ImpCam - what more can a camera be? Siddharth Muthyala

CIID / DKDS final project 2009

What is a camera when a child holds it, looks into it, and presses the button? For my Final project at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID) I sought to look at a camera as more than just a photographic device. I was eager to explore the medium and demonstrate the immense potential a camera can have.

With that as a starting point I was especially interested in using the medium to explore cameras that a child would use and enjoy. I based my interest on the fact that a childs experience with objects and technology around them has an extremely high impact on their overall development, including social skills, physical activity, mental prowess and emotional engagement. * (refer to paper)

Today's children are born into an age where technology is part of their daily experience. Creating, sharing and viewing are naturally within their vocabulary where buttons and gadgets are an endless source of fascination. I see cameras as being part of child's life today beginning at a very early stage, so I have been trying to understand how these pieces of technology can be adapted so as to have a valuable and more meaningful impact.

This presentation is my journey to discover interesting new potential for cameras and to actively engage children in the creation process using a range of design methods and tools.

CAMERAS & PROJECTS I FOUND INTERESTING market researchDuring the initial stage of my project I found several camera made for children, some interesting and some not so much. Below are just some of the ones that I found relevant to my project as cameras that are designed rather than just made for children.

The Fun Camera by designer Jian Guan. His inspiration for the design comes from a magnifying glass. It’s a great concept and would be a lot of fun to use.

Spy Rod is a camera on a long stick and a fishing line, Children can see and record the view through the camera

with a ‘viewing box’. Designed by Yumiko Tanaka.

Sony recently revealed a unique looking device that is powered by kinetic energy! The Twirl n’ Take camera is charged by giving its circular head a spin.

SketchCam allows children to shoot by tracing paths on a tactile screen, combining sketching and photography.

Tangi Cam allows imitation learning and free playing in a context of tangible and augmented reality. I found this as an interesting project due to its affordances to let many children

to play and experience it together at the same time.

The Crayola Kids Camera stores approx. 93 low resolution photos. I found the shape and design interesting

Inspired by my market and internet research my initial explorations were too focussed on the actual camera and capturing of the image.

I explored ways to share and store ones data. I tried using metaphors for a screen, a photo, and a camera.

Early on into the project I was certain that beyond taking pictures what was essential to a new camera would be time after the photo was taken!

1. Can I shoot pictures with hand gestures? Gestures have a code for different functions

2. Remote shooting - exploring hidden areas

3. Shooting through physical activities and exercises

4. Capturing images by just playing

5. Voice and sound activated?

INITIAL EXPLORATIONS

but first

heading to a local school

age group 7-9 years

FURTHER EXPLORATIONS

I always knew I had to work with children and learn from them, so at this point of the project I took the leap and decided to work with a whole classroom full of children! Working with both boys and girls and children with vastly different interests really helped me with my research and inspiration.

The first day of interactions began with me starting a discussion about art - sketching and painting, what they do, how they do it and why they do it. I hoped to then steer the conversation into photographs and photography and then to cameras.

some of designs from the Play Dough session

some of the responses in the worksheet

feel free to watch highlights of the session - “Play Dough” movie appendix (0:57 secs)

Draw one great adventure you will have with your new camera! Beas creative and imaginative as you can!

Who will you show your wonderful pictures to?

How will you show it to them? Try and think of a new way to do it! Remember you don't have to use a computer to show pictures!

At the end of our discussion, I told the class “I am trying to make a camera for children, and I don't know what to do, who would like to help me make a camera?” Every hand in the class room shot up - I used design methods and references from journals and an IDEO study on how to interact with children to make the most of a session.

The rest of the session was spent on making different cameras from Play Dough (clay). This was one of the most inspiring research sessions I have had and a lot of interesting ideas and ‘designs’ were created that day.

At the close of Day 1 the children were asked to take a worksheet each and fill them out. Again, I kept the exercise as open as possible to get the best results possible.

The results were, again, very inspiring and informative! As I was decoding the meaning and insights from each of the worksheets, there was a lot material and inspiration in them.

“ I want to see the picture when I hold the camera up to the sun ”

“I want to share and view my pictures inside a tree trunk because it's cosy and in nature ”

RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

I want to show my pictures to my family and friends (all 21 kids had the same answer)

I want my pictures and drawings framed

I camera that looks 'gadget-y'

I want to see the picture when I hold the camera up to the sun.

I want to project my images into a frame and use my camera as a remote

I want to share and view my pictures inside a tree trunk because it's cosy and in nature

Put the camera into the oven then put it into a washing ma-chine and then put it into a computer to view the images

I want a shared device with my mother

A camera inside a dog bone. So I can see inside his mouth

Interesting that every kid chose only family and friends. It goes to show kids aren't as interested in 'social networking' like everybody else. Relationships and feedback is immediate.

Wants to be able to do things with the camera that one normally wouldn't be able to do. Technology can tend to be very delicate at times

want something that is a secret, something only you know how to do. It's a unique and personal viewing experience specific to you.

It feels good to have a physical and tangible out-come.

Very comfortable with technology and they can 'visualise' and imag-ine the transmission of data.

Interested in something that can do many things and has many func-tions – or atleast look like it can

viewing and sharing pictures is an event, its a time to gather and feel cosy – like around the family photo album

go through many processes to then view your image. It takes more than clicking to 'prepare' the photo

a device that updates the other device on the go.

At this stage I reviewed all the worksheets and made a map to find a thread between the responses. It was important for me at this point to make meaning and find inspiration to move onto the next step in the design process. The map was divided into “what I learnt” (Direct quotes from the children), “what it means” (my inferences and the underlying meaning of each statement) “how might we” (design questions, next page) . Listed below are a few of the interesting threads I chose to work with

HOW MIGHT WE’s and BRAINSTORMINGformulating a design brief

samples from concept generation (150+ ideas)

How might we turn viewing photographs in a social experience? what tools can we provide to achieve this?

How might we develop new ways to share and view images? If we could, how can we make it a tangible experience?

How might we create game using cameras?educational games exercise games plain old fun or anything you can think of!

How might we link more than one camera together? Is there a benefit to have buddy cameras?

How might we enable the act of photography to be more than just clicking a button?

At this stage I formulated a design brief and challenge, and posed them as concise points to have a brainstorm around. I facilitated a series of brainstorming sessions that were very successful as many new and exciting concepts and ideas were born from it.

The next step I took was to cluster and group the concepts so I could work with them better. From the various groupings several workable concepts were born, and from concepts working prototypes were born.

QUICK PROTOTYPES

I created a working prototype with which to test my ideas and concepts and more importantly to provide a means for experience testing with children.

Cameras designed for an earlier project were hacked and modified to work with my concepts Webcam with a button routed through an Arduino and Processing to run the code

Quick Concept test 1In this idea I tested out augmenting the screen with a shape and latter with alphabets. The object was to find the shape in the natural environment around you

Quick Concept test 2The second concept was a game one played with their surroundings. Augmented on the screen is a “ball” and a “hole”, and the object of the game is get the ball into the hole by making a path between the two. The only rule is that the path has to be a line in the real world joining the two!

EXPERIENCE TESTING AND PROTOTYPES

experience testing with children

I conducted several experience testing and prototypes. the best way to validate, test, check ideas and concepts is to re-create an as best as one can the experience the user gets from your ‘project’

3 rounds of experience testing with 4 different children to gauge their experience and reactions of the changing concept (made better)

Some of the things I wanted to learn about

Some of the things I learnt

How easy are the concepts to grasp?How easy is it to use?How much interest is generated?Limitations of the idea (physical, conceptual, etc)

Game like features are more engagingSticking to the age group is vital!Children are very comfortable with technologyNeeds for the physical productNon entertainment scenarios might work as well!

GOALS AND CONCEPTSjump forward

* PLEASE NOTE: All concepts have accompanying videos, and have to be watched to better understand the idea

Communication and Interpersonal skills among peers"Get Outside and Play"

See the world around them from a different perspectiveNew ways to view and share images

Tactile with a sense of awe and wonder

Concept 1 HANGMAN

Similar to the camera game prototype I created with augmented graphics on the screen. In this concept the user has to match alphabets on the screen to ‘alphabet shapes’ found in the real world around them. I re-created the classic Hangman game - Only, with a camera

Watch video : Concept Video

At this stage I set myself a set of goals for the project and came up with concepts to work on armed with inspiration from my research and experience testing.

Concept 2 Puzzle

What does one do with all the images they shoot? In this concept, the user chooses an old image(or new) and physically shakes the camera, to create a jig saw puzzle from the image!

Watch video : Concept Video

Concept 3 Scavenger

Going by my deep desire to enable social interaction and at the same time to get children and play outside more, I designed this concept where one plays the traditional ‘scavenger hunt’ game using a camera, and playing with friends

Watch video : Concept Video

your ImpCam

SCREEN PROTOTYPES working on GUI elements

CONCEPTS concepts I worked with

your friends ImpCam

your friends ImpCam

ImpCam 1ImpCam 2

send

later

Concept 4 MAGIC

With this concept I try to answer my question in the beginning - can I create a new way to share and view images.

Watch video : Concept Video

Concept 5 LINE GAME

In this game the player has to guide the character to safety (door) avoiding enemies - the only catch is, one has to find the path using lines in the real world. Please watch the video to understand more

Watch video : Line Game

after receiving your image the only way your friend can see the image(s) is by physically coming in contact with you. Once both the ImpCams are in range the images show up on the screen.

The touch screen enables control over the slideshow.

there’s no reason, your friend should be able to ‘keep’ your photos. In my research I found ‘permanence’ a very interesting research area. Permanence vs. Interest.

MODEL PROTOTYPE ANDVIDEO SCENARIO

basic version of evolution of formstills from video prototyping

I relied largely on existing toys and designs to work out the ergonomics to create my prototype due to time constraints. I modelled a lot of my prototypes on handheld video game devices, and used the IPhone as a prototyping platform.

It was extremely easy and quick to make mock ups and software prototypes that could be quickly tested. I learned a lot about using existing products in the market to get work done rapidly and efficiently.

I used the models in the video scenarios (which were mini experience tests themselves) And made a final working prototype out of acrylic plastic which is my own creation.

ImpCam final design (my design)

ABOUT ME

I recently graduated from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Denmark with a Masters in Interaction Design as part of the Pilot year. I have a background in Furniture and Product design and I really enjoy working in the fields of Interaction Design, User Experience, Service Design and Product Design and have a keen interest in a process driven approach to Product Development and Design. Originally from India, I now live in Denmark working on interesting and engaging projects in the field of User experience and Interaction design.

My interest in Interaction design began when I began paying the electricity bill for my house every month at the automatic billing machine around the corner. The kiosk is built into the wall and takes almost as much space as a doorway, in-fact it is a doorway, a peek into technology and an example of the rapid development of my country (India). There are two ways to use the machine but only one way to pay my bill at this 24 hr kiosk, one of them is to arrive at the kiosk at anytime between 10 am and 5 PM, in order to catch the attendant, who is present to collect my bill, scan the bar-code, punch in the appropriate numbers, feed my money into the machine, tear off the printed receipt and hand it over to me. The second way to pay my bill is, to walk up to the kiosk at anytime ie: when the attendant is unavailable - maybe on a lunch break, or after 5pm. The only problem with this approach is that the ‘user friendly’ machine is frustratingly un-cooperative to my needs. So we’re back at option one, a ‘convenient’ automated machine with a clerk to handle it and a long queue. What’s the difference between paying your bill at a manned window and the automated machine? Well none, unless like me, one enjoys the sound the machine makes when it ‘sucks’ my money in.

Initi

al desig

n brief

Desk a

nd mark

et researc

h

Initi

al concept g

eneratio

n

User

researc

h (School s

ession)

Formula

ting d

esign c

hallenges

Bra

insto

rmin

g

Concept g

eneratio

n

Quic

k pro

toty

ping

Testin

g

Refin

ed tests

with

Child

ren

Refin

ed tests

with

Child

ren (2

)

Re-w

ork c

oncepts

Work

out n

ew c

oncepts

Experience te

sting

Scenario b

uildin

g

Experience te

sting a

nd Vid

eo

Concepts

for fo

rm

Work

ing p

roto

type

12 weeks

APPENDIX (videos)

Play DoughConcept VideoLine game test and final

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Gwkc4Cdfkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFAEDcchC8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIQG2JIXBvQ

what more can a camera be?

Siddhart

h Muth

yala

CIID

/ DKDS fi

nal pro

ject 2

009

ImpCam