Taking the concept into the real world

I think it would be useful to visit real-world sites and spend some time in them to allow me to see how the concept could be applied to them. Something that i noticed in my user test was that users found it difficult to imagine themselves in different situations and imagine how the concept could be applied to them. Especially once a prototype has been introduced. It may be more useful to introduce more than one type of paper prototype to the scenario to show the variety of uses and encourage 'thinking outside of the box'. It may be useful to even use props from different scenarios i.e. to help them imagine that they are at a coffee shop we could bring in a cup of coffee or even play coffee shop background noise to enhance the feeling of a different scenario.

Possible sites

• Office
• Restaurant
• School

In my tutorial i was asked to sketch out how the concept would be used in different contexts, and i think that visiting places and doing participant observation rather than just making assumptions about it would be most effective and realistic.

It may also be useful to talk to users in these situations and get their feedback without an actual prototype, just an explanation of the concept. This may encourage them to explore other ideas.

Alongside this work I will develop a basic working xBee prototype to test the technology and once it is working it will be fairly simple to add things to it.

Exploring Early Concepts

1. Exploring tangible interfaces lead to the development of the 'touch cube' concept. The idea is that a user can literally 'touch' a memory, and that you can 'spark' its existence by interacting with a box. It is a subversion of the concept that memories are 'sparked' by objects. The object itself stores various memories. Below is a youtube visualisation of the concept. It was made using stock images from the internet.



2. The concept of being able to create a physical representation of a tangible memory as well as the use of objects to create and reinterpret memories (type 2 and type 4). It is titled 'I'm missing you' and it connects two people together. Person 1 misses person 2, so touches their device and it sends a notication to person 2's device which lights up.

It could also be implemented as a wearable interface.

Below is a storyboarded scenario for the concept.

3. 'I'm sorry i missed you' - identifying where users journeys meet up and allowing them to use this information to plan meetings.

4. 'Music Dating'

a. musically talented users create their own pieces of music to go alongside their dating profiles OR users have their own music created based on physiological input i.e. heartbeat. These are broadcast among other users and it interacts with other users personal music. The idea is that if peoples music sounds good then they will be good together. A downside is that it could be gimmicky and irritating.

b. Emotional dating. Heart rate monitors give users true feelings away. Problems: users may dislike such honesty, and heart rate does not necessarily indicate attraction.