REQUIREMENTS

The requirements are based on the project description, coach meetings, the first client meeting – with Graham Smith, using Skype – and the pressure cooker

• Enhancing distributed communication.
• Using gameplay to achieve the requirement above.
• Using video-connection (WebChair).
• Products/objects in both locations need to be in the same state so a similar environment is created in both locations.
• People need to be able to use the product intuitively.
• No need of use of the computer, only use of the WebChair and the product.
• If the user uses the device in the wrong way, this should not result in a fatal error.
• The device should give feedback to the user, so a clear relation will be created between the virtual and real physical world.

IDEA GENERATION

OBJECT BRAINSTORMING

INTRODUCTION
The goal of this brainstorm was to come up with ideas for the project.
Different objects were used to base the ideas on:
IPOD
GLASSES
COFFEE MUG
DESIGNER TOY

Each of the group members got one of the items and had to write three ideas down on the paper. Then the papers were given to the next group member who had to write three ideas down based on the ideas already on the paper. This was repeated until all team members used every object.
In the first round every person had to think of an idea using the thoughts, associations, experiences with that particular object. The ideas could be anything that is thought off, reality or fantasy. This creates the most diverse perspective and enhances the possibility of new, innovative ideas.
When the ideas were passed one, new ideas had to be generated, based on the previous thought off idea. This could be expanding the previous idea or just using an aspect of that idea.
In the end this method had produces 36 ideas, 9 on each object. After that, the ideas are selected on whether they are relevant and have any value.

RESEARCH

COMMENTS REPORT PREVIOUS DPH20 PROJECT

They have created a rather simple lay-out which at first seemed a good choice; afterwards the design choice was not that good because of the simplicity. The lay-out doesn’t lure the user to keep reading. One of the requirements of a good report is create a general line in the report, which this report doesn’t have. One of our questions is how they got to the concept which they have now.
ABSTRACT
The previous group uses the words “you, your and we” too much. This results in a less professional report, which could be prevented if such words aren’t used.It should be better when ‘abstract’ is placed in the introduction? They should’ve looked at what a abstract means and how to use it better.
INTRODUCTION
It’s a summary/conclusion of what they did, not a a way to lure the reader to continue reading. The product description sounds good, but the full explanation should be in the appendix. (which is missing)
RESEARCH
They’ve looked at what’ s already on the market but they didn’t connect it to their own report. They didn’t drew any conclusion and didn’t include any pictures. It would be nice to have a clearer and more elaborate explanation of the product. There isn’t any depth in the explanation, they could’ve told something about the creator of the product and where their focus lied. They copied a lot of information directly of the internet like the ‘webchair’. This is okay to do if they write their own interpretation afterwards but they fail to do so. In the ‘scotty’ piece they only ask questions and don’t explain how this contributes to Enhancing Distributed Communications. We think they forget the goal of the project and went their own way.
TARGET SPECIFIC RESEARCH
They don’t give an explanation on why they choose sick children, there’s no introduction. Their choice just isn’t that well built by a brainstorming session. The link between their research and target area is missing or not clear enough.
IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
What do the pictures mean? It doesn’t have a real value to the explanation if their ideas. Some pictures do explain their research a bit.
COMMUNICATION DOLL
They have used a good structure; using a introduction, interface and goal. The piece of technology could have been added in the interface.
CLIENT MEETING
This part is brief and clear. They could have told more about the brainstorming session with the client. Which techniques are used in other products, give some more details. They say that Graham Smith wants to use more advanced technology, how did they use that knowledge? Graham Smith doesn’t mind if the desired effect is simulated in order to show how it works.
FARM GAME
The project doesn’t have a clear connection with this game, where is the video connection integrated? How did they get the idea to create such a game and how was the image created?
Motion Sport Games en Board Games
This is a common idea which looks like the Wii; another group in Orange has used the exact idea for their project. They have explained other concepts better than this one. It’s a good idea to use board games and using a storyboard really clarifies the use of the game.
DEVELOPMENT
It’s ones again a new concept, everything is bit of the same. Where are the results of the thinkering session, how does such a session work? Using pictures would make it more attractive to read.
FINAL CONCEPT
It’s a new concept which they didn’t talk about before. They show a clear overview of the electronica inside but they didn’t show a picture of their concept. Everything is explained well but the piece lacks the structure which was found in other concepts. How did they use flash, they need to explain more about the use of Flash.
PROTOTYPING
Belongs under the header ‘Final Concept’
They don’t have an appendix, the sources aren’t written down correctly, no end notes and they don’t recommend the client about what to do.

RESEARCH

GRAHAM SMITH¹

ARTIST
Graham Smith is a well-known artist in the design world and has exhibited his work in the Netherlands, Germany and Canada. For over 25 years now Graham is creating so called telepresence art. In his inventions and creations different kinds of media are used to create interaction, like robotic, photographic, virtual reality and telepresence media.
Below several of Graham´s projects will be described to indicate in what kind of projects this artist is involved.
THE THIRD EYE
This 4-year multi-disciplinary project is meant for the Culture Capitol in Germany in 2010. University researchers, artists, architects, urban planners, designers and high school students are united with this project. They work together to create the new model of the future citie and exchange their visions and ideas on how they live, how they want to live and how to design and plan their future urban landscapes.
This will result in a detailed real three-dimensional model. A small remote-controlled video robot travels through the model, which people can guide through the future streets, houses, and squares. The view of the robot is displayed on a screen and in this way a unique perspective on the future city is provided using the “eyes” of the robot.


EMOTION CHAIR
The Emotion Chair is a concept developed specially for deaf people. The goal is to give deaf people the opportunity to enjoy a movie in their unique way. The idea is to provide deaf people with a mixture of sensory experiences to allow them to better “feel” and experience the effects of the music and sound in a film.
3 years of research by Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada to develop and test the Assisted Sensory Information Display (ASID) provided enough knowledge to realise the idea.
The sensory experiences are built in a chair on a motion platform. The Emotion Chair can blow hot and cold air at the face or neck, can even generate various smells, has 12 speakers under several body parts and the 22” LCD lights up with different colors.
The project is demonstrated at V2 in Rotterdam Feb 21, 2008.




MOBI AND MOBI JR.
MOBI stands for Mobil Operating Bi-directional Interface and is a human size telepresence robot. Users can remotely control MOBI to move through distant environment and talk and hear through its speakers while he sees through the robot camera eye. Next to that a lifesize image of the user is projected on the LCD head of the robot throught video-connection. MOBI allows people to "explore far away art shows, attend distant presentations and make public appearances from anywhere on earth, thus helping to reduce air travel and global warming".³

A second version of MOBI, MOBI JR, was specially designed to interact with children using telepresence, which is smaller. MOBI JR. was shown at the STRP Art and Technology Festival in Eindhoven, The Nederlands.
This project was developed with the Industrial Design and Robotics Department at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands.

¹ The entire website of Graham Smith is available at http://www.telepresenceart.com
² The entire website of The Third Eye is available at http://www.cybercityruhr.com
³ Text used from http://www.telepresenceart.com/artworks

RESEARCH

WEBCHAIR.COM¹

WELCOME
Webchair is a system that enables to regain personal contact with friends, family and school, over distance.
“it allows people to stay connected to their social environments”
ABOUT US:
“The mission of WebChair is to improve communications and to raise people out of isolation and, by doing so, contribute to a world of better understanding between people, businesses and cultures.
GRAHAM SMITH:
“was Chief Scientist at Telbotics, Toronto, before starting WebChair, his 3d start- up company.”
GUIDO BEAUCHEZ:
Background in technology, finance and culture.
CONFIGURATIONS:
• high quality camera
• 270 degrees field of view
• 32”screen
• Natural proportions
• Web based
• USB hub
• Wheeled office chair
• Storage area for peripherals
OPTIONS:
• Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera with control software
• Wireless microphone
• Integrated computer, wireless keyboard and mouse
• HD videoconferencing systems from Polycom, Tandberg, Sony and Lifesize
• Battery pack for wireless operation
THE COMPANY:
The company structure is an VOF (A cooperation within two of more partners have a company, each member of the firm puts effort, money, labor etc in the company. Each member of the company is 100% responsible for the obligations of the company. When the company goes bankrupt the members of the company can also become bankrupt)

ⁱWebchair, (Unknown) Entire webpage,Available at: http://webchair.com [Accessed on] 04-20-2009
Kamer van Koophandel, (2009) De vennootschap onder firma (vof)
Available at: http://www.kvk.nl/wettenenregels/110_Rechtsvormen/rechtsvormen/DevennootschaponderfirmaVOF.asp
[Accessed on] 04-20-2009

RESEARCH

TELEPRESENCE

Telepresence and Time Spent in Game Play Experiencing Telepresence in Video Games: The Role of Telepresence Tendencies, Game Experience, Gender, and Time Spent in Play

Presence: A psychological state or subjective perception in which even though part or all of an individual's current experience is generated by and/or filtered through human-made technology, part or all of the individual's perception fails to accurately acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience
Illusion of non-mediation is fundamentally related to a sense of immersion and control over the environment
Telepresence Tendency
However, Steuer (1992) argues that beyond simple consideration of the characteristics of a mediated experience, presence is a complex phenomenon that is a product of multiple factors. These factors may include situational variables, individual differences among media users, and the nature of the interactive experience itself. Howe and Sharkey (1998) further add to this conceptualization by suggesting that individual differences in both competence (the ability to use the interactive environment) and temperament (individual personality characteristics) are important components of presence.
Past Experience
Important to consider how long term exposure to a medium may affect ones adaptability to and immersion in it.
The habitual use of a particular interactive realm should, in theory, heighten the level of presence experienced in a given interaction in that environment.

Presence and Gender
For example, report that women experience more presence related responses than men when screen sizes are changed. Botta and Bracken (2004) report that women are more accepting of idealized body images when they perceive the message as more realistic, while men are affected by extremely strong reactions to their sense of immersion in the experience.
On the other hand, at least one study found has found no gender differences in presence related variables
Length of Game Play
Prolonged exposure increases the psychological departure from the user’s physical environment
Ability to maneuver and navigate will improve with prolonged exposure, as one could learn (through immersion) the skills necessary to adapt to the environment
Differences in psychological processing may take place at different levels of video game play, and that length of exposure may be an important factor in the ways in which users interact with and respond to video games as a virtual environment.
Research Questions
Research on gender differences in adaptation to virtual environments provides little in terms of a clear delineation between men and women in terms of the level of presence they experience, though we may surmise that men should have a stronger interest in a video game environment and perhaps experience greater levels of presence through their level of psychological involvement. Further, regardless of gender, those with past experience in a specific virtual environment should also adapt more easily and experience greater presence.
RQ1: What effect will the length of time spent in game play have on the level of telepresence experienced?
RQ2: What impact will participant sex have on telepresence experienced? RQ3: What is the combined effect of telepresence tendency, sex, past game experience, and time spent in game play on the level of telepresence experienced?
Outcome
The mean scores suggest that the gap between males and females on presence may actually increase over time spent in play. It may be the case that regardless of the underlying reason, those interested and familiar with interactive experiences of this kind will adapt to the environment over a short period of time, while those who are not will not adapt and may even lose interest. The third research question then attempted to examine the separate and combined effects of gender, trait telepresence tendency, past experience with the game in question, and length of time spent in game play. The results offer some preliminary suggestions concerning the way in which adaptability to virtual environments takes place.
Source:
All acadamic research, (unknown), Experiencing Telepresence in Video Games: The Role of Telepresence Tendencies, Game Experience, Gender, and Time Spent in Play
Available at:
http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/5/6/2/8/pages256288/p256288-5.php
[Accessed on] 04-20-2009