Technology is taking more and more space in our lives and the more we use it the more people want to personalize it. It’s everything from stickers to put on your computer, to cases, bags, covers etc for your phone. Fernaeus and Jacobsson talked about such accessories in the paper Comics, Robots, Fashion and Programming; outlining the concept of actDresses.
actDresses is created so the people can personalize robots by dressing them differently. Depending on what the robot is wearing the robot acts differently.
I think this is necessary to develop more if the robots are making their way into our lives to stay. This week I also watched the documentary Mechanical Love, and I can easier apply the readings from this week to what it actually is about personalizing robots. Seeing a robot that is supposed to look like a human for me is just scary. It’s dressed up as a human, kind of looks like a human but somewhere there it feels like something is definitely not normal. I think it’s a long way to go, but by doing research on the subject I think we can reach far, and develop interesting solutions for the future.
1. How can media technologies be evaluated?
When designing media technologies there is always an end user for the product or service. Therefore it’s important to bring in the users during the development process to test the product in the different stages of the process. There are many different design evaluation strategies out there that all fit for different purposes, but a common denominator is that they all want to eliminate the problems and make it easier for the users. The best way to test new technologies (or even old ones for improvement) is to test it with the real users in the environment it’s supposed to be in. There might be a lot of things going on in the surroundings that you might not think of while developing the technology, something that will have an impact on the way the user uses the technology.
2. What role will prototypes play in research?
Prototypes are already a big part of design processes in many different areas of professions. Prototypes is an easy way to test a product at an early stage to see what improvements need to be done. It’s called iteration when you take something, test it, develop it a bit more based on what you learned from the testing, test it again, adjust, test again, and again until the product reaches the final product. I think prototypes can be used more at an early stage, but they don’t have to be very advanced from start. I think that if you put a bit of time and effort into prototypes and evaluation of them earlier on in the process, the results will be reached earlier since you have the chance to avoid problems that may occur and in the end this also can give more return on the investment since the product will fit the users better.
3. What are characteristics and limitations of prototypes?
Some limitations of prototypes are that it takes time to develop prototypes. Some ideas are really complex and a prototype for such a product might take more time, effort and money than what you will get in return after launch. From my point of view prototypes differ a lot depending on what kind of technology it is about. A web application prototype differs a lot from a prototype of a robot. Anyway, in both cases the prototypes are playing a big role in the design process to reach the final product. I’ve done a bit of prototyping for mainly smartphone apps. And the first prototypes in the process are very basic, usually on paper. This is obviously not a prototype for the final product but regarding the limitations it’s a useful way to early on see if I’m on the right way towards the goal. Later on in the process the prototype gets interactive, and even later the design is included and at the end the prototype is basically the final product. When it comes to web applications and such things there are many useful tools out there that eliminates many limitations, mainly cost related ones. For example Omnigraffle is a tool made for prototyping apps, websites etc. It might be a bit time consuming in the beginning, but the prototyping is easy when you learn how the program works. I know that there is a totally different part of prototyping when it comes to physical media technology products, when hardware is needed. The limitations in that case are often that it’s expensive and very time consuming.
actDresses is created so the people can personalize robots by dressing them differently. Depending on what the robot is wearing the robot acts differently.
I think this is necessary to develop more if the robots are making their way into our lives to stay. This week I also watched the documentary Mechanical Love, and I can easier apply the readings from this week to what it actually is about personalizing robots. Seeing a robot that is supposed to look like a human for me is just scary. It’s dressed up as a human, kind of looks like a human but somewhere there it feels like something is definitely not normal. I think it’s a long way to go, but by doing research on the subject I think we can reach far, and develop interesting solutions for the future.
1. How can media technologies be evaluated?
When designing media technologies there is always an end user for the product or service. Therefore it’s important to bring in the users during the development process to test the product in the different stages of the process. There are many different design evaluation strategies out there that all fit for different purposes, but a common denominator is that they all want to eliminate the problems and make it easier for the users. The best way to test new technologies (or even old ones for improvement) is to test it with the real users in the environment it’s supposed to be in. There might be a lot of things going on in the surroundings that you might not think of while developing the technology, something that will have an impact on the way the user uses the technology.
2. What role will prototypes play in research?
Prototypes are already a big part of design processes in many different areas of professions. Prototypes is an easy way to test a product at an early stage to see what improvements need to be done. It’s called iteration when you take something, test it, develop it a bit more based on what you learned from the testing, test it again, adjust, test again, and again until the product reaches the final product. I think prototypes can be used more at an early stage, but they don’t have to be very advanced from start. I think that if you put a bit of time and effort into prototypes and evaluation of them earlier on in the process, the results will be reached earlier since you have the chance to avoid problems that may occur and in the end this also can give more return on the investment since the product will fit the users better.
3. What are characteristics and limitations of prototypes?
Some limitations of prototypes are that it takes time to develop prototypes. Some ideas are really complex and a prototype for such a product might take more time, effort and money than what you will get in return after launch. From my point of view prototypes differ a lot depending on what kind of technology it is about. A web application prototype differs a lot from a prototype of a robot. Anyway, in both cases the prototypes are playing a big role in the design process to reach the final product. I’ve done a bit of prototyping for mainly smartphone apps. And the first prototypes in the process are very basic, usually on paper. This is obviously not a prototype for the final product but regarding the limitations it’s a useful way to early on see if I’m on the right way towards the goal. Later on in the process the prototype gets interactive, and even later the design is included and at the end the prototype is basically the final product. When it comes to web applications and such things there are many useful tools out there that eliminates many limitations, mainly cost related ones. For example Omnigraffle is a tool made for prototyping apps, websites etc. It might be a bit time consuming in the beginning, but the prototyping is easy when you learn how the program works. I know that there is a totally different part of prototyping when it comes to physical media technology products, when hardware is needed. The limitations in that case are often that it’s expensive and very time consuming.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar