Our device tool project changed a great deal throughout this past week. Each member of the group brought different experiences to the proverbial table, and so had an individual opinion and direction s/he wanted things to go. Ideas of what to do with the project went from creating a new interface, to bringing a more human, organic feel to text-messaging, to using a cell-phone to control something completely different. We spent a great deal of time debating the feasibility and validity of these concepts. The progression of prevalent ideas made an interesting line - as we threw the concepts at those determining factors mentioned previously.
The first concept was in fact a modification to the actual cell-phone interface. We decided to take on the task of creating a more intuitive, more human input system. We were inspired by people's general dissatisfaction of the current key-pad. This idea was plagued by various difficulties, including expense, available technology, time, feasibility, and apathy. In short, we scrapped it.
Our next idea was to focus on text-messaging - and universal input. We decided speech to text technology should be implemented in some fashion to liberate the cell-phone user. We felt that This would allow cell-phone users to multi-task, since they weren't reliant on typing their messages/numbers to dial on the inadequate - but inescapable (as of yet) technology. As this technology is still in a highly developmental stage, and not nearly reliable or portable to exist locally on cell-phones, we conceptualized a system of server-based voice to text. Our concept involved a server-based application that message-ers would call into and speak their message. The server-based app would then record the message to a digital audio file, store it on a database, and analyze it to convert to text, then relay the text-file to the intended recipient. This idea fell through as it relied heavily on programming, which only one of our group could handle. Even still, the technology available does not permit this to be done to any great effectiveness.
We then looked into display systems, exploring personal mobile display. Our research found devices utilizing projections on eyeglasses, micro-screens, visors etc. We found much OLD research, and were severely disappointed in the findings. The available products were insanely expensive - even to pioneer new technology.
We looked at bone conduction transducers. This, we felt, would greatly aid cell-phone usability. Bone conduction transducers provide a much clearer auditory experience, and eliminate much background noise. This is currently being explored in headsets in the market, but again, the technology seems very expensive and still far from a wide release and reception. We are currently still exploring this, but have yet to locate any of those lollipops that make music when you chew on them.
Next, we modified our paradigm, to inspect what issues arise in mobile networking. In our observations, many cell-phone users lost motor awareness, and were basically incapacitated while entering information into the cell-phone. This often led to collisions, or other social confusion and a general level of mayhem. We came to the conclusion that at this point in time, the best methods were preventative, and so looked into location awareness applications for the mobile computer. Our outstanding concept involved the combining of a motion sensor/gyro with a proximity sensor - to determine the actions of the user. A notification system - auditory or visual would be employed as a reminder to the user that conditions were unsafe - obstacles were near at hand.
Our current, and final approach differs greatly from initial intentions.
We propose to use cell-phones as interactive multimedia control devices. This provides an unconventional look at the issues surrounding cell-phones today. We feel that existing accessible mobile networking technology does not adequately promote advancement into the ubiquity such applications could enjoy.
Not only does this approach promote advancement in mobile computing, this application promotes social interaction. Employing such a wide-spread technology as cellular handsets empowers a large user base. Mobile phones are becoming more and more powerful, not only as communication devices but also as more advanced networking vehicles, personal computing devices, and robust interface modules. Cellphones could and should be multipurpose in the ultimate sense. The cellphone is a hugely extensible component.