precision of the input.
The paper itself was well done, I thought. It was well organized, readable, not given to excessive hyperbole, and unlike some previous UIST papers discussed applications and not just hardware.
The next direction to take this research should be, in addition to those the researchers mentioned themselves, trying to find some kind of material that meets the deformation requirements but is easily reconfigurable. That would massively increase the versatility of this platform.
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-10-bonfire-nomadic-system.html
PhotoelasticTouch: Transparent Rubbery Tangible Interface using an LCD and Photoelasticity
Toshiki Sato, Haruko Mamiya, Hideki Koike
University of Electro Communications, Tokyo
Kentaro Fukuchi
Japan Science and Technology Agency
Venue of presentation not specified in paper; presumably UIST.
Summary
PhotoelasticTouch is designed to overcome the current limitations of tangible interfaces. The idea is for a tabletop system to be able to utilize an overhead table and an LCD screen to recognize deformations of an elastic object held in the user's hands. Any 3D elastic object can be used, either one provided or one created by the user (In this case, the researchers polyethylene and silicon rubber, to get the ideal balance between rigidity and deformability). Its position is detected by the camera detecting refraction of light from the table, and then displayed on the screen. Deformations are easily picked up and measured by the effect the stressed elastic has on the polarized light; the process is related to that used in photoelectric stress analysis.
Example applications given were a pressure sensitive touch panel (which I infer from the pictures to mimic the operation of a traditional touch panel by placing a sheet over the whole table, although use of more than one finger at once was certainly possible here) with which users were successfully able to manipulate a 3D object by pressure only, without sliding their fingers. The second application used an elastic face to allow interaction with a digital one. This wasn't much elaborated on.
The third and last was most fascinating. Taking a small piece of the elastic material, the user waves it in the air above the table, and when they pinch it the shape's shadow appears on the screen below. This enable the user of any shape provided as a paintbrush of that shape.
Some mentioned drawbacks of the system were the camera having difficulty functioning over a dark screen (as it runs on the polarized light from the table), occlusion of the camera by hands, and usage negatively impacting the transparency of the material. The light issue and the deteriorating transparency the researchers believe will be easily corrected.
Discussion
This project is pretty novel and has a lot of good ideas, although as the flaws section points out this was still just a proof of concept in a lot of ways. The best potential for applications here is for those that require specialized controllers; the transparent materials used here have to be less expensive than directly specialized electronics. I don't think I would want this for my base interface, but it can certainly be set to complement the mouse & keyboard rather than compete with them.
The biggest weakness of this research is the hands getting in the way of the camera. I realize this was already mentioned above, but it really is going to be the most difficult to solve and seriously impacts both degrees of freedom and precision of the input.
The paper itself was well done, I thought. It was well organized, readable, not given to excessive hyperbole, and unlike some previous UIST papers discussed applications and not just hardware.
The next direction to take this research should be, in addition to those the researchers mentioned themselves, trying to find some kind of material that meets the deformation requirements but is easily reconfigurable. That would massively increase the versatility of this platform.
Source: Paper
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Microblog #32, "Opening Skinner's Box, Chapter 9"
Summary
This chapter starts with Mrs. Slater explaining how a lobotomy victim taught science about the Hippocampus, and ends with her telling us how soon we're all going to get a little red pill that'll give us all perfect memories.
Discussion
Mrs. Slater continues wandering off into the psychological wilderness in this chapter. Just a whole bunch of depressing musings on how depressing everything is, which has frankly constituted a large part of this book.
The most relevant comment I have on this chapter comes at the very beginning. How on Earth would anyone ever think sucking out portions of someone's brain was a good idea? I mean, there's some things we've learned as time has moved on, and then there's a gross frontal assault on common sense.
This chapter starts with Mrs. Slater explaining how a lobotomy victim taught science about the Hippocampus, and ends with her telling us how soon we're all going to get a little red pill that'll give us all perfect memories.
Discussion
Mrs. Slater continues wandering off into the psychological wilderness in this chapter. Just a whole bunch of depressing musings on how depressing everything is, which has frankly constituted a large part of this book.
The most relevant comment I have on this chapter comes at the very beginning. How on Earth would anyone ever think sucking out portions of someone's brain was a good idea? I mean, there's some things we've learned as time has moved on, and then there's a gross frontal assault on common sense.
Microblog #31, "Coming of Age in Samoa, Chapter 10"
Summary
This chapter gives brief profiles of several of the girls Dr. Mead studied. The focus seems to be on their sex lives, although some other elements are mentioned as well.
Discussion
What we have here is a long list of things I did not and do not want to know regarding the, ahem, "details" of life in early 20th c. Samoa. However, if I had to extract one interesting thing from this chapter, it would be the differences in temperment and skills of the girls from the biological families vs. the large Samoan ones.
This chapter gives brief profiles of several of the girls Dr. Mead studied. The focus seems to be on their sex lives, although some other elements are mentioned as well.
Discussion
What we have here is a long list of things I did not and do not want to know regarding the, ahem, "details" of life in early 20th c. Samoa. However, if I had to extract one interesting thing from this chapter, it would be the differences in temperment and skills of the girls from the biological families vs. the large Samoan ones.
Paper Reading #13, "Mouse 2.0"
http://dlandinichi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-14-madgets-actuating.html
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-13-semfeel-user-interface.html
Mouse 2.0: Multi-touch Meets the Mouse
Nicolas Villar, Shahram Izadi, Dan Rosenfeld,
Presentation venue not specified in paper.
Summary
This paper, as suggested in the title, presents research into expanding upon the current computer mouse. Five different implementations are presented, each incorporating "a different multi-touch sensing strategy". The authors emphasize that their goal is supplementing, not replacing the mouse; that touch screen requires more effort and creates fatigue, making it less than ideal; and that the goal of these designs is to produce a usable design allowing for a cursor with more than two degrees of freedom. The five implementations follow.
FITR Mouse
The acronym is for Frustrated Total Internal Reflection. The mouse consists of a curved piece of acrylic set in front of an infrared camera, which tracks the movement of fingers across the acrylic. Which movements on the surface map to what actions of the mouse is not explicitly stated. One of the diagrams makes it clear that there are physical buttons, but doesn't indicate which end of the acrylic they are located at. If the rear, the motion may be counterintuitive. The limitations noted are decreased ergonomics, and problems operating in areas with significant IR light already present. However, the mouse did accomplish basic design goals.
http://chi2010-cskach.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-13-semfeel-user-interface.html
Mouse 2.0: Multi-touch Meets the Mouse
Nicolas Villar, Shahram Izadi, Dan Rosenfeld,
Hrvoje Benko,
John Helmes, Jonathan Westhues,Steve Hodges,
Eyal Ofek,
Alex Butler,
Xiang Cao, and
Billy Chen of Microsoft ResearchPresentation venue not specified in paper.
Summary
This paper, as suggested in the title, presents research into expanding upon the current computer mouse. Five different implementations are presented, each incorporating "a different multi-touch sensing strategy". The authors emphasize that their goal is supplementing, not replacing the mouse; that touch screen requires more effort and creates fatigue, making it less than ideal; and that the goal of these designs is to produce a usable design allowing for a cursor with more than two degrees of freedom. The five implementations follow.
FITR Mouse (all images taken from the paper)
FITR Mouse
The acronym is for Frustrated Total Internal Reflection. The mouse consists of a curved piece of acrylic set in front of an infrared camera, which tracks the movement of fingers across the acrylic. Which movements on the surface map to what actions of the mouse is not explicitly stated. One of the diagrams makes it clear that there are physical buttons, but doesn't indicate which end of the acrylic they are located at. If the rear, the motion may be counterintuitive. The limitations noted are decreased ergonomics, and problems operating in areas with significant IR light already present. However, the mouse did accomplish basic design goals.
Orb Mouse (all images taken from the paper)
Orb Mouse
The Orb Mouse has an IR camera pointing in all directions under the dome, with the stated advantages of allowing all five fingers to be employed, avoiding broad environmental "noise" (as the IR light is generated internally here), and improved ergonomics relative to the FITR. However, the mouse is more susceptible to objects in proximity causing interference, and not just those that generate IR. It is specified that you can click the whole mouse, but not whether the mouse is limited to a single-button functionality.
Cap Mouse (all images taken from the paper)
Cap Mouse
The Cap Mouse, or capacitive mouse, does not use the IR approach of the previous iterations but rather uses "a flexible matrix of capacitive sensing electrodes" to determine the position of the user's fingers. Cap Mouse is explicitly single button (in the front) and has the advantages of lower bandwidth required, complete immunity to ambient light, and increased compactness. However, it lacks the precision of the optical mice.
Side Mouse (all images taken from the paper)
Side Mouse
Side Mouse uses a wide angle camera lens to detect when the fingers of the user touch the table around it. It is IR, as in previous implementations described here. It is a single click device, with clicking performed by pressing down with the palm. The primary advantage of side mouse is that the scope of possible interactions is not limited by the physical size of the mouse itself.
Arty Mouse (all images taken from the paper)
Arty Mouse
The Arty Mouse, or articulated mouse, has the users place the mouse fingers on the projections, as you can see above, and then tracks the movement of those projections and the main mouse itself relative to each other by the means of an optical sensor under each element. It is the highest precision mouse described here. Arty Mouse was the most popular among test users.
The researchers offered a description of the multi-touch space which they were trying to manipulate, along with how they were attempting to manipulate it. This description, however, seems incomplete. I suspect a demonstration would be very helpful.
Finally, they outlined some conclusions of their research. Most surprising to them was that the more radical departures from conventional mice were better received. This may have been because users didn't have to relearn how to use the hardware, which was a particular problem with Cap Mouse.
Discussion
I think there are a lot of good ideas here, but overall I think that mice like this aren't going to be useful without a new paradigm of things for them to manipulate. Let me explain what I mean with an analogy.
In the current, 2DOF, mouse setup I can move around the two dimensional screen of the computer/building. In order to get to different levels, I have to go find an icon/staircase an utilize it. While a mouse with more degrees of freedom would allow me to fly around the floor, they ultimately wouldn't give me any advantage as anything I want to use is sitting on the floor and I can't to another by flying - I still have to use the stairs. Of course, if the floor was designed to accommodate flying types, being able to fly would be quite helpful. I don't which would have to be chicken and which would have to be the egg in this case, but its food for thought. (And, of course, if I know how to use a command line I can just teleport around the place.)
The details of this paper I can't really comment on too much, since I am very much a software guy and this is very much a hardware paper. The biggest weakness of this piece is a failure to have either a very clear description or a very clear demonstration of how manipulating each mouse mapped to manipulating the screen. I was unable to follow the discourse on that as written.
The next step, I think, would be to correct the flaws their research illuminated with their mice and begin to try to determine the implications of what multi-DOF mice would be. That is, what kind of software can we build to use this, and what function would that software server?
Microblog #30, "Emotional Design, Chapter 3"
Summary
In this chapter, Dr. Norman goes into detail about the three levels of design. Those are, if you recall, visceral, behavioral, and reflective. That roughly correlates to initial reaction, functionality, and emotion.
Discussion
The section describing behavioral was pretty clearly set up to be a rehash of Design of Everyday Things, which I've already read, so I just kind of skimmed that portion.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the watch on page 84 actually indicates 3:22:37, not 4:22:37 as the author states.
In this chapter, Dr. Norman goes into detail about the three levels of design. Those are, if you recall, visceral, behavioral, and reflective. That roughly correlates to initial reaction, functionality, and emotion.
Discussion
The section describing behavioral was pretty clearly set up to be a rehash of Design of Everyday Things, which I've already read, so I just kind of skimmed that portion.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the watch on page 84 actually indicates 3:22:37, not 4:22:37 as the author states.
Ethnography Results, Week 4
With apologies to everyone who needs them, I wasn't able to find a game to sit in on this weekend. I admit that I didn't try particularly hard, since I was very busy and had spent six hours on this two hours a week project last Saturday.
What I did attempt to do was a little independent research. I went to rpg.net and looked through the play-by-post section of the forum to see how that differed from the tabletop variation. Unfortunately, for the purposes of my weekly report, all I learned was that the way it worked was so different that I don't really think it should fall under the scope of this ethnography.
What I did attempt to do was a little independent research. I went to rpg.net and looked through the play-by-post section of the forum to see how that differed from the tabletop variation. Unfortunately, for the purposes of my weekly report, all I learned was that the way it worked was so different that I don't really think it should fall under the scope of this ethnography.
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