Human Centered Interaction Project

The objective of the project is to experiment with a novel form of human-computer interaction that improves the status quo. The experimentation should lead to an evaluation. You will be able to prototype the interaction with specialized input/output devices from Ensimag, UGA, and the LIG/IIHM research group. Devices include motion capture systems and 3D immersive head-mounted display. You will be able to use rapid fabrication tools to build your own devices.

Each group of student chose the theme of their project, but the theme is “moderated” by the instructors. Instructors verify that the idea is relevant to the course: the interaction must be novel, your motivations must be clearly stated and convincing, and you should be able to evaluate the interaction with a prototype (which can be anywhere between high and low fidelity).

Expected outcome

The work has two sides: design and evaluation.

Design

You must design an interaction for which you can anticipate benefits that you state clearly. This could be for example a mobile system lacking a physical keyboard and mouse, or a system for group work, or a system that requires visual immersion, or any system for which a typical graphical user interface would have strong limitations.

Once an instructor has validated your project’s theme, you must make a quick review of the state of the Art: what approaches have been tried for your problem? Which systems were implemented? What are their limits?

In the next stage, you design the Human-computer interaction. The design must follow a user centered approach: the interaction must be designed so that is satisfies the users’ needs as well as possible. Specifically, your main goal must not be to experiment with novel devices: the novel devices should be introduced only to serve users’ needs.

Evaluation

• You prototype the interaction to evaluate it. Depending on the feasibility, you create either a low or a high fidelity prototype.
• You experiment with the created interaction, in particular by having non-member of the project use it.
• You evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your prototype while taking great care to separate technical problems (the prototype does not satisfies the specifications) from conceptual problems (stemming from the analysis and/or the design).

Organization

• The project is done in groups of 2 students.
• Between the first lecture and Octobre 21st, each group must interact with the professors to submit their ideas for validation. This can be done by e-mail, or at the breaks during the lectures.
• On the 4th of November, Each group makes a formal presentation of their project to the class. Plan for 8 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of brainstorm. This is very short, be focused! Address the following points:
  • a short description: what is the HCI problem you want to study. Remember: present the problem as an HCI problem, i.e. *user* centered. The technical approach should only appear as a means to tackle the *user* centered problem.
  • the motivation for the project: why it is important, interesting. What is the state of the art and why it is not satisfying.
  • your envisioned design: what interaction would you like to prototype.
  • how you could evaluate your interaction.
• On the 2nd of December, Each group makes a formal presentation of their prototype and experimentation plan. Plan for 8 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of questions. This is very short, be focused!
• Professors will be present for consulting sessions during the whole semester, usually after the lecture session but also in scheduled “project sessions”.
• You are expected to work on your project during your spare time.
• The professors do the evaluation of the project based on a report and a defense at the end of the semester.
• On the 20th of January, Each group defend their projects. Plan for 15 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of questions.