Using SVN has some advantages. The most important is the on line storage. If my hard disk would ever fail, I’d still have my thesis files backed up online. Such a crash would be a drama nonetheless, but at least I can recover my thesis files. Another advantage is the change tracking. What SVN basically does, is track changes. The first file is the base file. Any updates afterwards only contain the changes compared with the previous version. It’s a great way to recover previous versions.

This is a nice example of the possibilities of ubiquitous computing within a commercial environment. I consider this to be sort of a digital configurator implemented in the physical shop. I’m not going to spend too much words on these projects, but I acknowledge they provide a lot of inspiration for my technical research.

Next to some nice cars, I noticed a multi touch interface at the Opel stand. So, curious to see what they made of it, I checked it out. And I concluded it was crap!

So, what was wrong with it? Well, it looked all nice and stuff, it even used a double table so more people could use it at the same time. But that was exactly the problem. Too many people using it. As an interface designer with a growing interest in user experience design (UxD), and while having the assignment to make such a thing myself, I paid extra interest in this table. After all, in a couple of weeks me and some fellow classmates have to present our own multi touch application on such a table.
But back to the main point. As I said before, the installation had 2 screens placed next to each other on which people could control the interface. And I tried it. There were some tags passing by, and each tag represented a subject in Dutch or French (it’s Belgium, 3 official languages ‘n stuff, what can I say?). So, I touched a tag, and it opened a window in front of me. I could move that window, zoom in and out, rotate, the basic messing around with it. So I did. But so did the rest of the bystanders do. As I was seriously reading the information provided to me, another guy also opened a tag. And he started fooling around with his window. And it just overlapped my window, the info I was reading was suddenly under his info!
Annoyed by this, I just dragged my window to another place, so I could continue reading. But that guy wasn’t the only one messing around with the table’s touch interface. Almost 10 people were messing around with it. And disturbing me in my process of gathering information. So I made some basic conclusions:

The gestures that seem natural and intuitive for a multi touch app aren’t natural and intuitive yet

People know that they can move windows with their finger. But zooming in/out and rotating a window doesn’t appear to be so normal and straightforward for them. They just fooled around with the interface, not knowing what input they were actually providing. Things just happened by chance, and they seemed to enjoy it. This renders the following fact:

Information provided by a failing interface is a waste of time and money

Due to the fact people were just playing around with the interface, they completely missed out on the information provided by Opel about their new cars, technologies and business plan. They might as well had used Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs as content, it didn’t matter since people didn’t knew what was going on anyway.

But I have to give credit to Opel, this was some invaluable user testing and feedback I can implement in our project, so kudos Opel

And yes yes, the pictures (taken with my mobile phone though):

multi-touch the storm – interactive sound visuals – subcycle labs from christian bannister on Vimeo.

As I am working on a multi touch interface myself, I can only admire and acknowledge the added value of a multi touch interface. Although this project isn’t really user orientated, it sure adds something to the space it’s being used in. This could really work in clubs. Sure, they do everything to make the clubbing environment as interesting as possible, but some open DJ boots really break the interior design. It’s just mixing equipment, with a loooot of buttons and switches. If a DJ could replace some of those switches and buttons with an interactive interface like this, he could utilize the space around and behind him in a much more efficient way. And with this statement I’d actually like to refer to a fellow classmate’s research.