Week 2:

READING: Out of all the readings so far, there are three concepts that stuck hard:

_1 Designers should consider how a device affects both the locus and periphery of the user's attention. Good design will tie both factors into the core functionality of the device. Great design will enable the device to intuitively move between locus and periphery, enabling 'calm' interaction.

_2 This field is still in its emergent stages, and so its especially important to employ tested techniques for measuring the true nature of a device. Industrial design offers such tools through prototyping stages as well as usability testing and observation techniques.

_3 The average westerner uses 40 embedded computers every day; The alarm clock, microwave, fax machine, cell phone, elevator, LCD screen etc. At which point do we stop categorizing a computational device as a 'computer'? Perhaps when a computer is designated (confined?) to compute towards a singular functionality (or closely related functionalities). Perhaps when the interface includes a form that relate to its functionality (such as the paper-tray in the fax machine). I'm sure that the two aspects mentioned above (_1 and _2) strongly relate to this.


XPORT: I got the XPort circuit up and running with my home-network. Here are some pointers to remember:

- My router uses DHCP, so I wanted to use a dynamic IP for the xport rather than hardcoding it (which would be an advantage if i try to plug this into 99% of other home networks).

I used this java server/client by tom in order to recognize the IP of the xport. The only change i've made to his code is commenting out the first 'package' command, and the rest worked like a charm. On the xport side, i've entered these settings:

Eventually Ill have the XPort automatically send its IP to an email address, or just post it on some site on the net. Until then, this will have to do.

Other things i would want to remember:
- The 7805 on the breadboard will get hot. get a heat sink
- Use command prompt,   telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 9999  (x's are IP)  to set up the XPort, instead of using the HyperTerm restart XPORT+hold x key scheme.
- Once hooked up, the xport setup java app could be accessed from IE, but for some reason not Firefox. ( http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx ).

Here are the urls that i used:
- Tom's xport site
- Lantronix manuals
- Tom's simple TCPIP server

URL's for moving forward:
- Uploading custom applets to XPort
- More code examples for XPort/Java

Week 3:

READING: The Physical Surrogates idea - I can't figure out why for the love of god would i want to use one of these things. With that said, I liked the image-blurring technique that was implemented; showing space in a blurred/pixelated manner so you could detect motion but not details. The level of visual obstruction can be modified depending on the relationship between the two sides.

Regarding 'smart home' appliances: They promote an unhealthy lifestyle that revolves around the words 'speed' and 'remote', and not 'comfort' as the geeks and salesmen of these products want you to believe. The potential users of these technologies may want these devices but certainly don't need them. What these people really need is to change their (probably american) work-centric lifestyles. As these devices are aimed towards mid-hi income individuals, I think its safe to say that they can all 'afford' not using any of these 'time-saving -- remote-enabling' devices and instead get to know their kids face to face. For example - Instead of trying to remotely cook and monitor the kids through some radio gizmo, how about inviting the kid to the kitchen and prepare dinner together. Wouldn't that really result in a smarter home?

Week 4:

PAIRS ASSIGNMENT: In my mind this assignment is about establishing a truly functional protocol between two decentralized nodes in a system. As I found out, this becomes a difficult task if one wishes to achieve professional grade functionality and user interface design. Doria and I decided to build a simon-says game. The system will have 3 led's and 3 corresponding buttons. First player will hit one button start of the game. The corresponding light will turn on the second user's console. The second user will have to match that LED with a corresponding button press, and then add a new one to the sequence. In return, the first users get's a sequence of two strokes which she has to mirror, then adding the third one.. etc. etc.
Furthermore, 3 additional LED's will be used to show the score. Each player gets 3 points (3 lit LED's). Upon loosing a round, one light turns off. When all 3 LED's are off, the player looses the game.
Finally , a status LED will let each user know weather its their turn to send a sequence. This LED will turn on after the opponents sequence has fully played through, and will turn off when the appropriate number of stokes has been entered by the users.
Other small details which turned out to be more important then any of the above:
- Signals that depict a losing/winning rounds. Best solution is to implement sounds that correspond to winning/losing situations. Moving down on a minor/chroma scale is associated with losing. Fast-paced ascending notes on a major scale is associated with winning.
- Hand shaking: While the game worked well with both of us in the same room, i can see many problems occurring with a truly remote networked environment. Maybe tom should have mode us demonstrate the projects with one of us in a separate room.


FRAMEWORK -> PROCESSING+TCPIP SERVER:
http://www.pitaru.com/itp/netobjects/download/TcpServer_ITP/

Developing this assignment required to run the same code on both xport circuits. That made the debugging procedure a bitch, so i divided to implement tom's tcip-ip server in processing. This allows me to test one-xport circuit against a processing interface that is easily modified. I think this code may help other's as well during production.

Week 5:

MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT: Nurit and I had a TV respond to a chat taking place on the server, by dynamically changing its content to fit the general vibe of the chat. The premise is that many people leave the TV open as ambiance while chatting online (which is true for most people i know). Why not have the TV adopt itself to the vibe in the room? Why not?

Language analysis can be tricky as the same word can be used in different contexts: 'i'm so happy we're together' vs. 'i'll never be happy with you' . This could be done by using context dictionaries, some of which are available online. Interestingly enough, Chat lingo [use of emoticons and abbreviations] provides us with some pretty precise indications of the general vibe in the chat room. By analyzing these signals, we make the TV change its content: Comedy central when the mood is cheerful, Playboy for sex-chats etc.

For the presentation, we used canned material from famous movies rather than switch channels. The engine was continually scanning for a combination of the current vibe, in context of the previous vibe. for example - a sad conversation may have turned violent, so we search for sad-violent content. Or - a happy conversation has turned sad, so we look for a heartwarming comedy etc.

More on this soon..