Game play (theory of fun)

We just finished playing some of the Christmas games. It brought me to thinking about the theory of fun book. It seemed interesting I think that the theory of fun book has it partially right, game fun is based on learning or possibly not learning but developing a strategy for game play. Perhaps engagement (rather than fun) carries on while we can gain new strategy.

Flock

had an idea of a new programming language over lunch.

Flock

In flock everything is a graph.
So
A = 5 ;

assigns a graph with one node ( with value 5 ) to the Flock called A.

A graph consists of nodes + (weighted)edges.

A node can be an atom ( int,float,string,char..) or another graph as a 'value' or label.

A flock can have a disjoint (unconnected) graph.

Naturally everything can be represented with a graph of one sort or another. For example
A = 'map.gig'.loadAsImage();
makes a gridded graph with each A node being a pixel and the links are the way to get from one adjacent pixel to another.

alternatively a linked list is a linear graph. A hash table is a graph.

In Flock method can be assigned to
a) A Node
b) an edge
b) The entire flock ( single message shared over all instances)

Flock methods can be used to implement parallel programming by using a special method to call the method from the flock in parrell.

A large flock may be distributed invisibly across a number of computers. Hence a message may be transmitted from one sheep/link to another down an edge and actually be transmitting over the network.

More hardware

Went to IKEA and got table + box for new table interface. Need to go again and get mirror and change legs. I need more light in the box but we need more IR lights + filter for the table

M801 project Ideas

M801 Project Ideas
It takes me about a day to write one up. I thought I would dump my current idea list up.

1. People as streets. Trying to produce flat representations for non flat graphs. Get students to try to develop mechanisms to layout arbitrary graphs as axial representations.

2. [IN] Cognitive Maps ( Sketch Maps ) for long term user interface analysis. Get people to draw maps of the user interface for commonly used programs like Word or Excel ( or 3D program or IDE ). Use reference to sketch mapping ( Lynch).

4. Sketchy display of user interface elements to facilitate GUI requirements engineering.

3.Future Finder.Containment layout algorithms. How to layout rectangles in the most efficient way while not spending all day doing it.

4. ReCctor vision - implementing something in reactor vision. Embodies displays.

5. Algorithms for GPU. Thinking about concurrent program what kinds of mischief can we get up to. Searching sorting anything that isn't a graphical rendering algorithum.

6. Advanced documentation. Implement a doclet to add visualisation and getting started to java doc code.

8. CSP - a like ASP or PHP but embeds C into HTML text. Runs compiler that produces a CGI.

something edgy, something collaborative, something borrowed, something blue

From the last shareIt meeting. We wanted something
1. Edgy
2. Easy and quick to do. ( no new expensive hardware)
3. Something we can do more collaborative/shareable (real time collaborate) research with.
4. Something playful but not an art work.
5. Fairly simple reliable.

here is my next idea

On the way down the the ShareIt meeting I was chatting about thinking about another kind of floor saver application. When we entered the building I realised what I wanted.

As you enter many buildings you see bits of paper stuck up with 'meeting here this way'

I wanted to make a floor stickies (RM's rather brilliant name).

As you enter the building and through out the building you see rectangles projected on the floor like sticky notes. As you walk on them the pages move and reorder to keep out of the way ( fun with crowds) or stick to you if you don't move for a bit. Some playful interaction between two people as the notes move to avoid both pedestrians. Messages can be either simple text or and image (downloaded).

To avoid annoyance messages can only live for 1-7 days. So the floor is never casually out of date(unlike paper ones you have to go and take down).

These are messages ( some including a direction arrow) that anyone in the local department intranet can add via web page.

Edgey factor.
Posts are anonymous, for example if you took pictures of peoples desks you could put them on floor stickies until controversy or boredom takes over.

Modes of collaboration: from inhabitants to visitors ( Dave - Third floor for mike ),
for inhabitants (Paul gone to Cafe see you later).
for one to many inhabitants ( meeting of OU visions group 2:30 all invited).

Pages show a walked on count ?(soft implementation of gates).

Shareable tech - capturing pages or moving/arranging.

tacky research question - is a floor sticky more noticed than a bit of A4 stuck up some where. How event aware are people?

real research question is about looking at how people adopt/ma-adopt(misuse) technology. Do a survey of what people might use a technology for in the abstract then try again a few months later. Also a probe into open space collaborative technologies ( the research question arises from the result ).

Any thoughts ?

YouTube - Tracking fingers with the Wii Remote

YouTube - Tracking fingers with the Wii Remote
I have an idea in my note book about using this kind of interface as an interface to control a television user interface. So to control the TV/Video/DVD/ you would just have to raise your hands and build a simple gesture recognition to do the controlling. ( open hand to stop, drag/waving to start again) possibly using something like the amazon zoom interface to search the plane of TV channels ( zoom in to watch it).

Thinking about it again might be possible to do with Mac/ built in Camera and blob tracking in IR. Quite like voting mechanism so that multiple people could drag/vote on what to watch.

Masters thesis

Odd thought on the OU Masters thesis, we should give 3 thesis as a part of the masters thesis pack. The first TMA would be to mark these sample thesis against the standard marking schedule forcing them to read them critically but also providing a benchmark against what and how to write. The effective writing package they have at the momement is to generic to the point of obscurity.

odd idear about tracking physical documents

odd idear,

Special printer driver that sends paper off to be prininted but also marks the paper with machine readable barcode. This code tells the machine where the document that it was printed from WAS. Perhaps internal database to keep track of document.
So if you have a printed document holding it up to the screen camera would then make it open on the desktop.

reminder about reminder

I just had a quick odd thought. How about a reminder system that produced a scrolling message in the menu bar ( at intervals). This would mean you don't have to dismiss the reminder (specifically) but you could click on it and then control it.

perhaps a haze of reminders floating as screen saver.

Start of new week

Awful night up at 5:00 with Amelia could not get her back to sleep. Took long time to get kids off to school ( ruth off in Cambridge doing via so had to do everything my self).

Now in an feel crap. Finally told why the MSC project was rejected (just need to do small edit to resubmit it).

Also have just got the form (3 pages) you have to fill in to ask permission to apply for external funding. Thats been floating around in the either for 3 weeks now ( might have to check the time thats just my impression).

Finally about to go off and do the first ShareIT project meeting.

Guess I'll be back doing version 7 of TMA this afternoon.

java nuisance of the day.

Strange how the string class ( which is final) has methods that do very neat find and replace.

YET the stringBuilder class - that is something that is mutable only has simple find and replace operatoins.

So if you wnat to do a find and replace on a large string java WANTS you to make a huge copy not operate in place. Perhaps the garbage collector needs more work.

back to TMA.

Expose

I just noticed how Expose (F9 on mac keyboard) lays out the rectangles nicely.

I wonder what the algorithum is?

sheep