This page contains the RWI project ideas from the Tuesday Activity on September 17, 2002. If your name isn't listed then you did not send the TA a write-up.
The following people are the winners:
TEAM alexis: Jeff Lokant
My example RWI uses
the X10 lamp dimmer device
Meet Bob. Bob is a technical support rep for a PC
company. His job requires full use of
desktop reality for maximum efficiency in supporting customers. But Bob is constantly letting the phone
queue pile up while he launches Ameritrade®’s website to check on the value of
his portfolio. Perhaps Bob would like
to have this information available at all times without interrupting his
work.
We can construct an
RWI to monitor the liquidation value of Bob’s portfolio, providing him with a
nice, non-invasive means of monitoring key things.
An X10 lamp dimmer
can provide lots of information by providing a steady on, steady off, blinking
effect, brightness increase, brightness decrease, etc.
Possible Represented cases:
|
Case |
Lamp change |
|
Markets open |
Steady on |
|
Markets close |
Steady off |
|
Abnormally high
drop in value |
On/Off to simulate
blinking |
|
Positive territory |
Bright |
|
Negative territory |
Dim |
TEAM decsand: Dillon Bussert
Many students today keep in touch via a new form communication, instant messaging. Instant messaging allows people to chat over the internet and has many advantages over traditional communication. A user can chat with multiple people at the same time and all communication is in real time.
Instant messaging has become an important part of a student’s life, however it can hamper a user’s productivity because communication requires continuous input and distracts the user from concentrating on other work done on a computer. One solution to this problem is a set of real world interfaces that allow the user to be aware of instant messages without interruption.
Current instant messaging notifications are typically sounds, like bells or rings when a new message is received. These noises can be annoying and distracting, to the user and others nearby. Sounds also do not allow the user to remember how many messages he or she has pending, since the system makes a noise and then waits for input.
A productive notification system would be a lamp, which uses the brightness of the light to represent the awaiting messages. When the user receives a new message, the lamp grows to full brightness to give the user a subtle note of a new awaiting message. The lamp then continuously grows dimmer, since messages usually require an immediate reaction. If the user chooses not to answer the message, then the system does not need to keep a strong reminder present. The lamp dims until it reaches a brightness that is conductive of the number of awaiting messages. If a user had 1 message waiting, the lamp would be dim, but if the user had 10 messages waiting the lamp would stay bright; telling the user they should probably check their computer to see who is talking to him or her.
For many students, reading, studying or doing homework is at the same desk their computer is located. Students can be reading a textbook, while sitting in front of an idle computer connected to an instant messaging system. Sounds can easily disturb a reader’s progress, and constant checking of the computer screen is also an interruption of work. By having a lamp to signify the messages, the student can continue to work while being aware of the people asking for his attention. If he or she chooses not to attend to their newest message, the notification system will not try to steal the user’s information and instead displays the amount of waiting messages.
This system can be expanded with multiple X10 devices. For example the X10 remote can allow the user to turn off the notification system altogether. If the user wants to concentrate hard on the task at hand, they can shut off the lamp to stop any information from being displayed. Turning off the system could put the user automatically in to an “away” mode so other people trying to contact them would know they are too busy to communicate. The X10 motion sensor can also be implemented to turn the system on when a user is present, and off when the user has been away. If the user leaves the room, the instant messaging program goes in to “away” mode since the user cannot respond. The motion sensor could be connected to a clock, which will keep track of how much time the user spent away from the computer. This information could be monitored over long amount of time to keep track of the patterns of the user, to see what time they’re at their desk and what time of day are they working.
TEAM gps: Ricky Ubee
One possible interface that I deem could prove useful is the controlling of lights based on either the amount light outside vs. the ambient brightness of a room, or the current day's time of sunset. In the former case, the information source that would be monitored is the sunlight outside. This could be monitored by light sensors outside and the users of the interface could set a specific amount of light they would like emanating from the lamps in their rooms. According to the paper, low information transfer rate would make real time adjustment of the lamps very difficult; the adjustment of light could be done on an interval basis, such as every 15 minutes. The latter could be used when users are not in their homes. The daily time of sunset could be monitored from the internet and users could set which lamps they wanted to turn on at sunset or maybe a set time before sunset. An example scenario for this interface could be...
Josh has been sitting at his computer since about 6:00 pm. Josh is working tirelessly while the sun is setting and thus making his room darker and putting more strain on his eyes. Instead of having to get up to turn on the three lamps in his room, Josh is able to sit by while light sensors inside and outside his room detect the decreasing light level in his room and engage the lamps to brighten slowly to a light level preset by Josh, thereby not causing Josh to squint so that his eyes may adjust to the new found light. As the lights get brighter to maintain the set light level, Josh should be able to understand that it is getting darker outside.
TEAM gui: Chris Stillwell
My concern is in determining how active my apartment is. I would like to be
able to tell, at a glance, how many people are in my apartment, and know
roughly where they are.
I would require several motion sensors and a bank of lights to implement my
real world interface. Motion sensors would be set up in each room--living room,
kitchen, bathroom, den, and three bed rooms. A lightbulb would also be
associated with each room. If a particular lightbulb is lit, the motion sensor
has determined that someone is in the room. The lightbulbs would have variable
brightness to reflect how active the person or people in a room are. If, for
example, the living room lightbulb is on but dim, a person might be present and
doing something relatively inactive, like watching television.
As a scenario, I will use myself. Let's say it's four in the morning, I'm up
after a long night of programming under a deadline, locked away in my room. I'm
exhausted and grumpy, I'm feeling restive, and I really don't want to deal with
anybody, especially since my coffee supply ran out an hour prior. I need to get
up and out of my room, but I don't want to risk running into my roommate (as a
night security guard, it's not uncommon for him to come home at four in the
morning). After all, rent is due, and I know that if I see him I'm going to
chew his head off. I look at the bank of lights above my computer desk. I see
the light in the living room light up. It's bright, which means activity. The
living room light goes off, the kitchen light turns on. It's bright. The
kitchen light goes off, the living room light goes on. It's also bright. The
living room light goes off, my roommates bedroom light goes on. It's bright for
a moment, then goes dim. I guess that my roommate came home, grabbed a quick
snack out of the fridge, and went to bed. My other roommate is out of town, so
I have nothing to worry about as far as leaving my room and not running into anybody.
TEAM library: Travis Pendergraft
My
ubiquitous computing system would be a monitoring device for traffic. More specifically vehicle and foot traffic
on and around campus. By using this
system it would let me know when to drive to campus, when to walk to campus, or
when to ride the bus.
My
real world system would use X10 motion detectors to monitor three aspects of
traffic. The vehicle traffic around
campus would be connected to a fan, which would speed up as traffic flow
increased. The fan’s speed would be
intuitive since a low speed would represent light traffic, while a high speed
would represent heavy traffic. The
space remaining for on-campus parking would be represented by a lamp, the lamp
would start as fully lit and then gradually dim as less spaces are available
for parking. This is also intuitive
since if the light is lit there are spaces available and if the light is off
then the parking spots are all full.
The final variable would be monitored by a series of bulbs that would
monitor the foot traffic across different crosswalks around the drill
field. As foot traffic intensified
across the crosswalks the particular light representing that area would
brighten.
These
devices and the information they convey would help me decide how I should get
to campus for my classes. Imagine on
Tuesday I get up at 4pm after a nice long sleep and my parking lot light is
off, this means that the parking lots on campus are full so I can’t drive to my
HCI class. This leaves me choices of
the bus or walking. I glance at the
drill field foot traffic lights and notice all of the lights are on brightly, a
class must have just let out so I probably can’t walk to class either. Finally, I feel a slow breeze from my
traffic fan so I conclude since traffic on the roads around campus are light,
the parking lot is full, and a class just let out, that I should take the bus
to get to campus.
TEAM movie: Carolyn Wine
My real-world interface would be a monitor of how much hot water is available in the house or dorm at the current time. This would be monitored with a gauge in the tank, whose units are in the average amount of hot water required to take a shower. The interface would be shown in the volume of a radio in the bedrooms. The less water in the reserve tank, the quieter the radio would be. The people living in the house could wake up and immediately know if they have enough water to take a shower or if they should snooze a bit more until the water heater catches up with demand. This would be especially useful in homes with old plumbing systems, hotels, dorms, or other places where water demand fluctuates greatly during the day. My interface would prevent people from having to get up and climb in the shower, only to find out someone's taken all the hot water to do her laundry.
TEAM politics: Will Preissner
Information Source: Weather Conditions Outside
Pros:
1> Supplies cubicle users feedback about whats going on outside, which they may not otherwise get
2> Helps when determining what to wear on the way outside (i.e. wear the sweater I wore to work, or bring my umbrella to lunch?)
1> May be dificult to implement, but shouldn't be too expensive
2> Each desk would need its own heating cooling and humidifying mechanism
TEAM
sw agent: Nannan Li
A Traffic Detector consists an array of bulbs; each one of them represents the traffic state for each aisle in this building. A Remotely Control is connected to each bulb. After detecting a heavy traffic for each aisle; it sends signal to each bulb. If the capacity level for the aisle reaches maximum(set up by user), the bulb is going to be lit up. Observers can make decision about which path to take by following the light of bulbs.
After one class, John wants to walk from one class-room to another. He is willing to get the destination quickly. He takes a look at the Traffic Detector to find out which road has the less traffic. Then he goes for the shortest path.
TEAM storm: Brian Hodges
Scenario:
Andy is selling Waterworld, a very rare game for the Nintendo Virtual Boy on ebay. Andy works at home in his home office which contains a PC with
internet access. Andy wants to monitor how many people are viewing his item, how many people are bidding, and how high the bid has gone.
Whenever he wants to do this, he must visit the website listing his item. Even though this
is important to him, he has other work he must attend to and cannot stare at the webpage and keeping hitting 'refresh' all day long.
Brian is a college student who has bid on the Waterworld game. He wants to keep tabs on whether or not he is still winning the auction. Ebay will send
him an email whenever he is outbid, but he has schoolwork to do and cannot spend all day checking email. Brian has a PC with internet access in his
dorm room.
Problem:
How to keep tabs on the ebay auction without constantly checking the website or email?
RWI Solution:
My RWI solution would be to have device with three lights: green, yellow, and red display this information. This device could be mounted on top of
the computer's monitor so users could check information whenever they have a chance. This will allow them to monitor the auction status without
it interrupting their work.
The device would be plugged into the computer, which would monitor information
from the ebay website. There would be a software interface that allowed you to just type in the item number of the auction you want to monitor, then it
would continue to monitor until you told it to stop. There would be support for multiple devices, so you could monitor several auctions at once.
The green light would monitor the amount of people viewing the item, the more viewers, the brighter the light. If no one is currently viewing the item,
it would turn off.
The yellow light would come on if someone had recently bid on the item, but that bid was not enough to beat the high bid. The brighter the light, the
more non-winning bids the item was getting.
The red light would monitor winning bids. The bidders red light would only come on if he was outbid, while the sellers bid would come on once there
was a bid and get brighter if there was a new winning bid.
At the end of the auction, on the seller's device, all the lights would flash if there was a winning bidder, and they would all go dark if there wasn't. On
the buyers device all of his lights would flash if he won and if he lost all of the
lights on the device would go dark.
With these devices, Andy could see how well his item was doing, while Brian could see how his bid was holding up while they were working on other things.
OTHERS
Jatin
Ahuja
Specific
Information Source: Particular chosen stocks
My idea consists of a set lights all of different colors connected to the power
socket and controlled by the computer. The increase or decrease in intensity of
light of each bulb would indicate in the rise or fall of that particular stock
in the stock exchange.
Scenario: Let us assume John is an average investor and has invested in three
stocks on the NASDAQ stock exchange. He owns the following stocks Microsoft,
Palm and Compaq. Now, in his room he has a set of three multicolored bulbs of
not very high watts (so that the room does not become too bright.) The three
colors of the lights are yellow, green and
blue. Now as the stock value of Microsoft goes up (taking information from the
computer) the power supplied to the bulb is increased and the yellow light
assigned to Microsoft increases in intensity. Similarly, as the day progresses
if the stock for Compaq crashes the blue light would fade. Finally at the end
of the day at the close of the stock market all
three lights would shut down thus emphasizing the fact that the stock exchange
has now closed.
Thus, in this RWI example John would be able to glance periodically at the
lights and determine how his stocks are doing so that if need be he can buy or
sell his stocks according to the value he needs. However, since the lights are
not extremely intense visually, they will not disturb his concentration towards
work.
Balil Aziz
The idea of this real world interface is to provide constant
feedback of a sports game while it is in play.
This will be achievable through two distinct light bulbs, in which the
user will program the two teams competing into the computer. A red bulb will indicate the home team and
the blue bulb will indicate the away team.
When the two teams are in play the bulbs will monitor the game through
variations of light emitted. If the
home team is leading, the red bulb will be brighter than the blue bulb. If the away team is leading, the blue bulb
will be brighter. The scores will be
extracted from the computer and they will send a signal to the bulb, creating
real-time feedback. The brightness of the bulbs will also reflect the closeness
of the game. For example, if the home
team is winning by just a few points then the red bulb will only shine a little
brighter than the blue bulb. However,
if the home team is winning by a significant amount of points, the red bulb
will shine significantly brighter then the blue bulb. Upon completion of the game, the winning team’s bulb will blink
and the losing teams bulb will be completely off. In the case of a tie, the two bulbs will emit an even amount of
light.
Scenario: Virginia
Tech is playing Miami on Sunday.
However, Bilal is stuck at his computer doing his C++ program. There is no way he can make the game, so he
programs the two teams into his computer and monitors the game while he is
doing his program. As time passes, Bilal notices a significant difference
between the VT bulb and the Miami bulb.
VT’s bulb is considerably brighter then the Miami bulb, therefore he is
glad that Miami is getting beat!
Saurabh
Banskota
Weather Wallpaper
John
Booker
Yazid Boukerroui
Information source:
First Thought: The information source to be monitored is the process usage by a certain computer. Process usage is based on a percentage scale and can easily be depicted through real-world objects. Lighting would probably be the easiest way to depict the percentage of CPU usage.
Problem(s):
Process usage is erratic. Simply opening an explorer window on my P4 1.6ghz takes 60% for a second and drop to below 5%. Extracting a file on the same computer displays 6-15% of processor usage for the endurance of the extraction.
Solution(s):
Erratic information is therefore insignificant and must be neglected. Constant behavior is the center of attention. For example, if process usage shows an increase over a certain period of time, then lighting intensity is increased by the appropriate factor.
Usability:
Surely, usability of such a RWI for the average consumer is limited. In most cases the average computer user will not care for his computer’s CPU usage. However, the RWI can be seen as a significant and useful tool in the computer science work industry.
Scenario(s):
1. Average computer user: Suppose a person intends to install a program or an operating system. In most cases, one cannot distinguish how long it will take for the installation to complete. They do not intend to waste their time observing the progress of the installation as they have a higher priority on their hands that requires them to be away from the computer. The person can then start the installation and monitor whether the installation has completed according to the light intensity of the lamp.
2. Work:
Computer programmer: While compiling their large programs, programmers can monitor the progress of the compilation without their full concentration on the screen.
Computer graphics artist: rending certain 3D animations can take much time. Even days can be spent in rendering the complicated frames of a video clip. To the 3D animator patience is a virtue that must be practiced. However, such a RWI can help in saving precious time.
3. Other Examples:
Cryptography: Decryption of certain information or breaking a decryption key.
Michael Bowers
Information Source to Monitor: Final scores for all professional and collegiate sports in America
Real World Interface: When a game finishes, the lights flicker a specific color based on the sport to alert whoever is in the room to check the score.
Scenario: Jake the bookie is in the middle of his busiest season. From August to October, professional baseball, football and collegiate football games are played almost every day. Jake is having trouble keeping up with every game. He installs this system in his house to know when games have ended.
It is Sunday, September 7, 2003. There are 14 professional football games, 3 college football games and 12 professional baseball games. Even with 6 televisions, Jake would be having an impossible time keeping track of the games. The new system causes the lights to flicker blue for a few seconds. Jake knows that this is the signal for a professional football game and he also knows that this is not a game he is currently watching. Because of this signal, he can either flip to the correct channel or check the score online. With this quick information, he can find out that the Pats have beaten the Bills 20-3, cleanly beating the spread. With this knowledge coming in faster, Jake can send his thugs out to collect his money at a quicker pace.
Jay
Cooper
Raja Damadoran
Matt Dau
Mengistu Demissie
Computer
Planner
This will help the user to organize and notify when a specific task approaches and
do some search about each and every tasks with the permission of the user to
look for information that the user might need for each specific plan (task).
The user set the planner just like the usual paper planer or organizer. When each
task approaches the computer planner provides the user the due task and offer
to read it and give any appropriate suggestions of the plan using recommendation
system. For example: if the due task is to go to New York for community meeting
the system should supply the address of the meeting place and give some back
ground information about the topic of the meeting and some prediction how the
meeting might be. The planner should ask the user for updating the data at the
end of the day and maybe gives some statistical data how the user organize his
day and give some more info for the following day’s plan.
Alan Fabian
Stock Price monitor.
We know how it is important for people who have stocks to know the evolution of
the prices of the ones they own. Often, knowing whether the stock prices
increase or decrease has a great influence on their behavior.
I then thought of real word interface consisting of a lamp connected to a
computer with internet access which would monitor the price of a specific
stock. The light has a medium brightness value at which it sets automatically
when the system is turned on. As the amount the price has increased from the
price at which the stock opened today gets bigger and bigger, the light gets
brighter and brighter. When it reaches the price at which you would like to
sell it (and that you have set), the light starts flashing. Similarly, as the
price decreases, the light gets darker and darker. If the price gets below the
minimum the user has set, the light shuts down. The system then provides two
basic kinds of information. At anytime you know what is the evolution of your
stock’s price, but in the same time, you get alerted when the stock reaches
critical prices.
Basic scenario.
While working on his program, a computer scientist turns on the stock price
monitor. The lamp sets to its medium value, and then immediately starts
decreasing in brightness. He knows his stocks aren’t doing so well, but the
intensity of the brightness tells him that its not so bad. As he continues
working, the light doesn’t really vary in intensity, it gets a little brighter,
a little darker. This tells him the price doesn’t really vary. Early in the
afternoon, the lamp starts to slowly increase in intensity. As the light gets
brighter and brighter the user gets in a better mood, he permanently knows how
his stocks are doing without having to interrupt his work. By the end of the
afternoon, when suddenly the light starts flashing, he immediately takes the phone,
and sells his stocks.
Julie Gibson
"If you dont like the weather here in Blacksburg, then just wait 5 minutes." A popular line used here on Virginia Tech campus when referring to the drastic weather changes. This is what caused me to choose what I would for the real-world interface. The source of information I would like to monitor would be the weather. It is constantly changing, especially here in blacksburg, and is something everyone should be aware of it because it can have short-term and long term effects. I would choose the rwi-bulbs device (one of the examples http://research.cs.vt.edu/rwi/devices/rwi-bulbs.jpg) because it has a variety of different bulbs to show what is going on outside. I would have the bulb all the way to the left representing sunny and warm outside. The one to the right of that would represent the wind(the dimmer the light is the less windy it is outside). The one beside that which is a dark one would represent a storm. The next one to the right would represent a cloud cover. The one all the way to the right would represent rain. There are times that more than one light would be on, for instance a rain storm would have the middle and the rightmost bulbs on and depending on the degree of raining would be how bright the rightmost bulb would be shinning. It can also be sunny and windy outside so there may very well be combinations of bulbs shinning at different levels of brightness. This would be put near an exit because that is when it is needed most. When you get up to leave the building you would most likely want to know whether it is raining so then you know whether or not to take an umbrella or wear a jacket with a hood. Another scenario would be you are working but have a meeting to go to. Your office is in the middle of the building so you do not have any windows to look outside and see how the weather is. It is extremely windy and raining outside. You have one of these neat bulb real-world interface objects in your office so that when you leave you know what to prepare for. So you leave your office knowing that it is rainy and windy outside so you can wear your jacket or take your umbrella and make sure you have a brush or some way of keeping your hair looking nice because if you are headed to a business meeting you definitely do not want your hair to be messy and unprofessional looking. One more scenario could be that you are sitting at home and getting ready to leave to go out. You are on your way out the door and have one of these gadgets at the exit. It tells you that there is a cloud cover and that there is a slight drizzle (by the rain bulb being very dim). You decide that with a slight drizzle it is very possible to have a heavy rain at some point while you are out so you better take your jacket. I know that without this gadget if I walked out the door and locked it then started to walk over to the car and felt a slight drizzle that the possibility of having a heavy rain is not worth me having to go all the way back inside my home. Therefore, without this gadget if it ended up pouring rain then I wouldn't be prepared for the rain and I would get wet. If it is cold and wet this could lead to an illness for me and cause many complications in my life. Therefore with the above scenarios I have shown why this is useful. Another issue with interfaces however is that they can be distracting. However I choose this one because it is quiet. The lights will not all be on at the same time so it will not cause anything to be so incredibly bright and it will not be making noises to distract you. By placing it at an exit it will be where it is needed most and in an area that should be less distracting. The different bulbs can be dim or bright depending on the weather which allows you to see different degrees of how the weather is reacting without as much distraction. This is why i chose the bulbs for showing weather as my real-world interface.
Kris Godek
Information Source to Monitor:
Rain via X10’s Rain Sensor
Description:
I would use X10’s rain sensor to control/vary the intensity level of a water pump in a water fountain. The idea behind the system is to place the fountain (or fountains) around the house where people might be yet not necessarily be looking outside. Should it begin to rain outside, the rain sensor would sense the rain and vary power to the water pump based on the intensity of the rain outside. This would provide a tasteful audible alert of inclement weather. Note: the fountains would continually be running at the lowest possible level just to keep the water circulating.
Scenario:
John
owns a Jeep Wrangler and has the top off because it was nice earlier in the
day. He is in his basement doing work
on his computer where there are no windows. Next to his computer is his Smart Fountain. All of a sudden, the water from his fountain begins to flow more
rapidly. He runs upstairs and sees that
it has begun to rain. He goes outside
and puts the top on his Jeep and saves himself from a wet ride.
Mellissa Grant
For my real world interface I will be monitoring
the moisture level in soil for the benefit of farmers and other
crop-growers. By monitoring the
moisture level, farmers might be able to prepare for drought conditions easier,
and would not water crops when the ground is sufficiently wet.
Using the track-row of bulbs, where the bulbs are
able to light up individually, farmers will be able to tell what the moisture
level of the soil is:
|
Number of Lit Bulbs |
Description of Meaning |
|
0 |
drought conditions |
|
1 |
dry, but not drought conditions |
|
2 |
standard soil conditions |
|
3 |
damp conditions |
|
4 |
wet conditions |
|
5 |
overly wet conditions |
By looking at the number of bulbs lit the farmer will be able to tell
if he needs to irrigate the crops, water, or tend to other water-management
conditions.
Scenario:
John Brown is a full-time peanut farmer. He is eating breakfast with his
family and preparing is preparing for his day of labor in the crops. Before
going out he schedules in his mind what he needs to get accomplished for the
day. Parts of his activities depend on the moisture-level of the soil. By
having a lighting system in his kitchen, he can be sure to wear the proper
shoes for his activities, bring the proper tools from the basement and barn.
Otherwise he may walk and find the soil conditions completely different then he
believed they were and waste precious daylight.
Greg Grothaus
Joshua Kim
Glenn Konowicz
Nicholas Meyers
Everyone sleeps, and everyone needs to awake. One of the most practical ideas for a real world interface is an environmental control system connected to an alarm clock. This creation would be applicable to almost any American, and could be expandable to intuitively convey specific environmental information like temperature, humidity, or adverse weather. The immediate environment and weather outside of a person’s house, apartment, or building would be the information to monitor.
The monitored weather and temperature information would be connected to a system inside the person’s bedroom or apartment. As the alarm clock was activated by time to awake the person, the environment in the room or apartment would automatically adjust to represent the outside weather. This system would allow the person to immediately identify the weather outside, and plan accordingly. Rain and snow could be simulated by a visual projection of the weather on the walls or voice notification such as “heavy rain” announced in the room.
One scenario where this information would be very helpful is for a college student at Virginia Tech who needs to get dressed, exit the dorm room, and get to class within 10 minutes. Particularly, members of the Corps of Cadets could use this information to immediately identify the proper uniform of the day (uniform is based on weather conditions for that day). In this college-setting scenario, the perception of information by the human would be completely intuitive, recognizing the weather outside by immediately seeing the reflection and temperature in the room.
Of course, this example of a real-world interface is a preliminary creative idea, and not a
working solution. There are several
issues that would still need to be considered during the design face before
construction on a prototype system could begin. Since not all outside weather would want to be experienced at
first awakening (temperatures like –30 F, or 110 F for example), there could be
a ‘reset’ button on the alarm so that the temperature could be easily returned
to the standard temperature. In addition,
several college students and other persons like to reset the alarm for “another
30 minutes”, and it may not be desirable to experience the weather conditions
two or three times in the same morning. During a more thorough design, these problems could easily be solved.
In
conclusion, the example of the “outside to inside weather/alarm” system is a
very applicable idea for a real world interface. The human, without any action or conscious thought, would
intuitively perceive very useful information. Various information states (weather conditions) could be easily
represented by adjusting the temperature control for the room, and projecting
weather information by audio or video. A very feasible example of a real world interface, the “outside to
inside weather/alarm” would present any “morning person” or “late sleeper” with
useful data intuitively and immediately.
Eric Newman
Several alarm clocks have been developed as Real World Interfaces, but the most important one has been neglected: the morning alarm to get out of bed. A dimming lamp to tell you about a meeting isn't very useful if you're still asleep in bed. Typical buzzing alarm clocks have major faults in that they are easily turned off and not even remotely subtle. A better method would need to be subtle and unavoidable. A temperature system satisfies both of these conditions. It's almost impossible to fall back asleep after your mom pulls away the covers. Having the computer steal your covers isn't very practical, however, and would only result in ripped covers. An air-flow system also fails because covers block a rush of cold air. Controlling the temperature of the mattress itself is the most effective method.
Water is one way to heat or cool a bed. Flexible plastic tubes run near the surface of the mattress disseminate heat or cold through the mattress to the occupant. The mattress is an X10 device which pumps water through the tubes while controlling the water temperature. On cold nights the water is heated, saving enormous amounts of energy in the stead of blowing hot air through the entire house. It stops water flow altogether during the day when the bed isn't in use. Most importantly, the water would run cold as a timed alarm. The user set an alarm time via computer, and can also modify how long the mattress takes to turn the water cold. A short gradient time would use the shock of sudden cold to wake the occupant. Setting the gradation longer, for instance to half an hour, conditions the body to the subtle cue of bed temperature, slowly and comfortably waking the occupant from deep sleep.
Further annoyances can be activated to ensure proper waking. Upon activation of the alarm, the computer goes into a "locked" mode. The only way to unlock the computer and turn off the flow of cold water is by passing a series of quizzes. Some of the modular quizzes available are math, English, and mind puzzles. Each quiz module has varying difficulty levels: in the math module, an 8-year old can be presented with addition and subtraction, while an adult is presented with multiplications of two-digit numbers. After answering a set number of quiz questions the computer unlocks and the bed automatically turns off the cold water. The mental activity has fully awakened the user, ensuring he will not turn the temperature to warm and return to bed. Many innovative modules are available for free download. The newspaper module requires you to type in the headline of the morning's newspaper, which the module verifies using the internet.
Since the mattress is computer-controlled using X10, the software also includes better alarm functionality over traditional alarm clocks. Different alarm times can be set for each day of the week - a necessity for sleeping late on weekends. This also guarantees you won't forget to turn the alarm back on before going to bed.
For a comfortable and warm night of sleep, and a brisk cold wake-up call, the X10 Mattress is what you need.
Kevin Pious
The doorbell is a very old fashion way to alert someone that there is a person at the door. What if you are watching TV in the other room or in the basement doing laundry? How would you hear the doorbell? There should be some other way for a person to be notified that there is someone at the door. The system I propose would use lights to notify a person that there is a presence at the door. The interface would use the lights inside the house. When someone would ring the doorbell the lights inside the house would flicker for 3 seconds. All the lights in the house would not have to flicker. For instance there would be no reason to control the lights in the rooms that are close to the front door. The doorbell can be heard there. However in rooms that are on a different level or that have a high level of noise (laundry room, entertainment room, etc.), the lights would flicker. To go even farther, sensors could be installed in the rooms that have the flickering system. These sensors could sense when someone is in the room so that the lights would only flicker in rooms that are occupied. When the doorbell was not in use, the lights would stay in the state that they are at. If the user has them on they would stay on and if they were off, they would stay off. A scenario where this system is useful, is where the user is in the basement using the vacuum cleaner. It would be hard to hear a doorbell in the basement even if it was silent. With a vacuum cleaner running hearing the doorbell would be impossible. How would someone be able to know when Publisher’s Clearing House comes to give them $10 million? If the system I introduced was installed, the lights would flicker in the basement alerting the user that there is someone at the door. In the included JPEG file, you can see where in the house motion sensors would be placed. There is no need to place the system in the living room, hall, or bathroom because they are right next to the door. However rooms in the back of the house may have a tough time hearing the door bell so the light system is placed in there. The entertainment room is right next to the door but if the TV or stereo is going, it may be tough to hear the doorbell. That is why there is a light system in that room.
James Roberts
The idea that I propose is a stock reminder. Throughout the
day, stock information changes and for many, it is a very important factor.
However, even a simple stock ticker can be intrusive when you are working or
performing other tasks. Hence, you can use this simple RWI setup.
First a user would set up the system, selecting which stocks they watch and how
much of each stock that they own. Also, they could set sell prices for these
stocks. The system could monitor the price of the stocks and make a
determination on how urgent it is that the user takes action. For example, if
the user has stocks that are maintaining there value, nothing would need to be
done. If a user had a single stock that was rapidly declining, this might be
fairly urgent. However, if the user’s portfolio was tanking quickly, the user
certainly should be aware of the fact.
To inform the user, I recommend a system with a red and a green bright light,
both impossible to ignore at full intensity, but that are unobtrusive at low
intensities. The level of power given to these lights would reflect how urgent
the changes in the user’s stocks were. If the entire portfolio was tanking,
turn full intensity on for the red light. If a stock was doing poorly, turn the
red light one medium. No change would mean neither light was on. Similarly,
better performances would turn the green light on. If a user had one stock
skyrocket while another stock tanked, both lights could be on, showing that the
user’s portfolio requires some attention.
Ismail Seyfi
INFORADIO
Listening to radio sometimes could be very tedious,
especially when there are commercial breaks. We can overcome this problem by creating a real world interface that
would tell us what is on radio before we turn up the volume. This way we would
be saving time, and focusing on our tasks.
We could start our project buy attaching a proximity sensor
to our radio. By doing this, we will be allowing the radio to turn itself on
whenever someone is in the room it is located in. We could make sure that the radio turns on without any
volume. Also, we can create an
interface that would somehow tell us what is on radio before we turn up the
volume. By using different colored
light bulbs, we can reflect the information. A black light bulb could be used
to reflect commercial breaks, and a red light bulb could be used to reflect
news. Also, a green light bulb could be used to reflect a song being
played. We can even make the system
better by adding another color that would be someone’s favorite color to
indicate that a favorite show is in progress.
This application would be useful in an office environment
where people use computers a lot. The system could be located on top of one’s
monitor. Therefore, he/she would easily see the light bulbs. According to his/her feelings and needs,
he/she would choose to turn the volume up or down. This way he/she would be
minimizing the chance of bothering others.
Jason Shank
I'd create an RWI to monitor the activity of the typical dorm laundry room. I realize that this environment may appear too large for a basic RWI but I think an RWI that monitors the progress of my laundry as well as the activity of other people in the laundry room would be really helpful and make for more efficient time management.
The 4 objects I'd use to monitor this situation would be a typical fan, a desk lamp, a decorative water fountain, and a motion detector. Here's how each would contribute to the RWI laundry monitoring system:
Motion Detector - the motion detector will monitor the traffic flow of people into and out of the laundry room door.
Fan - the fan will act as the display for the motion detector. If the traffic flow in the laundry room is high then the speed of the fan will also be high. If there is very little traffic flow into and out of the laundry room then the speed of the fan will be low. If no one is in the laundry room then the fan will remain off until someone enters.
Water Fountain - the water fountain will act as a monitor during the actual washing process. As the process begins the flow of the water will be nearly non-existant but as the process continues the flow of water will gradually increase until it reaches max water flow. Max water flow signals that the process is almost over. Once the washing machine cuts off the flow of water in the fountain will also cease, signaling that the user should now transfer their laundry to a dryer.
Desk Lamp - the desk lamp (similar to the water fountain) will act as the ambient display for the drying process. When the process begins the light will come on and be dim. As the drying process progresses the lamp will gradually become brighter and brighter until the dryer has finished drying the laundry and shuts off. Once the dryer shuts off the desk lamp will also turn off signifying that the laundry is finished and ready to be retrieved from the laundry room.
Scenario:
Johnny's a junior CS major at Virginia Tech. He still doesn't have a well
paying job so he's forced to live in Pritchard Hall for the third consecutive
year. It's the middle of the semester and Johnny has an OS program, an HCI activity, and a speech for Public Speaking all due in less than 24 hours.
However, Johnny's biggest problem is that he's running out of clean underwear
and doesn't have the time to spare for laundry. He doesn't own a laptop and
doesn't want to leave his clothes in the laundry room because last time he did
that all his clothes for stolen. If Johnny goes and sits down in the laundry
room to wait for his laundry to clean then he'll waste at least 2 hours and not
be able to complete all his assignments. This is wear the laundry monitoring RWI comes into play. Johnny continues his work until the fan on his desk slows
to a near stop. Realizing that very few people are using the laundry room,
Johnny grabs his laundry and rushes to put his clothes in the first available
washer. After punching his room number into the washing machine, Johnny goes
back to his dorm room and continues working on his OS program. The fountain on
top his television lets Johnny know that his clothes are in the process of
being washed. The flow of the water in the fountain is at a maximum when the
washer reaches the spin cycle and his about to conclude. Checking the speed of
the fan, Johnny sees that activity in the laundry room still appears to be at a
minimum so he goes back to the laundry room and transfers his clothes from the
washer to a dryer. Once again, Johnny enters his room number into the dryer and
goes back to work on his program. He works for nearly an hour while the level
of light on the desk lamp goes from dim to maximum brightness. Seeing that the
lamp is as bright as it can be, Johnny saves his program and goes to retrieve
his laundry from the laundry room. By using the ambient technology in his room
Johnny was able to use his time more efficiently and wash his laundry while he
still did his work. Now Johnny will have clean underwear to wear the next day
when he gives his speech on Human-Computer Interaction to his Public Speaking
class.
Adam Shrey
Andy Tarpley
The information source that I want to project through a RWI is the stock market. The user would run a command at the beginning of the day specifying the symbol they want to monitor. The command would be something like: monitorstock MSFT. This command would monitor Microsoft’s stock for the day.
The information monitored about the specified stock would include:
1) Whether the stock is up or down.
2) The volume of trading on the stock during the past 30 minutes.
So what RWIs would monitor this information?
My proposal calls for two lamps, one with a green bulb, and one with a red bulb to monitor whether the stock is up or down. Since there are only two information states associated with this, one light will always be on, and the other off. It is obvious that if the stock is up, the green light would be on, and if the stock is down, the red light would be on. A possible additional feature could be for the user to set a sell level, so if the stock drops below a certain level, the red light would flash on and off, indicating the user needs to sell.
To monitor the volume of trading, a fan would be in order. Over a continuous period of 30 minutes, the fan speed would be adjusted. The heavier the volume, the faster the fan would go. This is also useful for signaling the opening and closing of the stock market. When the markets open, the fan would turn on, and when the markets close, the fan goes off.
Scenario where this may be useful:
Ray is a businessman, who has trouble monitoring the stock market during his busy workday. From morning to afternoon, his day is filled with meetings and work in his office. Since Ray is a manager for a Fortune 500 company, he has a lot of stock in a major market mover. He has a computer that he uses currently to glance at his stock portfolio when he can. He needs something that can alert him to the conditions of the stock market, his company’s stock in particular.
He purchases a system developed by Tarpley, Inc. to help him subtly monitor his stock. Now, he has red and green accent lights that turn on and off based on the level of his company’s stock. There is also a ceiling fan in his office that has its spin speed adjusted according to the volume of trading in the past 30 minutes. His troubles are now over.
Annette Tsang
What is being monitor?
This device monitors the progress of various download progress taking place in Windows Operating System. This device can support up to five downloads.
How real-world object reflects the information?
Five horseback riders are attached on the device, where each rider is placed on its own track. If a download is started, an unused rider will glow and starts to move as according to the percentage of completed download. When the download is 100% completed, the horseback rider will be at the finish line. When the download window of a download is closed or terminated, the rider's light will be turned off and the rider will move back to the starting line.
A situation where the RWI would be useful
This device is particularly useful when users are away from their computer, and still want to know the progress of their download(s). The users may want to resume their computer work when certain downloads are completed.
Brett Thoman
Mike Trice
Julian Werfel
Robert Whiley
Abstract -------- This system involves using a light bulb placed on a desk next to a computer to monitor the computer's processor usage at a particular moment.
Description ----------- When the CPU is at a low level of usage, say less than 15%, the light bulb will appear very dim and give off little light, indicating that little of the processor is being used at the moment. When the CPU activity goes up to greater than 15% but under 50%, then the bulb will brighten to a moderate brightness level and give off some more light, signaling the user that the CPU usage is being moderately utilized. If the CPU usage rises between 50% and 75%, then the light bulb will shine at its maximum intensity and emit a very bright light noticeable by the user. This will tell the user that CPU usage is high and that they might consider closing some CPU-intensive applications. CPU use exceeding 75% would cause the light bulb to brightly flash once every second, alerting the user that the CPU use is critically high and that they should either close down CPU-hogging applications or shut down the system if necessary.
Scenario -------- This real-world interface for monitoring a computer's processor usage at a given time is useful in being able to quickly alert the user when the CPU may be overloaded by certain applications. In one instance, the user would sit down at the computer and notice the light bulb on the desk appearing dim and not giving off much light. After a while, the user initiates a process which requires using 95% of the CPU for a long span of time. As the CPU usage increases, the bulb's intensity quickly increases until it begins to flash brightly. The bright flashing of the light bulb lets the user know that the CPU is being very heavily utilized. From the OS, the user can find the program using the 95% of the CPU and terminate it safely.
Tyler Woods
Ben Wu
A RWI device that would be helpful
to football fans reflects the situations during a football games. This device
will transmit the information through a ceiling light. The device will monitor
the play-by play update provided through internet. The user can preset the
device to monitor his/her favorite team’s game. When his/her team is close to
touchdown or got a touchdown, the ceiling light will dim for two seconds. Then
the user can go ahead and turn on the TV to watch the game. If the other team
is close to scoring or had scored, the light will dim for five seconds. This
way, the user may choose not to turn on the TV.
The scenario where the device would
be helpful is a person may have something important to finish up during a
football night. For example, Ben is a big football fan and he wants to watch
the football game on Monday night, but he has a project due the next day. He
can not afford to spend two or three hours to watch the game. So he set this
device to monitor the game. During the game, Ben can concentrate working on his
project and also have an idea on how his team is doing without spending too
much time watching TV or constantly checking internet for update. With this
device, Ben can selectively watch the football game.
The length of how long the light dim can tell the user which team
scored or is close to score. Although the user may not be able to know what
exactly is happening, he/she has an idea. Then the user can decide whether to
turn on the TV or not.
Evan Yeager
(Scenario)
On most Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have a lot of free time. My only class is
Introduction to HCI which meets at 5pm in the evening. During this time I like
to get caught up with school work as well as getting some of my laundry taken
care of. Most of the time, however, I become so involved with what I am working
on that the laundry is forgotten and when a load finishes it sits in the
machine until a roommate finds it days later. I am normally sitting at my desk
or in my room reading while the laundry is running, but am never aware of the
state my laundry is in.
(Solution)
I propose a real world interface system that monitors the laundry machines and
sends that information to the user so he knows when the laundry is done and
should be taken out. In order to do this I suggest using two motion detectors
and placing them one next to the laundry machine and one next to the dryer.
However, they must be placed in a way that one will not interfere with the
other. While the washer and dryer are moving a fan will blow at full blast. If
one finishes, the fan will slow to half power to notify the user to check and
possibly switch out a load. When the fan stops completely the both the washer
and dryer have finished. The noise and air blown by the fan will subtly let the
user know that the laundry is still running, so he can focus on other thing