2 posts tagged “ergonomics”
While reading a draft from the first chapter of Donald Norman's upcoming book, and especially the part about symbiotic relationships between man and machine. The examples Norman uses are examples of embodiment and flow.
As always Norman focuses on the ways new technology will be able to augment existing ways of practice. I think that right now it is more important to think of ways in which new artefacts will transform existing practices. An interesting case is the Wii: we've had motion sensored controllers before but never in such scale. How will people approach the new artefact? Will it lead to new ways of thinking/perceiving games and human-computer interaction in general? This Wired article tackles exactly this point and shows how the evolution of input devices triggered new types of games. So the question concerning Wii is not whether it will support/expand existing genres -the endless debate about the better Zelda version- but if it will lead to new ones. It is also interesting to see how will players will try to "cheat" by doing moves other than the intended ones - i.e. shorter & easier - since the remote doesn't seem to register the whole motion (although I have to check that). I think these "cheats" (catachresis) and time will lead to new designs.
Will the new controller lead to tighter coupling? In isomorphic tasks it surely will - like bowling in Wii sports. The thing is whether this will happen in other genres like FPS. Most reviews until know aren't of much worth since the two titles so far (Red Steel & Call of Duty 3) use different setups and the reviewers are still just exploring the new platform as expert PC / PS/ Xbox users. I think we will have to wait for a more mature title like Metroid Prime 3 to see the true potential. Until then...Wario away!!!
My girlfriend made a beautiful present: a Philips MP3 player! I really like the design and the clever usb protrusion
that eliminates the need for a cable.
Like the geek I am, I immediately checked in the website to see if there where any upgrades for my device...
But which is my device? I examined the device but not info... I tried to find the model number from the software or the device manager, but no luck...
I think this is an aspect that many designers forget: I have encountered such difficulties with motherboards and graphics cards but since these are internal devices, such difficulties are understandable. But to encounter such
problems with laptops, mobile phones and mp3 players which are tangible devices whose surface is covered with huge
"Windows Media" logos and other non-inforation is inexcusable!
For the record the model number was here:
