GroupBrainstorm-Group:4Corners

From CS160 User Interfaces Fa06

Contents 1 BRAINSTORMING 1.1 CATEGORIZATION 2 THE PROJECT 2.1 Idea Selection 2.2 Target User Group 2.3 Problem Description 2.4 Problem Context 2.4.1 Alternatives 2.4.2 Existing Solutions 2.5 Why the Anoto System is a Good Technology for the Problem 2.6 Solution Sketch

BRAINSTORMING

1. Replay – view the animation of the strokes over again on the computer
2. Snail mail
3. Publishing online (blogs)
4. Collaborating online – messaging (AIM)
5. Recipe cards and databases – write out recipe cards and sync it up with a database; able to e-mail it to other people
6. Annotations
7. Portfolio, sketching
8. Business cards – easily share contact information (give a business card, and be able to sync it up with their Outlook etc.)
9. Address book
10. Synchronized Calendars
11. Class Scheduling
12. Music notes
13. Class notes – have a digital version of the notes for yourself as well
14. Be able to share notes
15. Combine ideas 3 and 9 (Blog publishing and address book) to get MySpace
16. Translation (OCR) – example – write a word you don’t recognize (like from a sign) onto the Anoto paper, transmit it, and receive the translation of it to your cell phone
17. Movie times – write down a name of a movie and have show times transmitted to your cell phone
18. Multimedia worksheets
19. More worksheet ideas – have instant feedback or grading of worksheets (GRE)
20. Anti-cheating algorithms – use Anoto paper for tests, use for easier grading as above (automatically score multiple choice), and try to run “cheat sniffers” across similar answers
21. Timeline – (feature) – use timestamp data from the digital pen to create timelines – could be compatible with class notes, worksheet progress, etc.
22. Use digital pen as an easier interface to some harder to learn software – such as powerpoint – write out desired presentation using pen and have it automatically converted to a powerpoint presentation
23. mock-ups of web sites and have HTML/CSS code automatically generated
24. Web comic publishing
25. Shopping lists: be able to send to Safeway and get groceries delivered and/or do price comparison shopping automatically (write in desired product, such as strawberries, and get an e-mail or message saying that they’re on sale at Albertsons)
26. Prescription forms
27. Application forms
28. Guest feedback cards, such as at restaurants and hotels
29. Menus and ordering at restaurants
30. Game commentary – have comments streamed live
31. Voting
32. Meter maid – have tickets written electronically transmitted
33. Map on Anoto paper – example use case: you’re on a road trip and you circle the map; get information about what hotels are in the area, or attractions, restaurants, etc.
34. Catalog
35. Mail in order form
36. Storyboarding
37. E-Checks
38. Money transfer
39. Pay bills
40. Withdraw and Deposit checks
41. KRON4 Info
42. Crossword correctness detector – write in the wrong answer in a crossword (or sudoku) and the pen gives feedback
43. Post it notes
44. Pictionary
45. Vector Graphics
46. Tic-tac-toe
47. Battleship
48. Game design – sketch out level designs on paper to help lay out a game level
49. Essay outline -> essay: when you start writing an essay, you often take notes and make an outline on paper … have that outline converted into a word document to give you a skeleton draft of your essay
50. Math/Science (OCR): often equation editors are cumbersome to use, so writing out equations and such is easier by hand. However, you want to be able to have this in a word document (such as if you’re writing a research paper) to publish professionally – so basically an OCR application with special character recognition for math/science/econ etc.

CATEGORIZATION

• Replay
  

• Timeline
• Sketching
• Storyboarding

• Feedback
  

• Translation
• Map
• Multimedia worksheets
• Grading
• Crossword
• Movie times

• Templates
  

• Shopping list
• Mail order
• PPT
• Web design
• Game design
• Prescriptions
• Menu
• Meter maid
• Voting

• Online
  

• Blog
• Chatting
• Text messaging
• Class notes
• Web comics
• Annotations
• Recipe cards
• Snail Mail

THE PROJECT

Idea Selection

We decided to pursue the blog publishing idea. We came up with a wealth of different ideas outside of our original individual project proposals, deferring judgment on any one idea, and then individually picked our three favorite ideas. We then discussed why the ideas we chose were our favorites, along with the unique features of the Anoto pen we really wanted to explore. We were near unanimous in choosing to build an Anoto-enhanced instant messaging service, but were dissuaded when we further contemplated the technical overhead involved in programming a chat service. We became enthusiastic about the "templates" idea, which would enable users to build their own templates (forms) for whatever purposes they wanted and to sync completed form data into a database. However, we found software that does exactly this already available. We then settled on blogging, another idea that had made it among our top picks, due to a few reasons: 1) there is no robust digital pen + blog publishing software available that we know of; 2) this project may allow us to showcase several different affordances of the Anoto pen, such as allowing the user to write in whatever language they wish; 3) this idea is very closely related to our first choice (messaging) but seems much more feasible to implement well; and 4) this idea unites many of our team's individual interests, such as templates, possibly replay animations, and feedback.

Target User Group

1. Artists can use the service to exhibit their work.
2. People who wish to blog in languages other than English.
3. This project is also useful for educational purposes. A teacher teaching online classes can use the blog as an education imparting medium.
4. People who want to sell their products online (used or new). This system can provide them with functionality like craiglists where they can create a blog to put up their product for sale.
5. People who blog, who wish to explore an alternative blogging procedure than the traditional method of logging onto a web site and inputting text which allows for greater convenience and freedom of expression. This project may narrow the user group down to bloggers who use a specific blogging service, such as Blogger.com.

Problem Description

Blog services allow anyone with an Internet connection to publish their thoughts and ideas on the Internet. In general, a blogger makes new entries in his blog by typing it on a computer. However, inspiration for new blog entries often strikes when the blogger does not have access to a nearby computer. As a result, bloggers often are forced to jot down their ideas on any sorts of paper they can find - ranging from notebooks to napkins - and eventually must enter these entries to a computer. In addition, certain blog authors may feel the requirement of entering the blog entries on a computer is too constraining. Some blog users may lack the technical knowledge to publish blogs on a computer, while others may desire to enter handwritten notes and even animations to their blog entries, tasks that are not intuitive on a computer. This project proposes to alleviate these problems with the current blogging process through the utilization of the Anoto pen and paper. Desirable qualities of paper notebooks include portability, security, and accessibility. In addition, blogs are in essence digital diaries or journals, so the entry of ideas into a journal presents a comfortable setting for users. The Anoto pen and paper system has the potential to make extend the accessibility, portability, and security of the blogging system.

Problem Context

Bloggers come from all walks of life and are varied in their available time, education, motivation, values, and resources. In this sense, it may be hard to analyze them and the use cases generally. However, all are united in their desire to express themselves conveniently through blogs. The traditional blogging procedure is convenient as long as you have access to a computer and with it, the internet. There are a few alternative blogging procedures available.

Alternatives

1. Edit blogs on mobile devices with internet connectivity
2. Text message to create blog postings from your cell phone, as well as send photos from camera phones
3. Create voice recordings from your phone that users can play from your blog site

These procedures, while allowing bloggers the convenience of posting entries without a computer and internet access, are extremely limiting as modes of expression. Options one and two are often too clunky, slow, and awkward to be enticing to users who wish to blog "on the go." In my personal experience, text messaging inclines users to be brief and to the point, as punching in letters on the cell phone is a painstakingly slow process, and writing is further marred by the inability of cell phones to display large amounts of text on screen at a time. The third option, while personal, does not mesh well with the general text content of the blog, and the quality of the recording is constrained by environmental factors like background noise. Further, all three options are relatively expensive to blogging on the computer, either because the blogging services require paid membership to have access to these alternatives, or the costs are incurred by text messaging or further internet connectivity fees.

Existing Solutions

We feel obligated to point out that our idea has been implemented in some form already, in the form of a plugin. However, his plugin seems extremely light; we plan to implement something much more robust and innovative.

Why the Anoto System is a Good Technology for the Problem

This project proposes to alleviate the following problems with the current blogging process through the utilization of the affordances of the Anoto system to allow bloggers to create and publish blog content anywhere with greater freedom and personalization:

• Being able to create and publish blog content from any location, regardless of access to a computer, can be desirable when writing about events that just happened or when inspiration suddenly strikes and ideas are still fresh in one’s mind. The Anoto system is a fair technology for this point when paired with Bluetooth, which will allow users to publish blogs without a computer.

• In addition, being able to blog using an alternative medium such as a notebook can be desirable when you have the time to write but aren’t by a computer, such as during dull hours at work or lectures, or when you just feel more comfortable or secure writing in a notebook. Paper has the advantages of being light, flexible, more portable, easy to write on, battery-independent, and more; further, paper has also been the traditional medium on which people have been writing journals for centuries before blogging. The Anoto system is a perfect technology to bridge the traditional journaling method to its modern form, blogging, by keeping the same tools and skillset required in the traditional method.

• Further, the text medium alone may be too limiting and impersonal in the minds of some users. Bloggers may wish to create handwritten entries, entries in other languages, sketches, and even animations for their blog, but may lack the hardware or software know-how necessary to do so. The Anoto system is ideal in dealing with this problem because it has the affordances a pen has: a pen does not limit you in what language you know or in what you choose to write or draw. Further, the Anoto system (we believe) has replay capabilities, which will aid users in creating animations if they choose.

To better illustrate the problem, here are a few scenarios that motivate the project:

• Imagine the situation of an internet journalist attending a technology convention. Due to the sheer number and variety of exciting new products, as well as reader demand for comments in real time, the journalist may wish to update her blog while in attendance of the convention. The current blogging procedure would require a computer, which may be inconvenient to carry and use in a crowded convention center, as well as an internet connection. A notebook is much easier to carry and jot down entries while waiting in line for exhibitions, and entries can be streamed to the blog when Bluetooth is available.

• Some companies use blogging internally as a way to collaborate on projects or to brainstorm and keep a log of future ideas to implement. However, brainstorming should not always be limited to text. Brainstorming bloggers may wish to create diagrams and charts without the hassle of opening up programs such as Visio and Photoshop or scanning in their notes in order to clearly sketch out their ideas.

Solution Sketch

The scope of this project may go above one semester’s worth of engineering. Thus, I will describe some of the initial project goals and designs into small deliverable chunks which can be added on or refined as time goes on.

• Users start up the software and enter in information about their blog(s) upon their first time using the software. This information will be used by the software to upload content to the user’s blogging service.

• Users write their blog entry using the digital pen on the provided paper, and also write down information about what blog they will send it to. They check an appropriate box on the page when they are ready to send and publish the blog as is, or to save it as a draft for further manipulation through the software interface. Upon transmission of a blog entry, the blog information fields are parsed and interpreted. The entry is then published or categorized under the associated blog.

• The software interface may allow the user to edit an entry:
  • Change the color, stroke width, and other appearance features of the stroke data
  • Insert image files
  • Convert to plain text using optical character recognition
  • Convert a selected part to an animation using timestamped stroke data

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