Funny short video of redesigning the Stop Sign. Does it resonates your work experience?
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Augmented Reality Gimmick on Magazine
This Esquire magazine has an AR barcode that lets you manipulate 3D objects on screen by holding the magazine in front of a webcam. This is no cutting edge technology – the geeky bunch had already seen it and played with it months ago: PaperVision project, James Alliban’s AR Business Cards on Vimeo (his blog)…etc.
The question is, is it necessary? Does adding AR truly adds value to your product and makes things easier to use? It is like Twitter all over again: the geeks discovered and been using the service two years ago, until the marketing geniuses take the idea, educate (or spam) the general public with this “new and cool” technology, and then before you know it, everybody has to use it regardless. You now see those “@handle” everywhere, from news channel, coffee shop, bakery, you name it.
I predict that in 2010 we will have a AR virtual bread loaf or wedding cake on the bakery website.
Posted in Usability, Visual Design
Umbrella Vending Machines
I would like to talk about an item that is not too commonly seen in our daily routine, but can be a life saver when you are caught in an unexpected rain with no umbrella in hands – The Umbrella Vending Machine.
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- Umbrella vending machine – Hong Kong
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- Front panel – Hong Kong
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- Front panel, ad words – Hong Kong
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- Umbrella vending machine – Vancouver
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- Front panel – Vancouver
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- Dispensing mechanism – Vancouver
The above pictures show two different umbrella vending machines located in two different cities: Hong Kong, and Vancouver Canada. First, can you guess which machine was found in which city?
The Settings:
The blue vending machine was sighted at a busy shopping mall in Hong Kong. In fact, I have seen the same machine in multiple malls, meaning that it is quite common to everyday lives, just like drink and snack vending machines.
The other grey vending machine was sighted at the Vancouver International Airport. As far as I know, this is the only umbrella machine I’ve seen in the entire city of Vancouver. Judging from the dispensing mechanism (the metal coil that rotates to push items out) and the chassis, I am positive that it is modified from a snack vending machine.
Graphic Design / Communication:
Needless to say, Hong Kong beats Vancouver in terms of colour usage, attractiveness, information richness and presentation. My experience was that, it was really hard to spot the Vancouver umbrella machine before I knew about it.
The Market:
Just for the fun of it, I queried Wolfram|Alpha for the annual precipitation of Vancouver and Hong Kong, just to see how necessary umbrella is. By no mean this is a scientific research analysis, nor taking into consideration of the other thousand factors that affect umbrella sales. But well, looks like both cities rain quite a bit, so it’d be a healthy business to sell people some umbrellas.
precipitation | Vancouver, Canada vs Hong Kong - Wolfram|Alpha
Wolfram|Alpha query: “precipitation | Vancouver, Canada vs Hong Kong”
Thoughts:
- Since Vancouver rains quite a lot, it is likely that people would need to take umbrellas with them when getting outside. Therefore, placing the umbrella vending machine in high volume public places, such as Sky-train/CanadaLine station would be a good start.
- What about colour choices? Do Vancouverists not care about fashion and style? I am sure that, just like iPod and M&M’s, offering multiple colours can encourage personalization, and hence reenforcing the product brand and increasing sales. And it’s cheap to do so.
- And it’s amazing to see the Hong Kong umbrella even has 180 days of warranty!
Posted in Usability
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, filmed by William H. Whyte at 1988, is a documentary video of how human linger in public spaces.
It is a good studying material on human behaviour in urban environmental settings. Although mostly relevant to architecture and psychology, I find the underlying observation principle that this video demonstrates is applicable to almost everything that touches human. How do we react to a road sign? How do we open a door? How do we buy a metro ticket from the automatic ticket machine with it’s touch-sensitive screen? When trying to design a solution for issues, it is necessary to do both objective scientific research, as well as subjective, empathetical observations and thoughtful thinking.
links of video provided by user “clfront” (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=clfront):
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0TYY7jflz8
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aioLKJfxQV4
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nw8HJ2yAE
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFT_DakPk1Y
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIOteCQHJmk
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA0Vqr770Zs
To buy the DVD of Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte, please visit http://www.directcinema.com/dcl/title.php?id=452.
Posted in Design
Phone Book – Tangible iPhone Storybook
(image source — Mobile Art Labs mobileart.jp)
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![[1] Phone Book - paperback book + iPhone/iPod Touch](http://www.calvin-c.com/media/2009/12/phonebook_3-150x150.jpg "[1] Phone Book")
- [1] Phone Book – paperback book + iPhone/iPod Touch
![[1] Phone Book - paperback book + iPhone/iPod Touch](http://www.calvin-c.com/media/2009/12/phonebook_3.jpg "[1] Phone Book")
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![[2] Siftables](http://www.calvin-c.com/media/2009/12/Siftables_-The-Future-of-Play-Sifteo-150x150.png "[2] Siftables")
- [2] Siftables
![[2] Siftables](http://www.calvin-c.com/media/2009/12/Siftables_-The-Future-of-Play-Sifteo.png "[2] Siftables")
[1] Phone Book is a storytelling book package, created by Mobile Art Labs, which includes an iPhone app and a paper book with a slot that you can slide an iPhone into. The combo makes an interactive storybook that parent and kid can hold together and play with.
The reasons I think this is a brilliant idea:
(1) it hides all the complicated technology (iPhone, multi-touch screen, proximity sensor), and present only a simple, tangible storybook that parent and kid can hold together and interact with.
(2) It can also minimize distraction to the kid: the object is perceived as a storybook rather than the iPhone itself. Hopefully it’ll also prevent kids from putting the iPhone into their mouth.
(3) Focus in the content: instead of being distracted by the handset, it brings back the focus to the story and the educational interactions, such as counting game (mathematics), touching the stars (spatial cognition and muscle coordination), or simply entertainment.
(4) Encourage closeness between parent and kid: the more tangible storybook format makes it easier for parent and kid to hold it together. If it’s just the iPhone handset then usually only one of them can hold it in hand.
[2] This package reminds me of Siftables: a cookie-sized computer that also encourage interactions in a tangible format. More information about Siftables here: http://siftables.com/
Siftables Equation Editor from Jeevan Kalanithi on Vimeo.