Download éTui

Cyberworld, Dissapearing
Computer, Hybrid Products?
Josep Blat
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Trends towards the future
• Cyber-VR worlds, Augmented Reality
• Disappearing computer - Information
appliances
• Hybrid products
Information Highways
Semantic Web
• Already discussed
• Standards for an interconnected world
– the Internet network (TCP/IP …) for infrastructure;
– the World Wide Web (URL, HTML, HTTP) for
information exchange
• Information and intercommunication widely
available
• Machine mediated communication to be built:
Semantic Web perspective
Cyber-VR world
• Virtual Reality, Virtual Environments have been a
perspective of the future for years
• A simulated (or re-created) world, especially the
sensory aspects
• Head-mounted displays, haptic devices such as
cybergloves, cybersuites, … for immersive VR;
lately “CAVEs”
• “Natural interaction” paradigm, not mediated by
the computer display, icons, …
Limitations of Cyber-VR world
• Huge costs at the beginning, now migrating to
desktop (flight, medical, CAD simulators, …)
• Why simulating? Why not inventing?
• Difficulties of the natural interaction paradigm;
understanding psychology and how senses
perceive; long-term effects
• Difficulties of integration with other paradigms
(e.g. hypermedia)
Perspectives of Cyber-VR world
• Some current approaches: Shared VR,
Networked VR
• Augmented reality paradigm
– Superimpose “simulated realities” on realities,
(ruins and reconstructions for instance)
– Not a cyberworld but an augmented real one
– Use of special glasses, cameras, …
– Non-intrusiveness as a key question
Example AR application I
Feiner (‘91), application to support a procedural
maintenance routine
Prototype apparatus
User sees the instructions
overlayed on top of the
real world
Example AR application II
• Example prototype system from Columbia University:
tourist application
Prototype tour guide
Here’s what the user sees
Ubiquitous computing
• A completely opposite paradigm to the
cyberworld: no suits, no special separation of
computers
• Computers in watches, in cars, in household
appliances (fridges, …) and more: tags, pads,
boards everywhere. They are “ubiquitous”
• Experience from history: a multiple use engine
requiring engineers for maintenance; now one (or
many) engines for each appliance.
Invisible computers and
information appliances
• The other aspect is “invisible” computers
(disappearing computers): as in the watch the
computer is not observed
• Paradigm of specific uses of computers: one (or
many) computers for a specific use, not a
computer for lots of things
• “Information appliances”, a term used by Don
Norman, as well as the invisible or disappearing
computer
Awareness for ubiquitous
computing
• (Situated) awareness is a key aspect for the
computers to be increasingly useful: where they
are, who is in the room (who is looking at them
…)
• Definition of awareness: “The ability of a device
or program to sense, react or adapt to its
environment of use.”
• Awareness – communication (a living world of
agents) A key problem; solutions (competition for
attention)?
Uses of ubiquitous computing
• Tags, Pads and Boards give idea of sizes of many
computers; they can use awareness
• Boards can show the information interesting for
the person looking at the board
• Pads can show the software being used by the
persons in the room
• Tags can carry information (persons, software, …)
• Much richer uses
Ubiquitous environment
Wearable computing
• One aspect of ubiquitous computing is an
“aware” environment
• Another aspect is wearable (aware) personal
assistants (also cyborg vision)
• Both use awareness for improving
interaction, better services, sensing, new
services
Hybrid products
• Another aspect of the future are hybrid
products, e.g. computational toys (robots
…)
• Which is the interface of such a product?
• Which is the interaction paradigm?
• Exploration with the éTui project
• Other hybrid systems: mixed realities,
humans-robots, …
éTui: introduction 1
• Computational toys (Tamagotchi, Furby, Aibo,
Lego Mindstorms, curlybot, …) are attracting
a lot of commercial and research interest.
• éTui: a prototype computational educational
toy, based on a commercial robot kit, for
children of very young age (6-10 years old)
• (introducing éTui to children)
éTui: introduction 2
• The educational goal: meta-cognition
• Interface design: appearance
• Interface design: autonomous behaviours
scaffold reflection upon learning
• Co-design with children
éTui educational goal: metacognition
• Meta-level learning means learning about learning,
reflecting about learning: our educational goal
• Meta-cognition very little explored for young children
• éTui, a wearable computational toy for reflecting upon
learning
• Constructionism is our philosophy:
“I began to see how children who had learned how to program a computer
could use very concrete computer models to think about thinking and to
learn about learning and in doing so, enhance their powers as psychologists
and as epistemologists” Seymour Papert
éTui appearance: part of the
interface 1
• Appearance is a (key) part of the interface for
computational toys
• Appliances should show their psychology
(Don Norman): e. g. handles should show
themselves as such; even how to be used
• ActiMates (Strommen et al) When the
interface is a talking dinosaur Interface for a
plush doll (a bear) related to a TV series,
connected to a VCR: speech oriented interface,
narrative, affection, …
éTui appearance 2
• éTui should to deal with
– Engagement (emotional attachment) for better
education (intelligence – emotion)
– Gender related characteristics
– Educational goals fulfilment (potential deception of
toys?)
– Translate that into shapes, colours, movement …
éTui appearance 3
• From our co-design work éTui
– A key aspect for engagement is “characterization”;
ease of identification is an added value
– Pet-like appearance appeals girls and pets attract
children generally (besides being a good model for
learning)
– Movement is an essential trait for attracting boys
– Insect-like appearance for non-deceptive behavior
(éTui is not very “intelligent” and thus it shouldn’t
look too clever)
éTui appearance 4
• Finally éTui is a moving robot with an
insect-like appearance; lights and sounds
add a communicative aspect
Co-designing with children 1
– Brainstorming with children (preferred toys,
imaginary toys, stories about them); 3
schools in Mallorca, UK, Norway
– 2D prototype designs based on children’s
ideas, tested by using colouring books:
parameters were color, texture, character,
animated or mechanical nature, and
cuddliness or scariness
– Four VRML designs (chick, mouse, car,
robot), tested
Co-designing with children 2
– 2D identikits for the physical appearance:
“bodies”, “ears”, “eyes”, “mouths” and
“noses”
– Storytelling about toys designed: toy name,
toy gender, where it lives, home, food, can
smell, can hear, can see, can recognize
you, can talk, understands, is clever, likes
to do, how plays, take to bed, type
Co-designing with children 3
• Children
– prefer round body shapes, particularly with a high
profile
– prefer face elements from known animal forms
– identify strange creatures as destructive or scary
– prefer soft rather than rigid surfaces
– associate sense organs to creature perception
with that sense
– (Insect-like antennae rather than eyes as éTui
cannot see)
éTui autonomous behaviours
scaffolding meta-cognition
• Autonomous behaviours stimulate children to
reflect upon learning as modified behaviours in
a changing environment
• With éTui we explore the advantages of
autonomous behaviours for scaffolded
reflection upon learning
• Wandering insect, Towards beacons, Learn
tracks, Learn tunes, Play tunes, Follow line
Interaction with éTui, awareness
limitations
• Children interact physically and directly with
éTui
• Create mazes, blocking éTui, following
(inpersonating) éTui, …
• It is a “hybrid” world
• éTui is not “aware”. It should “know” at least
that it is being held: it lacks credibility, big
problem.
éTui should help reflecting about
perception, autonomy, learning…
• Experimental work with children: pedagogical
Units of Practice
• éTui wandering for reflection on perception
• éTui in a maze for reflection on autonomy
• éTui learning a path for reflection on learning
Summarizing (partly) éTui
• Review of éTui experience as a model of
new systems
• Hybrid product in hybrid world
• New type of interface, new type of
interaction
• New types of problems in a disappearing
computer age
Some references
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Frei P, Su V, Mikhak B, Ishii H: Designing a New Class of Computational Toys,
Proceedings CHI’2000, 129 – 136, ACM Press, 2000
Ishii H, Ulllmer B: Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits,
and Atoms. Proceedings CHI’97, 234 – 241, ACM Press, 1997.
Fujita M, Kitano H, Doi, T T: Robot Entertainment, in Robots for Kids, (Druin A and
Hendler J Eds), 37-70, Morgan Kaufmann, Academic Press, San Diego, 2000.
Resnick M, Martin F, Berg R, Borovoy R, Colella V, Kramer K, Silverman B: Digital
manipulatives: new toys to think with, Proceedings CHI’98, 281 - 287, ACM Press,
1998
Strommen E, Alexander K: Emotional Interfaces for Interactive Aardvarks: Designing
Affect into Social Interfaces for Children, Proceedings CHI’99, 528 – 535, ACM Press,
1999.
Strommen E: When the interface is a talking dinosaur: learning across media with
ActiMates Barney, Proceedings CHI’98, 288 - 295, ACM Press,1998
Norman D A: The Psychology of Everyday Things, Basic Books, New York, 1988.
Norman D A: The Invisible Computer (Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal
Computer Is So Complex and Information Appliances Are the Solution), The MIT Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998.