Robotic Interfaces

What are robots?

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or remotely controlled.

History of Robots

The history of robots has its roots as far back as ancient myths and legends. Modern concepts were begun to be developed when the Industrial Revolution allowed the use of more complex mechanics and the subsequent introduction of electricity made it possible to power machines with small compact motors. After the 1920s the modern formulation of a humanoid machine was developed to the stage where it was possible to envisage human sized robots with the capacity for near human thoughts and movements, first envisaged millennia before. The first uses of modern robots were in factories as industrial robots - simple fixed machines capable of manufacturing tasks which allowed production without the need for human assistance. Digitally controlled industrial robots and robots making use of artificial intelligence have been built since the 1960s.

Challenges faced in designing Robotic Interfaces

HCI offers a rich resource for research and design in human-robot interaction. Much has been learned in the last three decades about how people perceive and think about computer-based technologies, about human constraints on interaction with machines, about the factors that improve usability, and about the primary and secondary effects of technology on people and organizations.  So after much research, we feel that the following are some of the difficulties that designers may face while trying to improve human robot interactions.

• Firstly, people seem to perceive autonomous robots differently than they do most other computer technologies. Most people would think of machine as a form of tool to accomplish certain tasks. However, robots are unique in the field of HCI in that, it makes machines appear more humanized to people. Now the challenge is to design robot to make it more human-like.
• Secondly, another challenge faced is that robots are expected to be fully mobile, bringing them into physical proximity with other robots, people, and objects.
• Lastly, robots need to make decisions which are to learn about themselves and their world, and they exert some control over the information they process and actions they emit. This can be a very common problem in programming these robots. Programming of robots is a complex activity because user has to accomplish different steps. If we could utilize a graphical representation of these steps, we should use a diagram organized as a graph, in which every node has a function and in which the user can make specific activities, linked to the same function. So the user has different view of the programming activity and can utilize multiple view of the process, to organize better the robot’s behavior.

Evaluating Robotic Interfaces

Nielson heuristics is a popular approach to evaluating designs. But, we feel that this cannot be applied when evaluating the interactivity between humans and robots because the range of heuristics is not broad enough to cover all the unique aspects of robotics. One such aspect, like we mentioned above, is the fact that one of the goals of designing robotic interfaces is giving it a human like experience but there is no heuristic in the Nielson heuristic that covers this point.

Future of Robots

TED

Huh? What is this?!

This was my first encounter when I first created a NUS blog for one of my modules this semster...

What were those 2 options in the create page? Firstly, the options do not give neither sensible nor logical meanings. And secondly, due to the first point, most users would be confused. In fact, I was suppose to create a blog during a class, and all of my classmates were making a fuss as to which option to choose.

Anyway, I went ahead choosing the second option: "Just a username.". (thinking that the URL would be created by appending with my matric no.) and was directed to a dashboard. It was thought that my blog was created. But when I proceed to click on "visit site" that appeared on the top left corner of the page, I was directed to the NUS Blog homepage instead of my blog. Furthermore, there was nowhere to create a first post. When I looked around, my friends could carry on writing their first post.

After asking around, I have found out they have chosen the first option: "Gimme a site!". Then I realized that the first option is the correct option to create a blog while the second was just an empty account...

Seriously, those options are totally redundant. Why would any user who wishes to create a blog create an empty account?!

In the end, I have to go back to the homepage and clicked on the create blog link again. But since now I am already logged in, I was directed to the "expected" page when the user first chose the first option. I could finally proceed from there... I wasted around 30 minutes just to figure that out... I could even feel that the website was giving a TROLL FACE!

'Sensitivity' of Interfaces

A couple of months ago, a popular online game called League of Legends released a patch that would enable its players to change their UI to a new Colorblind Mode.

What this mode does is to change some of the colours of the game interface so that colourblind players would be able to better distinguish various objects on the screen.

How players affected by deuteranopia
(red-green colourblindedness)
perceive LoL without Colorblind Mode

How they perceive LoL in Colorblind
Mode

Even though the move was mainly aimed at attracting new colourblind players and enhancing the experience of current colourblind players, it has been very well received among both colourblind and non-colourblind gamers. Some non-colourblind players have even pledged support to the move by commenting that they would use it. Despite being a change that would benefit a relatively small group of players, it has had a positive impact on the entire community as a whole, enhancing the reputation of the game company, which in turn improves the experience of the user when using the product.

It is interesting to note how such a simple change, which improves neither the usability (for most users), nor the aesthetics, of the interface, can make such a strong positive impression on its users. I believe that one major reason for this phenomenon is that the change shows the ‘sensitivity’ of the interface towards its users.

It is quite uncommon to find a computer interface featuring customizability that is specifically catered to a unique group of users. Having such a feature would therefore not only create an impression that the interface is not ‘factory-made’ like all the other interfaces in the market, but also that the needs of every group of users, no matter how small or obscure, is considered in the development of the interface.

Added to this fact is that the new mode introduced in League of Legends was created to help a group of users that may be perceived, by some, to be slightly less privileged. It reveals a humanitarian dimension in the development of the interface, something that is, again, not commonly seen in other computer interfaces.

All these combine to give rise to an impression that the interface is sensitive to the needs of the user, that it is created for users by users, and not merely a tool for the user to interact with the system. It almost ‘humanizes’ the interface, adding an element of human touch, such that the user does not feel so much that he is interacting with a machine but with another person(this is mostly fluffy poop but there might be a tinge of truth in it).

This observation suggests that we could consider adding a touch of ‘sensitivity’ in the interfaces we develop. It also highlights the importance of understanding user demographics and their various needs in the development of an interface. That the user recognises the efforts made by the developers in creating an interface that caters to every user’s needs is equally crucial to its success.

Design of Mobile Phone Interfaces

Google has recently launched a new version of its operating system, Android 4.0, or otherwise called Ice Cream Sandwich. Google had announced that this was one of the biggest overhauls of the operating systems since it unleashed the Android project three years ago. This new version is an extension to what users love most about Android:  Its easy multi tasking, rich notifications, customizable home screens, resizable widgets and deep interactivity. And now, it has introduced powerful new ways of communicating and sharing.

Let us look at how this new version is aimed at giving users a more intuitive interface

1. Intuitive Touch UI

Firstly, it has replaced its physical buttons with virtual buttons in the UI itself and the three softkeys include Home, Back and Recent apps. In this way, users are provided with an option of multitasking using the Recent apps key, to allow them to see the recently opened apps and this feature is preferred by many users.

Another new feature that has been introduced in this version is the swipe sideways facility. This is used to shut down an application by simply swiping our finger sideways, which helps save battery life by preventing the application from running in the background. It is also aimed at reducing effort, when compared to close the application by navigating through Settings -> Applications ->Running Services to stop a particular application.


Google is trying its best to give its users by putting a link to the Market at the top right hand corner of the menu screen, which is useful for users as they can update their app list easily whenever needed.

2. Re-sizable Widgets

The home screens in the new Android 4.0 are designed in a way that users can easily customize their content. Interactive widgets have been designed, which let users access content directly without having to launch apps. And it has also made these widgets resizable so that users can expand or shrink them. In this way, we can say that users are able to prioritize their widgets based on their priorities or preferences. Widgets are extremely useful since they allow we are able to see the content without having to select that particular application, hence saving time and effort.  Another change that Google has brought to these widgets is that users can now looks at them on the menu screen itself. In this way, it helps them to decide whether the associated widgets of newly downloaded apps should be popped onto the home screen or not.

3. Lock Screen Actions

The lock screens in this new Android version allow users to do more without unlocking their phone. Sometimes, we have to agree that unlocking the phone for every small thing is rather annoying. So, to make it easier for users like us, Google has put much thought into designing this new feature which allows users to perform actions right from the lock screen itself, without the trouble of having to unlock.  From the lock screen, users are given the facility to directly jump to the camera, or pull down the notifications window to check for updates or messages and even manage music tracks while listening to music, without having to unlock the screen at all.

Also, a new way of unlocking the phone has been implemented in this new version. The phone can be unlocked using our face rather than typing in a password or drawing a pattern, which might be slightly painful from the users’ point of view. Though this feature is still not perfect, it does have a potential to attract more users.

4. Improved text input and spell-checking figure

The keyboard in Android 4.0 has undergone many improvements to allow faster and more accurate user input. Word suggestions have been simplified to showing only three words at a time and error corrections have also improved by adding a new set of default dictionaries, with more accurate heuristics for handling exceptions such as double typed characters, skipped letters and omitted spaces as well.  And to fix misspelled words with more ease, a spell checker that locates and underlines errors and suggests replacement words has been included. So, with just one tap, users can choose from the suggestions, delete the word or even add it to the dictionary. 

5. New Camera facilities

The camera application has also been improved to fit the needs of the users and making it easier to capture their special moments of life. It has included a number of built-in photo editing features so that users can directly edit pictures on their phone. These improvements include red-eye reduction, cropping and straightening, and filters that add Instagram-like effects to the photos. The camera also has the single motion panoramic mode for capturing large scenes, allowing users to take panoramic shots quickly and easily. Also, users can easily share their photos with their friends and families with just a tap away.

Designing the mobile interface is indeed challenging to cater to the different needs of the users depending on their age groups and many mobile operating systems such as Android, Apple’s iOS, Symbian, Blackberry OS, Windows, etc are all trying their best to make their interfaces as intuitive as possible for their users. Developers are trying to design interfaces such that common actions are more visible and allow the users to navigate using simple gestures.  Also, many new features are being introduced everyday and they are aimed at making interactions of users more engaging and interesting. 


Other features of Android 4.0 can be found at this website:
http://www.android.com/about/ice-cream-sandwich/

Web Designs: Good vs Bad

In this post, we take a look at how some of the design guidelines discussed in lecture 2 can be applied to web design. Here is a comparison of how two websites fare with respect to these guidelines:

	Bad: yvettesbridalformal.com (Fig. 1)	Good: xinmsn.com (Fig. 4)
Visibility	- No distinct functions can be identified. - Links are not properly organized. - Links are cluttered and fighting to attract attention.	- Functions can be easily identified. - Search box is prominent (since it is a search engine). - Sections are well categorized and organized (Fig. 5). - Tabs bar helps in organizing links.
Consistency	- Fonts are differently sized. - Inconsistent colour scheme.	- Headings and contents appropriately sized (headings larger than contents or details). - Font sizes are consistent. - Sections are well-aligned. - Tabs bar stays at the top of every page.
Familiarity	- No proper metaphor for the page, links are just placed haphazardly. - Users have trouble finding what to look for and where to start.	- Intuitive buttons.
Affordance	- Unconventional design that confuses users.	- Conventional designs that make it easy for the user to navigate. - Layouts for different sections are consistent, so users can get used to it quickly.
Navigation	- Easy to understand where some links lead to but usually not well executed (telling users where links lead to in long cumbersome sentences). - Destination of other links are ambiguous. - Website has no focus.	- Search bars can be found at the top and the bottom of the page, so users who read to the bottom of a page will not have to scroll all the way back to the top to use it. - Tabs are highlighted for the sections being visited, so users know which page they are at and can navigate accordingly.
Flexibility	- Gives user a choice of an “easier” navigation alternative, but it is not a huge improvement over the classic view. - No scrollbar in the alternate interface.	- Users can select the home page for the country they reside in (Fig. 6).
Style	- No central theme. - Supposed to be a bridal website but has many unrelated contents. - e.g. There is a link to an Apple Pie recipe on the homepage (Fig. 2). - e.g. More unrelated pictures of fishes further down the homepage (Fig. 3).	- Color scheme is appealing. - Minimal variations of colour which makes outlook of the page easy on the eye. - Simple yet elegant design.
Recovery	- No. Just no. - Horrible website.	- Logo of the homepage appears in every section of the site, allowing user to return to the homepage from any location in the site.

WARNING: The bad design may give you a shock or a heart attack... ~+**V8**+~

Fig. 1. Home page of Yvette's Bridal Formal

Fig. 2. Random Apple Pie recipe

Fig.3. Aww cute fishes... NOT

Fig. 4. Homepage of xinmsn

Fig. 5. Entertainment section of xinmsn

Fig. 6. msn Worldwide for users to select their countries

Why is HCI so important?

We are all taking this module obviously because we are interested in learning abt the interaction between humans and computers.In that case, we definitely agree that human computer interaction has had an impact on us, the way we do things and also everything around us(society).Lets just take a look to see in what ways has HCI actually benefited us? People are constantly working to improve the interactions between humans and computers or any technological device for that matter.

HCI has more impact than we actually realise. The most obvious use of HCI is in our mobile phones, especially in smart phones which uses touch screen technology. The use of buttons has become obsolete, and can be seen as a decreasing design in most of the phones today. Although some agree that the use of touch screen has made the use of phones much easier and a lot more interactive, some disagree as they find it difficult to adapt to the relatively new technology. The ease of use of these devices definitely depends on the screen size. Imagine having to touch a particular icon on a rather small screen, there is a high possibility that we will tap the wrong icon and have to go back and try again.Then again, having too big a screen is not the solution. However, we have learnt to come around that problem and strike a balance.

Gaming has always been a craze among youngsters and undoubtedly, HCI has a vital role to play with enhancing user experience. The new Xbox Kinect brought gaming to a new level with its full body play! This means that the Kinect  actually responds to how we move.How cool is that? If we want to kick, we literally kick! All we have to do is to activate the sensor and we are set to play. Such technology has made it simple to play games  without having to learn the different keys on the game controller. Therefore, more people will be interested in buying this console!

These are just two examples where HCI is used widely. HCI is also used in many other forms, for example like in voice controlled devices. These benefit people with visual impairment as well or any other type of physical disabilities. 'Nuance Talks' is a company that offers technology that gives the user audio for their contacts, caller ID, text messages, web browsing and more. This is called screen reading software and is in its beginning stages of development.



Self-scan supermarket checkouts are another example. These checkouts are more widely used in the West, but are becoming more famous in other parts of the world. I saw some of these self check out machines at the Clementi Mall NTUC and was impressed. These check-outs have carefully designed user interfaces to make them easier and faster to use. This way, people can avoid having to queue up long to bill their items as these machines do not require staff.

With the constant improvement in technology, we can be sure that the advancement in HCI will not stop here! We can look forward to much more sophisticated technology in this field in the coming years such as interactive 3D projections!

I Hate Microsoft Word 2007

Having used Microsoft Word with its traditional interface for over a decade, I was not exactly pleased when Microsoft made a major revamp to its interface in Office 2007. The menu bar, which helped me accomplish so many tasks over the years, had been replaced by a foreign-looking tab bar. So too had the ever-familiar ‘File’ menu, and in its place now stand a fancy new button that resembles the ‘Start’ button on the taskbar of the Microsoft operating system.

Needless to say, I was utterly confused by the new interface. Initially, it was difficult to find and remember the positions of some buttons because I had become too used to navigating through a series of menus in the traditional interface. Over time, I had learnt to get used to the new interface and now know where to find most of the buttons (although I still have to Google whenever I want to find a button to perform an obscure task).

However, it did not feel to me like this interface was much better than the traditional one. It seemed like the only improvement it has over the traditional interface is to make the application look sleeker and more polished, and that Microsoft only decided to change it for aesthetic reasons. I thought that this must be the case, but I needed to validate my thoughts by looking for comments from other users that agreed with me.

Instead, I found an article that explains how the new interface improves usability: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/word-2007-lessons-on-usability/6164867

One of the more interesting points raised in the article is about why some of the buttons are differently sized. For example, the styles panel is a lot bigger and more prominent than some of the more commonly used buttons such as italics. It argues that this will encourage the user to choose a different style to format text, instead of using the italics button. The reason for this preference is that styles add a semantic value to the text, in addition to being able to change its look. It is equivalent to adding tags to the text, so that we can easily find and format a set of texts that belong to a certain tag.

It also points out that the new interface allows users to complete tasks in fewer clicks because it displays all the buttons in tabs instead of hiding them inside hierarchies of menus. I had thought that the layout of the buttons made them cluttered and too small, which made it hard to look for certain buttons. I realise now that I might have developed a bias against the new interface in my initial struggle of learning how to use it, which caused me to overlook its good points.

There are some more interesting improvements that the article talks about, which I will not discuss here. If you are curious to find out more, visit the link!

This shows how important affordance is to the success of a new interface. I felt that the change from the traditional interface to the current one had been too drastic, which caused me to become disoriented at first and to dislike it despite its apparent advantages. Perhaps Microsoft could have made smaller changes over a period of time to ease users in to the new interface.