I know last blog i said i'd try update more often, but i also said last blog that i would be busy this semester :-P
All my projects are in full swing, i'm dealing with most of them, although two of them feel like i''m the only group member actually doing anything. Oh well, i'm not great at giving people a chance to participate when i'm thinking about something.... i just tend to sit there trying to get it straight enough to regurgitate to whatever assignment i'm working on; it takes enough effort to get it to a form i can understand, let alone something someone else can take away and work with. This blog is probably a good testament to that.
Galaxy (My UI concept) has been on hold for a while now, but my Marketing lecture yesterday (on idea generation) really inspired me to give it another go, and try and develop it some more. The main problem i've been running into it is that new products/technology/whatever are really supposed to be spawned from a need or requirement. I think the need for Galaxy comes from the advancement of visual display technology (3D screens coming soon apparently?) and a lack of advancement in the user interfaces we use. Windows Vista (not to pick on it more) is a shining example of such a thing; it boasts a great many features and improvements, but hardly any of those filter down to the average joe user because it is obscured by an over-simplified interface or confuscated access method, or these features don't provide any measurable benefit that is apparent to the user. One of the staples of GUI design is not to change what people know, but at the same time we need to be innovative in breaking down the barriers between human-computer interaction. Part of this is the limitations of the input systems, which i have also thought about a great deal; there is only so much you can do with someone else's hardware.
Ok let's analyse the target market and the niche we're aiming for. People want an interface that will be so intuitive that it is almost transparent; i.e. people don't actually want to manipulate an interface and jump through hoops to get it to do what they want it to do. They just want said computer to do what they want it to do. This is all fine and well in theory, but as the technology stands people have to give a computer information in order for it to know what to do. People can't read minds (well most of us can't), neither can computers. Until computer mind-reading technology is developed (apparently sony already have patents in for that sort of stuff), computers will have to try and get as much information from users as possible. Current methods of cutting down the amount of input a user has to do includes using historical data, statistical inference and interpolation of a user's behaviour, and random guessing. Ok so i'm making this up as i go along, but how is this any different from normal.
The point is i'm using my brain to come up with these examples, piecing them together with information i have gained from other sources, and then extrapolating. How can we make computers do this?
I think the conclusion i'm rolling myself along to is that ultimately user interface design has a big affect on how much information we can get form the user, and how much information we can give them. This is why giving interfaces a third dimension will help us with collecting information, and likewise allow us to display more information. The problem that is faced with 3D interfaced is that our peripherals are still 2D. Even touch screens only allow us to work in 2D.
All my projects are in full swing, i'm dealing with most of them, although two of them feel like i''m the only group member actually doing anything. Oh well, i'm not great at giving people a chance to participate when i'm thinking about something.... i just tend to sit there trying to get it straight enough to regurgitate to whatever assignment i'm working on; it takes enough effort to get it to a form i can understand, let alone something someone else can take away and work with. This blog is probably a good testament to that.
Galaxy (My UI concept) has been on hold for a while now, but my Marketing lecture yesterday (on idea generation) really inspired me to give it another go, and try and develop it some more. The main problem i've been running into it is that new products/technology/whatever are really supposed to be spawned from a need or requirement. I think the need for Galaxy comes from the advancement of visual display technology (3D screens coming soon apparently?) and a lack of advancement in the user interfaces we use. Windows Vista (not to pick on it more) is a shining example of such a thing; it boasts a great many features and improvements, but hardly any of those filter down to the average joe user because it is obscured by an over-simplified interface or confuscated access method, or these features don't provide any measurable benefit that is apparent to the user. One of the staples of GUI design is not to change what people know, but at the same time we need to be innovative in breaking down the barriers between human-computer interaction. Part of this is the limitations of the input systems, which i have also thought about a great deal; there is only so much you can do with someone else's hardware.
Ok let's analyse the target market and the niche we're aiming for. People want an interface that will be so intuitive that it is almost transparent; i.e. people don't actually want to manipulate an interface and jump through hoops to get it to do what they want it to do. They just want said computer to do what they want it to do. This is all fine and well in theory, but as the technology stands people have to give a computer information in order for it to know what to do. People can't read minds (well most of us can't), neither can computers. Until computer mind-reading technology is developed (apparently sony already have patents in for that sort of stuff), computers will have to try and get as much information from users as possible. Current methods of cutting down the amount of input a user has to do includes using historical data, statistical inference and interpolation of a user's behaviour, and random guessing. Ok so i'm making this up as i go along, but how is this any different from normal.
The point is i'm using my brain to come up with these examples, piecing them together with information i have gained from other sources, and then extrapolating. How can we make computers do this?
I think the conclusion i'm rolling myself along to is that ultimately user interface design has a big affect on how much information we can get form the user, and how much information we can give them. This is why giving interfaces a third dimension will help us with collecting information, and likewise allow us to display more information. The problem that is faced with 3D interfaced is that our peripherals are still 2D. Even touch screens only allow us to work in 2D.
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