Brainstorm

Analyzing Existing Apps

Pocket Zoo

Pocket Zoo is an app that allows kids to watch animals via live webcams from zoos across the world. With photos, animal facts, and animal sounds, Pocket Zoo provides a wealth of information in a portable way that's appropriate for any age. The app also offers the option of sending email photos of animals or Twitter messages through the app.

 

Pocket Zoo is a great educational app that allows children wherever they may be in the world to get a close look at animals in zoos around the world via live webcams. Though the primary target audience appears to be children, people of any age group can enjoy learning about the various animals and watch them wherever the user may be. It may even encourage people to visit the zoos if they view something exciting or want a closer encounter with any of the animals they've viewed on the app.

In terms of interface, this app is successful in the way the map interface resembles one of an actual zoo, allowing the users to fully engage and feel as if they're visiting a real zoo themselves. The live streamed webcams also help enhance this element of experience design, and allow users to share these experiences via social networking. The interface design uses alot of visual representations of the animals (ie the icons, photos, etc) to universally communicate and widen their target audience, so any child or adult of any language can recognize them.

DoggyDatez

Tagg is essentially a GPS attachment for your dog's collar, and because of its many features, it can give allow peace of mind. The app will track your dog's activity and send you a text message if he goes beyond the boundaries you set. Not only that, Tagg allows you to make sure your dog is getting enough exercise by measuring movement.

Tagg is a great way to give peace of mind to all dog owners, as it allows you to track them via GPS. In terms of usability, have a mobile application to track the dog that users can carry anywhere is ideal as majority of people will not be with their dog 24/7. It has allowed ease of use with the information of your dogs whereabouts being sent via SMS if they step out of the boundaries the user sets. This helps create a successful experience for the dog owners or pet sitters using the app and allows them to continue with their daily lives without worrying of the whereabouts of their furry friend.

Nike Fuelband

The Nike Fuelband is a universal way to measure all kinds of activites - from your morning workout to your big night out. Uniquely designed to measure whole-body movement no matter your age, weight or gender, Nike Fuel tracks your active life.

The Nike Fuelband is predominantly a combination of informational design and sensorial. Informative in the way that it keeps track and check your activity progress in the form of calories burned, steps taken etc. Sensorial through the process of physically wearing the band and it measuring your movements and heart rate.

The band is successful as it creates an experience appropriate for a wide audience, from professional athletes to people who just want to stay active and healthy. The interface works well and predominantly uses colour and images such as graphs to communicate and compare your activity. This helps to universally communicate and ease the understanding of information to whomever, wherever is using the product.

Suwappu

Suwappu is a range of toys, animal characters that live in little digital worlds. The physical toys are canvasses on which new worlds are created. Through a phone or tablet lens we can see into the narratives, games and media in which they live.   

These Suwappu toys are brought to life through the users mobile device using AR. The toys act as miniature televisions for users to engage in and interact with, and are connected to social media websites such as Twitter and Youtube. The 3D environments surrounding them are determined by the pants of the Suwappu you have created. This is a successful piece of experience design, as the users interact physically and create an experience unique to them (dependent on their Twitter feeds, etc). Whilst enticing and engaging the them to explore a new digital Suwappu world.    

Sesame Street Augmented Reality Play set

The creator of Sesame Street decided to explore AR experiences for children that encourage learning and imagination. The toy play set includes traditional elements such as common household objects as well as classic Sesame Street characters. But when viewed through the application, the pieces and the play environment come to life through the mobile devices camera.

Sesame Street has a long history of using cutting-edge technology to address children's developmental needs. Having the characters virtually come to life through the camera of a mobile device turns the play set into an interactive experience. The usability is ideal for their target audience of children, as nothing more is needed than to face your mobile phone or tablet towards the play set. It is informative through the learning the characters provide, and sensorial as it engages the user in a multi-level, dynamic encounter with the Sesame Street world.     

Nintendo 3DS AR Cards

With the release of the 3DS, Nintendo also published 6 paper cards that interact with certain games. By scanning the cards with the 3DS, real time graphics are augmented onto live footage, and it is possible to take 3D photos of these Nintendo characters. 

More Definitions

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to automatically transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the Internet.

A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low -- or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. So far, the Internet of Things has been most closely associated with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication in manufacturing and power, oil and gas utilities. Products built with M2M communication capabilities are often referred to as being smart.

GPS

A GPS navigation device is a device that receives Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to determine the device's location on Earth. GPS devices provide latitude and longitude information, and some may also calculate altitude, although this is not considered sufficiently accurate or continuously available enough (due to the possibility of signal blockage and other factors) to rely on exclusively to pilot aircraft. GPS devices are used by the military, by aircraft pilots, by sailors, and for recreational purposes by the public.

AR

Augmented reality is a live, copy, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one. Augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulable. Artificial information about the environment and its objects can be overlaid on the real world.

QR

QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte / binary, and kanji) to efficiently store data; extensions may also be used.

The QR Code system has become popular outside the automotive industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, general marketing, and much more.

A QR code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device (such as a camera) and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be appropriately interpreted; data is then extracted from patterns present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.

RFID

RFID systems can be used just about anywhere, from clothing tags to missiles to pet tags to food -- anywhere that a unique identification system is needed. The tag can carry information as simple as a pet owners name and address or the cleaning instruction on a sweater to as complex as instructions on how to assemble a car. Some auto manufacturers use RFID systems to move cars through an assembly line. At each successive stage of production, the RFID tag tells the computers what the next step of automated assembly is.

NFC 

Near Field Communications (NFC), is  a contactless, Wi-Fi-lite style tech that are currently included in a range of smartphone devices, and could soon be a regular feature of commute.

It's a short-range, low power wireless link evolved from radio-frequency identification (RFID) tech that can transfer small amounts of data between two devices held a few centimeters from each other.

RFID vs NFC?

RFID is the process by which items are uniquely identified using radio waves, and NFC is a specialized subset within the family of RFID technology. Specifically, NFC is a branch of High-Frequency (HF) RFID, and both operate at the 13.56 MHz frequency. NFC is designed to be a secure form of data exchange, and an NFC device is capable of being both an NFC reader and an NFC tag. This unique feature allows NFC devices to communicate peer-to-peer.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things
http://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.layar.com/augmented-reality/
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RFID.html
http://blog.atlasrfidstore.com/rfid-vs-nfc

M2.0 and W2.0

Mobile 2.0

Mobile 2.0, refers to a perceived next generation of mobile internet services that leverage the social web, or what some call Web 2.0. The social web includes social networking sites that emphasize collaboration and sharing amongst users. Mobile Web 2.0, with an emphasis on Web, refers to bringing Web 2.0 services to the mobile internet, i.e., accessing aspects of Web 2.0 sites from mobile internet browsers.

By contrast, Mobile 2.0 refers to services that integrate the social web with the core aspects of mobility – personal, localized, always-on and ever-present. These services are appearing on wireless devices such as Smartphones and multimedia feature phones that are capable of delivering rich, interactive services as well as being able to provide access and to the full range of mobile consumer touch points including talking, texting, capturing, sending, listening and viewing.

Characteristics of Mobile 2.0

• The social web meets mobility
• Extensive use of User-Generated Content, so that the site is owned by its contributors
• Leveraging services on the web via mashups
• Fully leveraging the mobile device, the mobile context, and delivering a rich mobile user experience
• Personal, Local, Always-on, Ever-present

http://www.slideshare.net/fling/mobile-20-design-and-develop-for-the-iphone-and-beyond-web-20-expo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_2.0

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web sites that use technology beyond the static pages of earlier Web sites. The term was coined in 1999 by Darcy DiNucci and was popularized by Tim O'Reilly at the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in late 2004. Although Web 2.0 suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specification, but rather to cumulative changes in the way Web pages are made and used.

A Web 2.0 site may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to Web sites where people are limited to the passive viewing of content. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomies, video sharing sites, hosted services, Web applications, and mashups.

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/w/f/web20.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Mobile Phone Interface

The mobile interface, or MI, of a device is the look and feel of the on-screen menu system. How it works, its color scheme, how it responds to button presses, all of these things are part of the mobile and user interface. The term is also sometimes used to refer to the piece of software that resides on a smartphone that deals with typical user interface issues. For example, UIQ and Nokia S60 are both user interfaces that run on the Symbian OS on smartphones. They each have a very different look and feel to them.
http://www.mobileburn.com/definition.jsp?term=user+interface

Interface concept designs for Blue Bee:

Introducing the Brief

Key Definitions:

INFORMATIONAL DESIGN
Information design is the detailed planning of specific information at is to be provided to a particular audience to meet specific objectives. The information designer may or may not have available (or may create) an information architecture that defines the overall pattern or structure that is imposed on the information design and an information plan that defines information units and how they are to be completed. The output of an information design is sometimes expressed in written instructions, plans, sketches, drawings, or formal specifications. 
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/information-design

INTERACTIVE DESIGN
Interaction design (IxD) is a relatively new field in the category of computer science that defines the ways in which a person can interact with a computer system, be it a mobile device or a mainframe server. Since computers have been in widespread use, the focus of designers has been on the functionality of hardware and software. As graphic displays became more powerful, video and audio design became the focus of many software designers. Today, computers are so powerful and the technology has advanced to such a level that nearly unlimited options exist in how a person can operate, control and communicate with a computer and how the computer can communicate with the user.
http://www.interactiondesign.com.au/

SENSORIAL DESIGN
The strategic process of creating design to engage the user in a multi-level, dynamic, tailored encounter; where the brand experience triggers one or more senses evoking an intuitive response.
http://www.brycecorkins.com/about/glossary/

EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Experience Design is an approach to creating successful experiences for people in any medium. This approach includes consideration and design in all 3 spatial dimensions, over time, all 5 common senses, and interactivity, as well as customer value, personal meaning, and emotional context. Experience Design is not merely the design of Web pages or other interactive media or on-screen digital content. Designed experiences can be in any medium, including spatial/environmental installations, print products, hard products, services, broadcast images and sounds, live performances and events, digital and online media, etc.

http://www.brycecorkins.com/about/glossary/

INTERFACE DESIGN
Interface design deals with the process of developing a method for two (or more) modules in a system to connect and communicate. These modules can apply to hardware, software or the interface between a user and a machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interface_design

USABILITY
Usability means making products and systems easier to use, and matching them more closely to user needs and requirements.
http://www.usabilitynet.org/management/b_what.htm

INTERACTION
Interaction is a response experience in which both actor and reactor are engaged in a mutually affecting experience. This means that the system is comprised of two interactive partners. In the case of interactive media, one partner may only be mildly interactive (such as a computer) and only programmatically so. While most of the computer actor’s actions are the result of predetermined programming, if the variations are ample enough, it can be said that this actor is interactive (making it an interactor). Mostly, two humans (being inherently interactive) will create an interactive system or experience simple by conversing.
http://www.brycecorkins.com/about/glossary/

MOBILE

1. Capable of moving or of being moved readily from place to place: a mobile organism; a mobile missile system.

2.

a. Capable of moving or changing quickly from one state or condition to another: a mobile, expressive face.

b. Fluid; unstable: a mobile situation following the coup.

3.

a. Marked by the easy intermixing of different social groups: a mobile community.

b. Moving relatively easily from one social class or level to another: an upwardly mobile generation.

c. Tending to travel and relocate frequently: a restless, mobile society.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Mobile

TOUCHSCREEN
A touch screen is a display screen that is also an input device. The screens are sensitive to pressure; a user interacts with the computer by touching pictures or words on the screen.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/touch-screen

USER EXPERIENCE
The overall experience, in general or specifics, a user, customer, or audience member has with a product, service, or event. In the Usability field, this experience is usually defined in terms of ease-of-use. However, the experience encompasses more than merely function and flow, but the understanding compiled through all of the senses.
http://www.brycecorkins.com/about/glossary/