Discontinued Ideas: Sports Training Tool

After the first supervisor meeting, we had decided that we should eliminate one of the final two ideas before we move on to the next development stage. To do this we decided that we would use preliminary questionnaires, draft use cases/scenarios, our personas and general discussion to weed out the weakest link.

With the questionnaires constructed for each remaining final idea, each team member answered the questionnaire under the guise of our personas. The results were then combined and posted (see below). The sports training tool didn't fair very well. Critically only one persona had ever used a Nintendo Wii and one persona didn't even know what one was. The critical questions about the ease of use of the Wii control system were therefore unanswered in most cases. This is obviously due to the fact that the UK is suffering from a Wii shortage and although many people want a Nintendo Wii, they are simply unable to buy one. This left a lot of the analysis of the results in tatters. The second problem for the sports training tool is that the tool was going to help children build up confidence by improving skill levels, thus helping them get more fit and healthy by wanting to take part in exercise more, but only one persona really suffered from any real confidence problems. Children, whilst in a P.E. lesson, rarely take much notice of mistakes during sport because the class as a whole have a very low skill level. Furthermore the amount of exercise our personas currently do, would suggest that there would be very little gain from a computer helping them become more skillful because few have a real interest in sports that the sports tool could be used for.

Deciding on the use cases and the scenarios for the sports tool made us realise that it was quite a one dimensional idea. Our main ideas centred around a class using the apparatus to train on certain skills in different sports. The group questioned whether the system would even be beneficial to school children, as many are not aiming to develop such a skill level. We then discussed how this tool may be used at a training academy. However, this is where the idea starts to appear extremely weak. At a sports training academy there are already methods and experienced teachers to give the students one-to-one training. There would be very little benefit.

Finally our discussions brought us to the feasibility of designing the tool. We would have to decide on the design of the hardware, the computer system that gives the child feedback, the training programmes and all the interfaces. On top of that, if the tool was used at a school, it would take up a substantial space, which many schools would be unable to cater for.

This has lead us to our decision to abandon the Sports Training Tool from this point forward.

Use Cases: Word Scanner

After discussing what needed to be put in a use case, we took the draft uses cases for the word scanner and formerly defined them. The following use cases are based upon the key functionality of the word scanner.

Each picture is a separate use case, following the same format.

Use Case: Scan Word


Use Case: Child Dictionary


Use Case: Thesaurus

Admin: Meeting 7

The seventh meeting is scheduled for Monday 26th February at 4-5pm (just before HCI).

At this meeting we need to start developing the prototype for the word scanner. Could everyone start considering any details they think will be important during the design of the word scanner and note them down for the meeting.

We will also discuss the time of our next meeting, I will attempt to contact Russell to see if he will schedule us for another supervisor meeting on Wednesday, but as far as we know, one is not schedule for us at the moment.

Admin: Meeting 6 Summary

Attendants:

Ashley Harris
Elliot Hyde
Mark Mitchell
John Saunt

Apologies:
Adele Tyler - Damaged her foot and could not make it into university.

In today’s meeting we discussed responses that our personas would have to the questionnaires/interviews for both the word scanner and the sports training tool final ideas.

From these responses, the use cases and all the research that has been conducted on the 2 proposals, we have decided to drop the sports training tool and develop the concept of the word scanner. Now a final project idea has been chosen, further research and plans can be focused towards the word scanner and development of prototypes can now begin.

Questionnaire: Sports Training Tool Responses

Paul Anderson
Tracy Burke
Freddie Ford
Joe Jackson
Kate Patterson

1. Boy or Girl?

Boy
Girl
Boy
Boy
Girl



2. What is your age?

9
9
10
8
10



3. How often do you exercise or play?

I don't exercise much. I play computer games 2-3 times a week. I don't play outdoors much and I don't play a lot of sport at school either.
I have 2 P.E. lessons a week (45 minutes each), I also have swimming lessons once a week. I play games like Rounders at the Girl Guides every Wednesday and I play tennis with my family sometimes.
All the time, I love playing!
I ride my bike at the weekend and have a swimming lesson once a week. I play everyday at school during break times.
Fairly regular 'low strenuous' exercise such as walking.


4. What sports do you play?

At school I play (in my P.E. lessons) Football, Tennis and Rounders, but I don't do any outside of school.
Tennis, Rounder/Baseball, Swimming, Hockey and Netball.
I like playing Football and Swimming.
Rounders, Football and Swimming.
Football, but she doesn't play it in the same way normal children do.



5. What sports would you like to learn how to play?

Motor racing, Swimming and Shot put.
Football and Gymnastics.
I like watching Tennis, I would like to learn to play it, but I'll always prefer Football.
Basketball and Tennis, I can't hit the ball properly.
I like to try anything. She has obvious limitations.



6. Are you a member of a sports club or do you have sport lessons outside of school?

No.
Swimming lessons.
I am a member of a a Football Club.
Swimming lessons.
No.



7. Do you sometimes feel silly during P.E. when you make a mistake whilst playing a sport?

Yes, everyone laughs at me.
Yes, but I usually laugh about it.
Yes, as I try to be the best.
Sometimes, if I fall over or if I don't understand what the teacher means.
No because she is an upbeat person.



8. When you feel silly, does this make you want to stop playing?

Yes.
No.
No, I just try harder.
Not really, only if people laugh at me.
No.



9. Do you know what a Nintendo Wii is?

Yes, I really want one, but I couldn't get one for Christmas.
Yes, I've seen the advertisements.
No, he's not interested in computer stuff.
Yes, I got one for Christmas!
Yes, but can't play one due to her disability.



10. Have you ever played on a Nintendo Wii?

No.
No.
NA
I usually play it after school, I have Sonic and a racing game.
NA



11. Did you find it difficult to use the controller in this new way?

NA
NA
NA
No it's better than other controllers beacause it's like the real thing. When playing the driving game I use it like a steering wheel. My dad finds it strange to use as he is used to the only controllers.
NA



12. Did you enjoy using the controller?

NA
NA
NA
I've asked my parents for Wii Sports and you can get a special controller for it too. I really like using them.
NA



13. Do you think the Nintendo Wii should be used to help teach sports, like Tennis and Rounders, in P.E.?

It would be more fun.
It might be fun to play on.
NA
It would be fun to play computer games at school! Also my mom wouldn't moan about me jumping around.
No, I wouldn't be able to take part as much.

NB: The questionnaire has been engineered with the concept of having an adult talking through the questionnaire with the child, not for the questionnaire to be distributed amongst lots of children. The answers would also be filled in by the adult, and questions that have multiple possibilities or questions with a 'ranged' answer would all be dealt with by the adult, not the child. For example, Did you find it difficult to use...? is a ranged question and the adult would attempt to quantify the child's response accordingly.

Questionnaire: Word Scanner Responses

Paul Anderson.
Tracy Burke.
Freddie Ford.
Joe Jackson
Kate Patterson.

1. Boy or Girl?

Boy
Girl
Boy
Boy
Girl



2. What is your age?

9
9
10
8
10



3. Was English the first language you were taught?

No Italian is my first language, English is my second.
Yes it is.
Yes.
Yes, it's the only language I know.
Yes.

4. Would you say you were good at reading?

Yes.
I'm ok at reading, I struggle with big words.
Not Really.
I'm okay, I perfer books with lots of pictures though!
Average.



5. How often do you read?

Most days in English at school, once or twice a week outside school.
I read in my lessons. I read 3 times a week at home, because the school says so.
Only at school.
Everyday at school we have reading time when we take it in turns to read part of the class book out loud. I also like to read before I go to sleep.
Every evening - fiction - Famous Five, Tracy Beaker.



6. Is this because you find reading difficult?

No, not very interested.
NA
I find it difficult to read and struggle with larger words.
NA
NA



7. When you get to a word you cannot read, who do you ask?

Try to read around it and ignore it. Parents usually busy.
My mom or my teacher.
My friends and if they don't know I would ask the teacher.
If I'm at school I sometimes ask the teacher, but sometimes I don't because I feel silly if the word is only a small one. When I'm at home I ask my Mum and Dad.
Parents.



8. When you don't have anyone to ask, what do you do?

Try and read around it.
I would skip the word, but sometimes I don't understand what I'm reading because I skipped it.
I would just skip the word and try to make sense of the sentence without it.
Just leave the word out.
Skip the word and hope I can work it out from the sentence.



9. Would you read more often if someone was always able to help you with the big words?

   Maybe.
   Yes, I like reading with my mom, but she is sometimes busy at work.
   Yes as I would feel more confident about it.
   If I never felt silly asking them then yes! It would be great because I could read some of the grown up books!
   Probably not because I read often anyway.

NB: The questionnaire has been engineered with the concept of having an adult talking through the questionnaire with the child, not for the questionnaire to be distributed amongst lots of children. The answers would also be filled in by the adult, and questions that have multiple possibilities or questions with a 'ranged' answer would all be dealt with by the adult, not the child. For example, How often do you read? is a ranged question and the adult would attempt to quantify the child's response accordingly.

Use Scenario: Word Scanner

Main Functionality:

• Scan text from any printed source ranging from books, magazines, documents and newspapers as well as handwriting and read out the word that has been scanned. It should also read a word phonetically if scanned slowly.

Use Scenarios:

• A child can use the scanner on their own to help them read words that they are having difficulties with. If they are still having difficulties in seeing how the word is made up, they could parse the word scanner over the word slowly to hear how the word is made up phonetically. All the words the child had difficulties with can be stored in the word scanning device and could be interfaced with a computer at a later stage to see what the child is struggling with.

• A child can use the scanner with a parent who has reading difficulties. In this situation if the parent was helping a child to read a text source or is reading a story to the child they can also use the word scanning device on words that they might be struggling with themselves or to see if they are in fact pronouncing a word correctly.

• An adult in teaching a child to read could also use this device as an aid. It could be utilized when trying to explain to a child that words can be split up phonetically. The device could be scanned across any given word slowly for this purpose and it would automatically split the word up and say it phonetically.

• The word scanner could also be used by a child who is having difficulties reading a particular handwriting source as the scanner should be able to use handwriting recognition when scanned across a word and read out the word in the same way as printed text.

Case: Wii Safety Concerns

A big concern with the Sports Training Tool has occurred to me after reading about the Wii Safety Concerns that are being reported with alarming regularity.

The website Wii Have a Problem outlines some of the cases of injury being suffered whilst playing the Wii. The main problem is that, with most computer games, the players can easily lose themselves in it and then forget the dimensions of the area they are playing in. One such person punched the ceiling when celebrating an excellent golf game. Although these kinds of accidents can happen with any console/controller others are more Wii specific. Another example on the website shows images of a person's girlfriend who was smacked in the face by the Wii controller while the boyfriend was playing Wii Tennis. Other accidents include the Wii controller flying out of ther person's hand and doing damage such as broken windows and televisions.

These are some serious concerns that we need to consider when deciding on our final project idea. Playing sports at school always has an element of risk, but we shouldn't develop a tool to increase this risk.

Case: Wii Burns Calories

In relation to the sports training tool idea, I have found an article on the BBC news website describing how the Wii can help burn up calories as a result of its use.


Picture is from here

A study at John Moores University in Liverpool have indicated that regular usage of the Wii gaming console can help a person to loose 27lb a year. The purpose of the study was to indicate if computer gaming on the Wii console could be included as a factor in daily activity recommendations for a child. The study indicated that the Wii’s style of gaming required more activity than standard gaming on other consoles.

This article reinforces our idea in the creation of a training tool for children. Not only would such a device help give one-to-one tuition giving feedback from a child’s activity on the machine. It could also aid in the child’s fitness by raising activity levels.

For more information the article can be found here

Elliot also found information on the same subject here