1. I have developed a design framework for people wanting to create Location-Dependent interactive experiences, feedback received to date asks for more methods/techniques to be provided for the information gathering stages of the framework. What I would like is for someone to:

   - explore & analyse existing methods that investigate people, place & resources (probes, ethography, locales etc)

   - compare their usefulness & relevance to my framework & the style of experience it is concerned with

   - make recommendations for specific methods/techniques to be used in these aspects of the framework

   - if there aren't clearly relevant methods, make suggestions for a combination/adaptation of these for use in the framework

1. Multi-touch tables for Collaborative work in the fashion industry

   Background:

   Please refer to the technical report for the 1st user testing study that was conducted last year and which is relevant to the current project.
   Also an overview of the research which I have covered in my 2009 ozchi paper.

   
   Details:
   

   "The aim of the study is to conduct a quick user testing scenario followed by a video-stimulated recall interview and video card game exercise, to assist in validating my earlier research findings. The first objective of the study is to observe the collaboration and interaction during mutual critiques of student’s design works. The second objective of the study is to conduct video-stimulated recall interviews, consisting of a series of questions, while viewing the recorded footage of the user testing activity. The third objective of the study is to conduct a video card game exercise, which involves sorting some images cards into themes."

   The students can follow me to the TAFE and help me setup the equipment and the materials that I need to run all three parts/stages of my user testing study ( eg. help me move my multitouch boxes and set them up at the TAFE, putting video cam so I can record video footage, also help me organise video game card sessions etc). As far as student's project is concerned, they can observe the users/participants using my TVTM system during the first objective/stage of my user testing study, they can then design their own system for their project from the users interaction and also the observation.

   For the hardware part, I have 2 multi-touch boxes both on Windows XP sitting in my office; both multitouch machines can be linked and interact with each other via a LAN cable using an app together with a finger blob tracking open software called Community Core Vision. Students are welcome to come and play with the machines before I actually move to TAFE to do my user testing.

1. Google Wave:

   Google Wave (http://wave.google.com) is a Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) tool which aims to reimagine Email based on the ways it is used today. Wave provides a number of advantages over current communication tools, such as synchronous communication (using Operational Transformation), server federation, threaded discussions which adapt over time, and the ability to playback the evolution of a conversation. While Google Wave is a huge technical success, there are a number of issues with Wave which have led to its cancelation (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html). The the uptake of Wave as a communication tool was slower than expected, and this can be attributed to a number of reasons. One of the critical failures of Wave is its poorly designed user interface, which provided more a demonstration of what the technology was capable of, rather than supporting communication. The aim of this project is to examine the failures of Google Wave, and designing a new interface which allows Wave to better support communication.

2. Video Codecs

   Although video encoding software has become easier to use (Apple Compressor, Adobe Media Encoder, Handbrake), these tools are still developed for experts who want to streamline their process. Users who collate media and transcode it for specific devices are still required to understand the process of encoding to be able to effectively utilise this software. The aim of this project is to examine the design of an interface which abstracts video encoding in a way that provides optimal options for non-technical users. The primary context of this project is for the Digital Video Production course (MMDS2201), which requires students to develop a video over the course of the semester. The final deliverable for this course is two DVDs, one that is based on DVD video, and another which consists of encoded video files (primarily h264 or mpg4). The teaching staff for the course are then required to create a showreel of the work (aggregated playlist of the videos in sequence) which is then used for promotional events (such as Innovation Expo and UQ Open Day). Currently this process requires a large amount of manual intervention, due to students using a variety of codecs and file formats to generate their final video files, and requiring overlays for student details over each video. The aim of this application interface would be to allow the selection of a large number of videos (potentially of different codecs), and be able to arrange them in custom order. Annotations/overlays of student information would be able to attached to each video. The application would then provide a list of output formats, based on device (rather than codec), and provide a visualisation of what is and is not supported by the chosen format.

3. Adaptive User Interfaces (quite advanced)

   Recently there has been interest in the potential of biometric interfaces for enhancing the user experience within gaming environments (http://tinyurl.com/3xyvf2m, Nintendo Vitality Sensor). These two-way methods of interaction allow the gaming environment to present a theme or event, and then gauge how the user reacts to this. This allows the game to better understand the individual user, and adaptively change the environment on the fly to create a better user experience. While this has immediate, visible benefits within gaming environments, there is little work still on how graphical user interfaces within productivity applications can take advantage of this.

   The aim of this project is to conduct design research to investigate how adaptive interfaces work, and how they can be assisted by biometric feedback from the user. This project is not focused on biometric technology as such, but rather how interfaces can change on the fly, without creating issues with regards to understandability, reliability and predictability. Firstly, think aloud, unfocus groups and participatory design methods of design would be potentially useful methods to test and analyse how these methods of adaptive design work, and secondly to determine whether biometric data has enough qualitative information to determine whether these processes can be dynamically conducted through application software without human intervention.

4. Title: Gitaboration 

   Description: A large aspect of working in group software development projects is to use source control tools such as Subversion, CVS or Git.  The problem with these tools is that they are primarily used for backup and sharing files rather than collaborating. This project investigates the potential of a git front-end which focuses on awareness between team-members and allows communication around specific files or changes (extending the commit/blame messages that currently exist).  The project requires the student to investigate current git and svn solutions to investigate their interface, and come up with a list of features that are beneficial to this working style.  The student should then discuss with software developers and designers to understand how they collaborate and communicate around source code, and how this collaboration can be supported by a front-end.  A final product is not required, but a proof of concept of how this can be designed around the fundamentals of source control is preferred.  Such an application can be web or desktop based, or can be a hybrid application.

1. RPData representation:

   We have 3 apps currently used by our customers/consumers on the apple app store:

   1. CBA iPhone Property App (search for ‘cba property’)
   2. Agents iPhone version (requires password which can be supplied)
   3. iPad listing application (iPad, also requires a password)

   Potential projects could involve

   • Visualisation of the data
   • Comparative study of the apps on different platforms (ie web/smartphone/tablet)

1. Wireless map student project

1. AEB Livebuilding project

Idea:

For the Live Building project we are looking for creative ways to interact with the building, extract new information on how people are using the building space and generate new understanding in the relationships between a building and its inhabitants. Examples could be extending the data network into augmented reality, group sourcing, contextualising data into interactive elements or use of unique sensors for pioneering user interaction.

Detals: