EDGE903 Assessment 2 - Activity-Centered Design

The response to this assessment has been made as a prezi presentation, with permission.

http://prezi.com/qak84pqnd5hq/activity-centred-design/

Activity 2 - Accelerometers in iPhones and iPads

The iPhone has a device called an accelerometer inside, which is able to tell the main processor(s) which direction the phone is orientated. Like the cochlear, it measures movement, and senses if the phone has moved in any of the x-y-z axes. (Wikipedia, 2011; STMicroelectronics 2011)

This allows app designers to detect the phone’s orientation, adjusting the display accordingly. It also opens the way for movement gestures (such as shaking, tilting, L-R movement) that can operate a function of the phone, which would be very helpful for language-independent use. Imagine in five years, everyone could simply shake the phone to end a call.

References:
STMicroelectronics, 2011. 'LIS302DL - MEMS Motion Sensor'. Retrieved from http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/12726.pdf on 14 August 2011.
Wikipedia, 2011. 'Accelerometer'. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer on 14 August 2011.

Assignment 1 - Learning is an infinite experience

The Evolving Interface - Reflecting on Pattie Maes' 'Sixth Sense' technology

Back when we first started to use the first websites, the hyperlink was revolutionary: it turned static text into active text, so that when touched, we would be presented with new information. This was the first interaction we have ever had with text, ie making text DO something. To access this though, we needed a computer, an internet connection, and a knowledge of how to use a computer.

Pattie Maes' group has now produced a device that allows us to take that hyperlink and to put it onto any surface in front of the user (Maes, P., 2011). Additionally, the user is now able to turn an object in the real world into a hyperlink: a person, a packet of cereal, and even hand gestures. The interface has now evolved from a computer and keyboard to the air and object in front of the user, anywhere. Furthermore, you no longer have to 'click' the hyperlink to activate it - the information just appears when the object is presented. Can you imagine meeting someone at a conference and pushing their chest to display their bio?

The trap of this technology, though, is that one can be presented with too much (irrelevant) information. To work effectively, this technology will have to allow the user to filter or select what action/information comes from its use. To turn humanity into information processors would remove us from a quintessential human experience - feeling and intuition. If this technology is used in education for example, studies will no doubt show that the technology per se is not what improves learning, but the tried and tested educational principles that are incorporated into its design. It is, after all, simply a virtual keyboard and a projector.

Reference:
Maes, P. (2011). Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense. Retrieved August 8, 2011, from http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

Designs in Nature II

The Mandelbrot Set is the ultimate design in nature. The image of the Mandelbrot Set is infinitely scalable - forever and ever and ever.... It emerges out of the mathematics that is part of our reality. It does have a beginning however, which is shown in this image:

This is an example of a bound but infinite design; you can see the edges, so you know it is bound. But drill down and you will never reach an end, as the images from this link in Wikipedia demonstrates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mandel_zoom_00_mandelbrot_set.jpg

Designs in Nature I

Look at the design in nature - it is intuitively perfect. This is what DNA looks like, seen using the perspective of X-Ray crystallography..

In this design, the symmetry speaks for itself. There are four spokes, and three impressions per spoke.

In DNA, there are four possible letters that make the code, and a combination of three letters make a word. Look how that is reflected in this 'design'...

From this simple design, we can reconstruct what the DNA molecule looks like.

This is a bound image, representing a bound DNA molecule. But the humanity that DNA creates is truly infinite.

To me, learning in the constructivist sense is a bound but infinite activity. We receive signals from a finite number of resources, but the knowledge we build from that can go on and on.

The ultimate online learning resource will by necessity be bound and finite, but the learning it generates will be truly infinite.

Circular Reference - A Bound Infinity

'Design is thought made visual' - Saul Bass

Design is bound, but infinite.
Thought is unbound and infinite.
Visualisation is unbound, but finite.

What is bound and finite?

The canvas. The website. The code. The blog. The chat. The log.

Design must be, then, the art of distilling the infinite into the finite.