Inspiration Tray

I thought it might be a good idea to have an external area where we can store images that we fine 'inspirational' or simply images that we don't want to post about, but think are useful. I set up an account for the group on photobucket.com. I'll e-mail everyone's university account with the login details, then feel free to upload any images you think are relevant. There is a link to the photobucket on the sidebar under Inspiration Tray.

I've also set up the slideshow on the sidebar using slide.com. You can directly upload images to it using photobucket.com. It is possible to set up individual accounts using the same slide area, but it is tricky. If you wish to do anything to the slide, either log in using my username: ug63eeh@cs.bham with the same password for the photobucket.com or contact me and I'll tell you how to create your own username within the same setup.

I hope you like the slideshow, as it will act as a way to focus your attention whilst thinking and editing posts etc. Let me know what your opinion of it is.

Prototype: Plasticine Model

I thought it might be a good idea to make a plasticine version of the device, so we can consider shape and size easier. It's turned out quite well, and I've just finished freezing it to give it some durability.

The photos below show the results:




Shot showing the laser point at the end of the device, placed in the centre instead of the corner, which means that left handed people can use it by just flipping the device over - but this will require the screen to have a flipping ability.



Birdseye view of the device, the white shows the position of the screen. The big red button is the scan button and the green represents a scroll wheel to scroll through options on the screen.



The rear of the device showing the USB connector. There should also be a headphone socket, but I neglected to put a second hole on the base as it may have affected the durability of the model

Case: Personality Quiz Device

While I was at Toys R Us getting the plasticine for the model, I came across a pocket device aimed at girls 8+ years old that is similar to our Word Scanner. It doesn't scan words or anything like that, but it has a USB connection and makes use of a touch screen interface (using a stylus). The device is advertised as a Personality Quiz and has games and other features such as horoscopes and birthstone information.

I was tempted to buy one... so that we could look at the design of the screen and get a general idea of a product that already exists, but it was £14.99 and I'm not a girl... There are quite a few on eBay, and they usually give decent details about what it can do.

I found some images to show what I found:



More can be found out about the device at the Destiny website. On there the device can download new quizs and other functions.

The images are from an eBay seller and as the links may break to the eBay image, I made a copy and put them in the photobucket (inspiration tray).

Prototype: Word Scanning Device

Here's a mock-up of the main features of the device. It is based on the rough sketch that was done on the board and can be seen in a previous post.


This screen shot shows how the device would look if the word "Algorithm" was scanned in by the user. It gives a brief dictionary definition, and provides the first of the remaining options (Thesaurus and Read Out).


The third screen shot shows how the device would look if the word "Algorithm" was scanned, and the Thesaurus option was chosen. It gives 2 alternatives to the word, and again, provides the first option of the remaining ones.
Other options are scrolled through using the green scroll button.


The device is designed to be easy to use with obvious buttons and colours for different functions, while not being too "immature", as even at a young age, children are very conscious of their tastes in fashion and style.

Prototype: Possible Name of Device

A possible name for the word scanning device that has been thought up by the group is " The Word Scanner - making reading easy" This name was decided upon as it was simple to read matching the phase that followed the name and the purpose of the device.

Prototype: Mind maps, Initial design

Here are the pictures that I took of the work we did in meeting 7 on the whiteboards. These pictures show our initial work on the word scanner prototype, which we plan to continue on in later meetings.

The first 2 pictures show mind maps of the word scanner idea, gathering our preliminary thoughts on the features of the device.







The third picture shows our initial drawing of the word scanner prototype taking into account everything we had discussed.

Prototype: Key Decisions

At our meeting we brainstormed our main ideas regarding the initial prototype of the word scanner. Below is a list of them and the motivations and reasons behind them.

Physical:
We decided that the device would try and use bright colours in a tasteful way, so that it is fun and aesthetically pleasing to children. However, the colour isn't overly important, as the nature of the device doesn't require it, and it is important that taste is taken into account. The colours the group decided were probably the best were Red, Green and Blue (the dark varieties).

The device needs to be light weight so children can hold it easily. If it's too heavy it could also pose a saftey concern as it could cause a repetitive strain injury. As well as the weight potentially causing injury, the device will need to be as round as possible so that the child doesn't stab themselves or others with it.

Device needs to be durable so it doesn't get damaged. The group decided that a thick rubbery material would be best to protect the inside of the device.

The controls need to be big and easy to use, as children will struggle with small buttons and a too intricate design. The photo of a design on the whiteboard shows this in more detail.

Device needs to be pocket sized, so that a child can keep it with them during school time and whilst at home.


Power:
The device won't take much power to run and so it is not too much to expect the device to run for a combined amount of running time of around 6-12 hours. The device will also need to turn itself off automatically as children will forget to do this.

The device will recharge via its USB connection and through a standard plug like a mobile phone (using the USB connection).


USB:
Use for recharging and for connecting to the PC. Connecting it to a PC with an Internet connection will update the software on the scanner, meaning that we can constantly update things like the Dictionary definitions and Thesaurus entries.

Parents and teachers will have the ability to see what sorts of words and levels of words that the child is scanning, through software available on the computer that uses the USB connection.


Sound:
The device will need sound to read the word and make other general noises, to be considered further.

Admin: Meeting 8

The eighth meeting is scheduled for Thursday 1st March for 2 hours from 2-4pm (just before C++).

In this meeting we will work out the last few issues with the device and then start testing it. To start testing it we will need to consider another questionnaire for our personas to answer, we should aim to get this done in this meeting.

We also need to discuss the time of the next meeting, as Adele cannot make the Monday meeting due to other commitments.

Admin: Meeting 7 Summary

Attendants:

Ashley Harris
Elliot Hyde
Mark Mitchell
John Saunt

Apologies:
Adele Tyler - Still has a damaged foot.

In today's meeting we started planning out the prototype of the word scanner. We used white boards and board markers to put all of our ideas on, covering all the aspects of the word scanner design we could think of.

We made some initial drawings of the prototype incorporating these features, which we hope to continue in the next meeting.

The pictures taken of our work will be available in a later post.