Designing physical interactions

Last week's class activity challenged us to think of 5 new, physical interactions that would change the way we do certain technological tasks.

E-mail

 (i) When selecting contacts, use a rolodex to be able to scroll through the address book.

 (ii) Adding an attachment by clicking a paperclip.

 (iii) Sending an email by flying a paper plane across the room.

 (iv) Stand up and jump on a pressure pad to send email.

 (v) Hit an arcade strength bar to send outgoing mails.

Twitter

 (i) Post a Tweet by flapping arms

 (ii) Whistle to post a tweet

 (iii) When using a hashtag, the user must press a button and say "hashtag" and then type in the word.

 (iv) When the user is typing a message on mobile, they can shake their phone and the last word they typed will become a hashtag term.

 (v) The user has a Twitter bird toy that must be squeezed to send a tweet they are typing.

Super Mario

 (i) Incorporate exercise - interact with wii, jump to get Mario to jump, run in place to get him to run, lift arms to change direction, etc.

 (ii) Jump on trampoline to get Mario to jump.

 (iii) Boxing gloves and padded controls.

Prototyping Feedback

In designing my prototypes for TwisterXO, I set out to find out which size mat to use. I got feedback from 10 people during the contact session and 2 more outside of the course.

I developed 3 different versions –

• a 3x3 grid

• 3 in a row on a 4x4 grid

• 4 in a row on a 4x4 grid

For each testing session there were two testers. They played two of the games in a randomly selected order.

To gain quantitative data, I timed the duration of each game.
On average, the 4 - 4x4 game took the longest to complete, taking up to 2 minutes, while the small, 3x3 grid took under 1 minute.

After the games, each user was asked to fill out a questionnaire.

Summary of findings:

• The 4x4 with 3 in a row game was the favourite with all of the testers choosing it as their preferred game.
• Adding body parts like the original Twister game: 60% said no.
• The majority of players said that the games were of average challenge
•  The 4/5 testers who played the 4 – 4x4 game rated it as 1 point higher on the challenge scale than the other version they played.
• The 3 – 4x4 game got a the highest number of scores for replayability, with 50% saying it was very playable and 25% saying it held an average level of replayability. It was also rated more replayable than both the other versions by 1 point in most comparisons.
• The 3 – 4x4 was rated more rewarding than the others.

When asked if the tester would fix anything, most said that the spinning arrow should be easier to click.

Other feedback included finding a way to make the game more skilful, Having multiple players rather than just 2, and Asking about playing with your body, so only having 4 markers to place.

Further development based on the findings:

• Multiple players
• Only 4 moves – include the option to lift one body part if all 4 are placed on the grid.
• Possibly adding an element of skill to counteract the random element.

The 3 - 4x4 grid will be further developed based on the findings.

Play it here

Instructions:

1. press the arrow to spin

2. choose your twister spot

3. next player repeat steps 1-2

Get 3 in a row to win

TwisterXO - AS3 planning

I feel grateful that I have done a lot of coding, but I am still learning AS3 so it is quite slow. The bounce tutorial was particularly helpful in getting the feel for the syntax.

I have started planning my prototype and I am not sure how adept I will be at AS3 within a week, so I will aim at getting the noughts and crosses interface done if I don't have time to figure out the Twister player options (left hand, right hand, foot).

In terms of classes, I would probably need a main, a Twister tile, a player and a spinner class, as outlined in the CRC cards below.