As we have discussed in lecture today, about what could be the difference between Faceted Exploratory Search and Faceted Metadata Search, we did some research on this.
For Faceted Exploratory Search, in a paper by Markus Ueberall, it is implied that Faceted exploratory search is a combination of faceted method of tagging and classification with exploratory method of dynamically providing different user with different set of data. Hence, the result is that the user query will be an individualized result, that is classified into facets with tags and classifications for easy browsing.
This is usually done for cases where the results returned from exploratory search could be large, and the faceted method is hence used as a complementing feature to allow the user to arrive at their target even more efficiently.
Friday 30 September 2011
Friday 9 September 2011
Project update!!
We have decided for our project that we will be doing a marathon planner. Why? Because it seems like a pain in the a** to actually plan a marathon. I think it would be great if marathon planners found this wonderful to use, and then all of a sudden 10 times more marathons appear all over the world. Right.
Well, the main reasons actually are:
1. There are no existing products that fulfil this role on the market currently.
2. There is an increasing popularity with healthy lifestyle and could mean an increase in demand for such events.
Affectionately called the Plan-a-Thon, the application will be web-based, created in Flash. It will help automate some processes while giving a clear list of things for the planner to do.
Some sample drawings are included below. Please pardon the lousy art.
The finalists are the 1st and 2nd sketch. We are kind of deciding on which one to choose.
The 2nd one makes the process more procedural, where the user follows a fixed procedure to plan for the marathon, like making payments online, this will probably be easier for people new to planning marathons.
The 1st option is more functional based, where each icon consists of a collection of function that would be needed in planning a marathon, this would probably be a lot easier for more experienced planners. There is a to-do list for the 1st sketch to help the new planners as well.
We are probably leaning towards the 1st sketch, but we will get in some survey data on our user base before we decide.
Well, the main reasons actually are:
1. There are no existing products that fulfil this role on the market currently.
2. There is an increasing popularity with healthy lifestyle and could mean an increase in demand for such events.
Affectionately called the Plan-a-Thon, the application will be web-based, created in Flash. It will help automate some processes while giving a clear list of things for the planner to do.
Some sample drawings are included below. Please pardon the lousy art.
The finalists are the 1st and 2nd sketch. We are kind of deciding on which one to choose.
The 2nd one makes the process more procedural, where the user follows a fixed procedure to plan for the marathon, like making payments online, this will probably be easier for people new to planning marathons.
The 1st option is more functional based, where each icon consists of a collection of function that would be needed in planning a marathon, this would probably be a lot easier for more experienced planners. There is a to-do list for the 1st sketch to help the new planners as well.
We are probably leaning towards the 1st sketch, but we will get in some survey data on our user base before we decide.
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Heuristics to review a device? What about Activity Theory?
According to activity theory, humans are driven by goals to perform required actions. Being information processing entities, they are able to ascertain a set of goals which become needs, and thus lead to humans having attraction towards certain objects. Activity theory offers a set of perspectives on human activity and a set of concepts for describing that activity. The main aim of activity theory is to understand the reasons behind an action, and describes these reasons, rather than predict them. (http://www.ics.uci.edu/~corps/phaseii/nardi-ch1.pdf)
A method using activity theory to provide expert reviews for human-computer interactive devices has been created, which is called the Activity Walkthrough. The tasks to be done are first identified. The activities of the users are then oriented to the tasks the system can perform. The tasks the system can perform are verified to see their usefulness. Next, each task is broken down into specific low-level steps. The tasks are then carried out unless they are irrelevant. Finally, the data is gathered and reviewed critically. More on this method can be found in this literature review: http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1030000/1028052/p251-bertelsen.pdf?ip=137.132.250.14&CFID=41023923&CFTOKEN=63499383&__acm__=1315374265_ec50c1ecb079abe586c7aa8145a25edb
A method using activity theory to provide expert reviews for human-computer interactive devices has been created, which is called the Activity Walkthrough. The tasks to be done are first identified. The activities of the users are then oriented to the tasks the system can perform. The tasks the system can perform are verified to see their usefulness. Next, each task is broken down into specific low-level steps. The tasks are then carried out unless they are irrelevant. Finally, the data is gathered and reviewed critically. More on this method can be found in this literature review: http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1030000/1028052/p251-bertelsen.pdf?ip=137.132.250.14&CFID=41023923&CFTOKEN=63499383&__acm__=1315374265_ec50c1ecb079abe586c7aa8145a25edb
Saturday 3 September 2011
The Future of HCI: What will the world look like in 2020?
What will Human Computer Interaction look like in the year 2020? This is an important question because it is highly likely that in a decade, computers will have become so pervasive that, how we interact with them will become a crucial issue for society.
In this post, we will give a brief overview of what could possibly be the next big shift in the field of HCI. This is of value to a general reader because knowledge of what the future may hold could be empowering. For the HCI practitioner it could provide an insight into possible new approaches which can achieve the following bottomline: how to embody human values at the heart of computing.
Four Computer Eras
(This is a comprehensive site for people to find out more about the future of HCI. In March 2007, Microsoft Research organised the ‘HCI 2020’ conference and came up with the following report which envisioned HCI in the year 2020: Being Human Report )
Possible New Paradigms
The TED videos below show what may be the next shift in human-computer interaction.
1. The g-speak Platform
TED link
2. Sixth Sense
The TED videos below show what may be the next shift in human-computer interaction.
1. The g-speak Platform
In this TED talk Oblong Chief Scientist John Underkoffler
displays g-speak SOE(spatial operating environment). Computers don’t understand real world geometry or real world space and the video explains what happens when you start expalining space to computers. Underkoffler believes that in five years or so all computers will have this technology.
TED link
2. Sixth Sense
This technology was developed by Pranav Mistry at MIT Media labs and is still at the early stage of development. Pattie Maes hints during the demo that this project was inspired by the movie “Minority Report.
3. Photosynth
In the first part of the video Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrates “Sea Dragon” – an environment in which you can interact with a vast amount of visual data.
The second part of the video presents Photosynth – an application that can generate three-dimensional models from digital photos.
Photosynth is developed by Microsoft Live Labs and the University of Washington. You can try it out here.
'' Digital technologies will continue to proliferate, enabling ever more ways of changing how we live. But will such developments improve the quality of life, empower us, and make us feel safer, happier and more connected? Or will living with technology make it more tiresome, frustrating, angst-ridden, and security-driven? What will it mean to be human when everything we do is supported or augmented by technology? What role can researchers, designers and
computer scientists have in helping to shape the future? "
(From the Being Human Report )
computer scientists have in helping to shape the future? "
(From the Being Human Report )
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