Mobile phones and public displays
I was just reading through the Textually blog (check it out, it's cool) and happened upon an interesting article on LocaModa. The latest hot trend is put up big plasma screens and use them as "public displays". The only problem is nobody seems to know what to put on them except the same old boring advertising. They haven't figured out that it is an interactive medium, that will have a host of group-usability problems that go along with them. Putting in location-sensing or multimedia might make them techie, but it won't necessarily make them usable or useful.
Of course the most obvious way of allowing interactivity is through the mobile phone. There's a lot of interesting issues surrounding this, such as the fact that the mobile is a private device and the screen public. So what information do you put on each one and how does the interaction occur? The answer depends a lot on what you're trying to do with them. One possibility is to show travellers information about the city they are in.
LocaModa wants to use voice prompts and number punching in a style similar to IVRs (think automated phonecall redirection) to do this. Here is their scenario from their site:
He sees a large plasma screen on a wall of the lobby displaying details of a local map and playing short highlights of local restaurants, bars, entertainment, shopping and tourist information. The screen displays an invitation to be ‘remote controlled’ from a cell phone.
John dials the number on the screen. He hears a voice prompt on his cell phone say “Press the key on your phone that corresponds with an item of interest on the screen”. Simultaneously, the screen displays animated instructions showing how to browse the content. For example, He can press 1 on his cell phone keypad to see local entertainment options, or press 2 to see local restaurant options. He can also use his * and # keys to zoom the map in and out.
Can anyone see any problems with this? Why wouldn't John just go up and use the touch screen on the public display to select what option he wants? How is he going to know to listen to his phone after he dialed an inanimate object? Isn't this going to be a very clunky interface and much slower than going and asking the maitra d'? What happens when another visitor arrives and wants to use the screen at the same time?
The nice thing about using scenarios is they allow implausible portions of designs to be seen easily. It means mobile requirements can be re-written before they are built. One of the biggest challenges for public interfaces (e.g. museum exhibits, public displays) is handling multiple people trying to use them at the same time. Mobiles will have a role to play in this, but it's still a research question as to how.
Of course the most obvious way of allowing interactivity is through the mobile phone. There's a lot of interesting issues surrounding this, such as the fact that the mobile is a private device and the screen public. So what information do you put on each one and how does the interaction occur? The answer depends a lot on what you're trying to do with them. One possibility is to show travellers information about the city they are in.
LocaModa wants to use voice prompts and number punching in a style similar to IVRs (think automated phonecall redirection) to do this. Here is their scenario from their site:
He sees a large plasma screen on a wall of the lobby displaying details of a local map and playing short highlights of local restaurants, bars, entertainment, shopping and tourist information. The screen displays an invitation to be ‘remote controlled’ from a cell phone.
John dials the number on the screen. He hears a voice prompt on his cell phone say “Press the key on your phone that corresponds with an item of interest on the screen”. Simultaneously, the screen displays animated instructions showing how to browse the content. For example, He can press 1 on his cell phone keypad to see local entertainment options, or press 2 to see local restaurant options. He can also use his * and # keys to zoom the map in and out.
Can anyone see any problems with this? Why wouldn't John just go up and use the touch screen on the public display to select what option he wants? How is he going to know to listen to his phone after he dialed an inanimate object? Isn't this going to be a very clunky interface and much slower than going and asking the maitra d'? What happens when another visitor arrives and wants to use the screen at the same time?
The nice thing about using scenarios is they allow implausible portions of designs to be seen easily. It means mobile requirements can be re-written before they are built. One of the biggest challenges for public interfaces (e.g. museum exhibits, public displays) is handling multiple people trying to use them at the same time. Mobiles will have a role to play in this, but it's still a research question as to how.
posted by axup at 11:57 PM
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