Airhockey Over a Distance
While working at CSIRO, I had the opportunity to be involved in the Airhockey Over Distance project. My team built a system that allowed two non-colocated players to challenge each other in a game of airhockey. By networking the two tables together and adding a high definition video-conference-like screen, the players could see and talk to each other in real time. The pucks were real, and the players would hit them at their opponent's goal. Each time the puck crossed the middle of the table, a signal would be sent to the other table, and a puck would be shot out from beneath the screen via one of four rotating canyons. Very cool!
PresentationsMueller, F., Cole, L., O'Brien, S., Walmink, W. Airhockey Over a Distance- Connecting People Through Physical Casual Game Play. Pergames 2006, Ireland.
Mueller, F., Cole, L., O'Brien, S., Walmink, W. Airhockey Over a Distance: A Networked Physical Game to Support Social Interactions. ACE Advances in Computer Entertainment 2006, Hollywood.
Presentations
I presented my team's work on the Airhockey project at ACE 2006, Hollywood.
Holding Hands Over a Distance
Have you been in a long distance relationship and wanted to hold your partners hand? While working at CSIRO, I was interested in developing a device that would allow two people to hold hands when apart. Since I had many design questions about how such a product should be built, I developed a few simple technology probes to open up design discussions with couples. While I didn't develop a final design for holding hands when apart, my research shows the importance of form design when creating technology probes.
Publications
O'Brien, S., Mueller, F. Holding Hands Over a Distance: Technology Probes in an Intimate, Mobile Context. OzCHI 2006, Sydney.
Presentations
I presented my team's work on the technology probes at OzCHI 2006, Sydney.
Fast Food Approach to User-Centered Design
While working at CSIRO, I was invited to give a seminar for the Interaction Design Group at Melbourne University about past projects. My presentation focused on what I call a 'Fast Food' approach to user-centered design, a step above the 'Dog Food' approach. While the 'Dog Food' approach utilizes internal people for usability tests, the 'Fast Food' approach uses readily available external users, with the goal of obtaining quick feedback. These 'readily available' users may not be end users, but they should possess similar qualities as end users. For example, in my project on 'Holding Hands Over a Distance' (above), I had difficulties finding long-distant couples. Using the 'Fast Food' approach, I took my design probes to a popular recreation area for couples. Within an hour, I had talked to nine couples about the designs.
