Spotlight navigation
Erik Kogler, one of our bachelor students, designed a handheld projector based user interface for environments that are full of smart objects. “Spotlight Navigation at the TU/e can thus be said to arise from SOFIA’s need for interactive controllers for the ubiquitous, invisible technological networks that will surround the user (in this case in the home). When dealing with pervasive technology it is normally assumed that all manner of products will be able to share and collect information, even though they lack an interface capable of creating the connections to make this useful. … Spotlight Navigation device seems an ideal solution to this lack of interface as it can use any surface to create a vast and entirely flexible user-interface.”
Download the final report [PDF, 800+K]
Semantic Resources
Willem Willemsen, one of our master students, designed a decorative toy tree to create awareness about domestic resource consumption. “I chose this metaphor because trees are associated with the environment and the better you do the better your tree (representing the environment) gets. The size of the tree doesn’t only represent the environment, but also the user’s personal effort on reducing resource consumption. Plants are also something that people use a decorative objects in their houses, so the object wouldn’t be an alien object in-between the rest of the objects in the house. The way it works is that the user can build the tree with building blocks. These blocks have a light source inside them that will light up when a level is gained. Each time a level is gained the next block turns on until all blocks are turned on. When this happens the user can add a piece to the tree, and the level starts over again. This means that the system has no levelling limits and can keep growing indefinitely with enough pieces.”
Download the PDF [2M] for more details.
A New Encounter
Three of our first year students, Jesse Meijers, Marjolein Schets and Jim Steenbakker, did a nice project in the context of cultural computing. “The goal of the project was to create a new form of presence and user experience by turning the visitors sense of reality upside down through the use of modern technology. The rooms built for this project were based on scenes from the book `Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. We decided to build a new room. Our room is based on the scene where the tarts of the Queen of Hearts2 get stolen. The visitor will accidentally perform the theft. The rooms purpose is evoking a feeling of confusion. The room is an infinity mirror room which contradicts the visitor’s sense of reality, proportion and boundaries.”
[The final project report: "A New Encounter with Alice" 1.3M, PDF]
Doormate
Don Willems designed a doormat. The doormat is not just for wiping your feet, but also for lowering the electricity consumption. How does it do it? The doormat is at the same time a LED display that allows people to easily turn off devices when leaving the house as well as improving their energy consumption behavior by leaning from tailored coaching when coming in. Read the full report for more information [PDF, 3M]
From his report, “The Doormate is for wiping your feet and supporting lowering of electricity consumption. It does the latter by communicating information through an integrated LED display. It allows people to easily turn of devices when leaving the house as well as improving their energy consumption behavior by learning from tailored coaching when coming in. One could say the Doormate is addressing both the ‘consumer’ – making sure no money is wasted when not at home and the ‘citizen’ – contributing by environmental friendly behaviour – in people. Read more…
Hao Liu, one of the PhD students I supervised, defended his thesis “Biosignal Controlled Recommendation in Entertainment Systems”, on Monday, December 13, 2010.
[DOWNLOAD | PDF, 2M | Biosignal Controlled Recommendation in Entertainment Systems ]
Read more…
Tangible Instant Messaging
Sometimes the first year students surperize you with what they can do in their very first year. Pim Vellenga, Hessel Sieswerda and Niels Timessen challenged themselves with “one huge problem: how do you get the interactive onscreen user interface out of instant messaging experience.” They designed a tea box that is integrated with messaging abilities for the elderly to communicate with their grandchildren. Read the report [PDF, 2M] for more.
De Food Robots
Knol-ontwerp takes the AdMoVeo on tour with Nerdlab. AdMoVeos serve as ‘de food robots’, catching the attention from ‘Cursor’, the university newspaper of TU Eindhoven:
“TU/e’s TUlip vertoont kunsten op Nerdlab
7 oktober 2010 - Mediakunstenaars, technici en wetenschappers presenteren hun werk op het gebied van robotica tijdens ‘Nerdlab 8: Robots on tour’. Het multidisciplinaire festival strijkt zondag 10 oktober neer in Eindhoven, om precies te zijn bij TAC aan de Vonderweg. Onder meer de TUlip van de faculteit Werktuigbouwkunde mag er laten zien wat hij kan.
Read more…
By Matthijs Kwak
Interesting work done by one of the master students. [Project Report, PDF, 700K]
SCD2, Decentralized.
SCD1, centralized.
Abstract: Technology is moving to the background and interoperability between devices increases. The handles for users to explore, make and break connections between devices seem to disappear inoverly complex menu structures displayed on small screens. Two prototypes have been developed that introduce a tangible approach towards exploring, making and breaking connections between devices in the living room. One provides a centralized approach (SCD1), the other a decentralized approach (SCD2). Industrial Design students and graduates(N=12) have performed tasks and were asked to explain and grade one out of three methods: SCD1 (image 1), SCD2 (image 2) and bluetooth pairing.Findings suggest that users are better able to project their mental model of how the system works on SCD2 and that atangible solution is not necessarily a better one.
B22 Project by Jaap Norbruis. [PDF Report, 1.5M]
Farm Ville
“Within this project I explored how context is experienced and in what ways it can be captured and communicated. The design goal of this project is to design a system that communicates contextual information seamless across realities, the context of a remote user should be communicated to a receiving person is such a way that he or she is able to experience it.”
