Presenting the MacProTouch...or the iPad!

Here is an initial concept rendering of the iPad (due to be unveiled for real in two days!). You'll notice a few features:

The two way camera described in the post below is shown here, with the camera facing down. I thought this would be a perfect place to show the apple logo, which is slightly raised, and gives the user grip to quickly turn the camera over to face them.

We described the ports and buttons before, so I quickly highlighted them here. The key is minimal. Two USB ports, one power cable port (see my concept about a wireless plug) and only one socket for a mic/headphone combination (why do you need both anyway?).

The home button and power on/off button are combined. How? Simply holding the button for more than a few seconds will call a command on the interface to verify shutting down the iPad.

Also note the aluminum backing of the iPad (I will render the back of this tomorrow to show some potential features)

Last but no means least, note that the iPad interface rotates as you rotate. You can type/paint/draw in landscape or portrait mode. The interface is so sensitive it can pick up the lightest stroke of a brush, as well as changing the nature of the drawn stroke depending on pressure.

This is my initial rendering. Over the coming weeks, I'll be posting renderings of how I think the interface might work!

Till January 27th!

iPad camera.......AND video chat

While currently modelling my idea of what the MacProTouch (or the iPad) might look like, one thing really struck me, having a camera at the back and at the front might seem messy. So i came up with an idea of a dual function swivel camera. The image below shows the iPad in profile. Imagine you are video chatting to your friend and suddenly you see something in the street that you want to share with your friend, real time. No problem, simply touch the camera, and swivel it to face the back of your laptop. They can now see exactly what you're talking about, while you can enjoy their reaction on your iPad!

I really love this idea because its simple, multifunctional and has a relevant affect on people's lives in how they interact with each other. It also combines a camera and video chat, two tasks typically treated separately, because one faces the user, while the other faces what the user is looking at.

Now your Apple swivel camera can do both!

Only 3 days left!

When I started this blog 6 months ago, it was simply a design excercise for me. I certainly didn't think an a tablet version of the iphone would be ready so soon, but rumors are spreading that on Jan 27th, Steve Jobs will unveil such a device.



Here are some of the things I hope to see:

• A camera that can swivel to either face the user and help with video conferencing, or face the back to take large pictures and videos.
• An interface that has zero buttons, or physical keyboard. I really want to see a true tablet that i can type on, paint on, and sketch on.
• A simple elegant form factor, with minimal port and plugs. (however i dont want to see a form factor with absolutely no chance to plug in peripheral)
• I do NOT want to see a large scale version of the iPhone, I think this is very unimaginative.
• A wireless plug. Tethered to the socket because of the charger cable seems dated now, we receive information wirelessly, why not energy?
• Gestural commands. I should play 'charades' with my laptop - make a typing motion on the iPad and the keyboard comes up for example. No more F5 or F10.

These are just some of the thing I hope to see. Above is an image from a concept from iLounge. Personally I hope they don't go this path - it seems to be peripheral hell!

Cannot wait, in the meantime expect a concept of my own over the next few days.

Collaborative sketching

Sketching, and white-boarding, are great techniques for creating entirely new concepts. But brainstorming always seems to need people in the room.

Ok, so we have LiveMeeting, but it usually involves a tag team approach (i add content, then you do, then i do, then you do, etc etc). If everyone in the live meeting, in different places in the world, could add content to the same document (and by document this could be excel, word, or a painting, or a sketch. Suddenly conceptualizing becomes a team effort. There is no concept of individual control, everyone can contribute.

I think about personally how i would use this in my world. A great example is having my writing reviewed by an editor. We can work together on the same app to edit at the same time, speeding up our work. Or I am brainstorm a new product idea with a client, the client can now get involved in adding his own input to the sketch.

In a touchscreen world that users can interact with using pencils and paintbrushes, suddenly talent can be shared and vision expressed more intuitively. Precision white-boarding allows all users to connect their brain to the task at hand, without technology enforcing a new way of doing a basic task - collaborative sketching.

MacProTouch and TV

The Macprotouch could potentially change the way TV is distributed, managed, and viewed. Let's get real here, people watch tv online all the time, legally and illegally, and with the MacProTouch, TV suddenly can become a portable concept, not just something you sit and watch, but something you can watch at any time.

Think of the model of cable tv: You buy a certain number of channels, you subscribe to each channel. You never get the show you want, when you want it. You then pay for Tivo to ensure you record the right channels at the right time to get what you want?
Why not incorporate TV channel concepts using the internet?

For example, you open up your iTV on the MacProTouch, and decide to subscribe to the HBO and Movie Channel. You can now stream both channels online, a similar experience to TV, as in you easily flick between each channel while its streaming, but instead its streamed via web, not cable.

You see a repeat show of Sopranos is on, but you'll be out of the house. No problem, touch on the schedule to 'TiVo' Sopranos. Two things will happen: your MacProTouch is switched off, so the episode is downloaded into a user 'cloud', that the user can access when they switch it on. If your MacProTouch is switched 'on', the laptop can automatically download the show WHEN it happens, locally to your laptop. 'TiVo'd shows can stay online in a cloud for up to say a week if that is the user preference, which saves time and space on the harddrive.

Of course, the experience of watching TV is a bit different that watching it on a laptop, but here is where the clever part can come in. You can now watch TV as it airs on your laptop via wireless, or on a typical TV monitor via cable, AND you can hook up your laptop to your monitor (possibly remotely) to watch 'TiVod' shows on the big screen. It pleases the advertisers, cable channels, internet users et all, by tweaking the business model, not by reinventing the wheel.

Webcam : I see you!

The Microsoft surface is unlike other touchscreens such as the iPhone in that the camera 'sees' you. It can see where your hand is, the gestures and orientation of your hand etc.
So imagine the MacProTouch can 'see you'. Microsoft research is thinking in this direction:



When you tilt your iPhone, it responds in kind, which is pretty cool for gaming.
Now imagine you don't have to tilt your MacProTouch at all. You simply face it while say standing in front of it, and by moving, you can affect what's on the screen.

Examples of this might be:

Video conferencing. You can freely move around as the camera follows you.

Gaming. A skiing game is a great example of this, by leaning to the left and right of a wall mounted MacProTouch, you can affect how the game is played.
If this was a widescreen entertainment version of the MacProTouch, imagine the experience of skiing down a virtual slope by applying correct pressure on your skis.

Creative/physical therapy: I want to discuss this topic in more detail, but imagine a virtual lump of clay on the MacProTouch screen. As the user gestures, depending on the tool he selects, he can cut, rotate, or mould the clay. It's an entirely new experience for artists, but it also opens up (along with gaming) a world of physical therapy not explored, because the movement is based on your gestures and interactions with the cam.

Iphone's don't leverage the capability and interaction possibilties of a webcam, but current laptops do come with one, so why not take this one step further with the MacProTouch.

The death of industrial design?

Industrial design (the hardware) could lose out in the battle for the most intuitive interaction design (software). In fact is it possible that in the futures multi-touch interfaces will eliminate the need for interactive design altogether?

The simple answer: no. Because a bad product design can greatly affect the perception of the interaction design.

Here is a good example:

The iPhone (big shock)


The interface obviously creates most of the engagement with the product. BUT, it is the interaction between the physical and virtual that makes this a truly beautiful product to use. The physical press of the home button, is a satisfying action (actually I don't like how the interface behaves here, but i do like the physical design of this button). The mute, volume control and reset button are all slick, fit in nicely within the hardware and maintain a smooth symmetry when the iPhone is looked at from the side/top. You'll notice how the mute button is exactly aligned with the volume control when it is not on mute. This serves too purposes, 1. it shows a level of detail not recognised on a conscious level but appreciated on a subconscious level (it would be jarring if this alignment was off by even a fraction), 2. it visually tells the user at a glance whether this button is on silent or not (the orange dot also helps).

The way the iPhone fits in the the hand makes it comfortable to use, and though the product design is not a design that is in your face (like the nano), its the subtlety and quality of the design that adds to the interaction experience.

A bad example: the HP multi touch PC.



There's a couple of reasons this has bad product design. This is essentially a regular PC with a touchscreen.
Note how the user, demoing the product, has to hold the lid while performing touchscreen maneuvers, so that the lid doesn't push back etc.

So much room is taken up with the keyboard that it takes away from the touchscreen. The product design has become such a hindrance on the interaction design that the experience of the interaction design is lessened in the mind of the consumer.

So with touchscreens, product design is still a vital part of the tactile experience, and a subtle well designed product that works with the interface in a seamless way can make or break the impression made on the user.