non finished academic presentation!

1. 12.000 years playing
ocarina
Filipe Pais Ferreira
Digital Media PhD / Feup UP - Portugal

2. wiki definition
• the ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind
instrument
• oval-shaped enclosed space with four to
twelve finger holes and a mouth tube
projecting out from the body
• It is often ceramic, but many other
materials, such as plastic, wood, glass and
metal may also be used
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocarina

15. 10.000 B.C. 2007 A.D.

16. After 12.000 years of human effort on
research...

17. Smule’s Ocarina (ocarina for iphone)

18. “Smuleʼs Ocarina is the first true musical
instrument created for the iPhone”
smule’s ocarina advertising

19. Iphone pocket guitar

20. Intua “Beatmaker”

21. iDrum

22. Pianist

24. why smule’s ocarina on ADI?
• two different types of characteristics on
interaction: interface navigation and object
as a tangible instrument to be played
(physical manipulation)
• the interaction strategy (blowing into a
mobile phone is almost so crazy as to
speak to a shoe)
• the social layer: the novelty this interface
brings to communication and information
exchange

25. analysis objectives
• How easy to use, accessible and engaging/
desirable is the smuleʼs ocarina?
• How well is this object designed when
compared with the original model?
• What characteristics make this object an
extension from the original?

26. The Smule Ocarina is a wind instrument
designed for the iPhone, fully leveraging its wide
array of technologies:
• microphone input (for breath input)
• multi-touch (for fingering),
• accelerometer,
• real-time sound synthesis,
• high performance graphics,
• GPS/location,

27. quick demo on product functionalities

28. through the magnifying glass

29. ocarina’s interface:
4 sections
• “holes” / instrument itself
• preferences
• “world” / online community
• help / info

30. 1. “holes” / instrument itself

31. 1. “holes” / instrument itself
• menu access icon not very explicit
• blow action is not intuitive
• no feedback relative to accelerometer
action (vibrato)
• sometimes, finger-touches seem to not
register or release early or later.
• manual record mode bar appears randomly

32. 1. “holes” / instrument itself
• no haptic feedback when touching the
“holes”
• sound generator is not realistic
• no mouthpiece: no haptic feedback (visual
feedback is not instantaneous) while
blowing, the air might go another direction
• annoying blip of the in-between notes: no
note off delay (delay the action of raising
your finger by a few milliseconds)

33. • no haptic feedback when touching the “holes”

34. Hideyuki Ando “Touch the small
world” as possible solution

37. • no mouthpiece: no haptic feedback while
blowing, the air might go another direction

43. Mouthpiece hack :)

44. Extensions of wii as example

45. 2. preferences

46. 2. preferences
• it’s not possible to display the root and mode
somewhere on the main screen for quick change
during performance
• no effects like portamento, delay, reverb or sound
synthesis options available
• no options for more holes that changes octaves
• auto record mode comes by default, the user
might not want to be broadcasted without
permission

47. 2. preferences
• "Confirm" or "OK" button for the mode chooser
- tap somewhere in blank space to confirm a
selection is nonstandard
• root, mode, finger and breath color selection
opens the keyboard and becomes editable on tap,
to change them one needs to slide over the box -
change this specifications is frustrating
• the recorded sounds are not accessible

48. 3. “world”
• the world globe is partially interactive there’s no
possibility to select specific broadcast on point
• it’s not possible to see other users profile

49. 4. Help / Info
• How to play: navigation buttons on he top,
contradict the global interface standard; how to
play looks a button; useless information: helps you
to access the menu from the main layout!
• video tutorial and “play the leaf T-bone” buttons
takes you out of the application without warning

50. analytic evaluation
defining an heuristic

51. Usability

52. Visibility of system status: The system should always keep users
informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
• Help/info menu: video tutorial and “play the leaf T-
bone” buttons takes you out of the application
without warning
• Holes layout: manual record mode bar appears
randomly
• Preferences: auto record mode comes by default, the
user might not want to be broadcasted without
permission
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

53. Match between system and the real world:
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts
familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world
conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
• Holes layout: menu access icon not very explicit
• Preferences: "Confirm" or "OK" button for the mode
chooser - tap somewhere in blank space to confirm a
selection is nonstandard
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

54. Consistency and standards: Users should not have to wonder
whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform
conventions.
• Preferences: "Confirm" or "OK" button for the mode
chooser - tap somewhere in blank space to confirm a
selection is nonstandard
• root, mode, finger and breath color selection opens the
keyboard and becomes editable on tap, to change them one
needs to slide over the box - change this specifications is
frustrating
• Help: How to play: navigation buttons on he top,
contradict the global interface standard; how to play looks
a button;
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

55. Error prevention: Even better than good error messages is a
careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either
eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a
confirmation option before they commit to the action.
• no mouthpiece: no haptic feedback (visual feedback
is not instantaneous) while blowing, the air might go
another direction
• annoying blip of the in-between notes: no note
off delay (delay the action of raising your
finger by a few milliseconds)
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

56. Aesthetic and minimalist design: Dialogues should not
contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of
information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and
diminishes their relative visibility.
• Help/ How to play button: useless information: helps
you to access the menu from the main layout!
• Layout is not minimalist and goes out from the
standard
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

57. Help and documentation: Even though it is better if the
system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and
documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's
task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
• No help or further information about preference:
root, modes
• No help or further information about “world” and it’s
organization and functions
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

58. Flexibility and efficiency of use / different
user levels Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may
(Shneiderman):
often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to
both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
• Preferences and interface in general don’t help the
beginner to cross some difficulties (what is the funtion
root/modes) and to solve doubts and don’t allow
advanced users to add and personalize more
functionalities like: note off delay, more holes to access
different octaves, effects, sound syntheses, easy access to
root and modes, so the complexity and expertise level
and expression can be possible.
(Nielsen, 1994) http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

59. Accessibility

60. Provide choices in features and ways
that tasks can be accomplished
• The qwerty keyboard when needed is too small
for people with very large fingers and impossible
to use for blinds
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/accessibility/principles.txl

61. Provide choices in features and ways
that tasks can be accomplished /
Provide Feedback
• Taping holes or any other icons don’t produce
sound or haptic feedback for blind persons
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/accessibility/principles.txl

62. EMOtiON!!
!!

63. Why must information be presented in a dull, dreary
fashion, such as in a table of numbers?
[Norman04]

64. the object must be rich and complex, one that gives
rise to a never-ending interplay among the elements.
second, the viewer must be able to take the time to
study, analyze, and consider such rich interplay;
otherwise, the scene becomes commonplace.
the real trick, and where most products fail - is in
maintaining the relationship after that initial burst of
enthusiasm. (Khaslavsky and Shedroff)
[Norman04]

65. “Sato and I spent much of the next hour trying to
understand what transforms an impression of shallow
cuteness into one of deep, long-lasting pleasure.”
[Norman04]

66. In the case of the Te ò strainer,
the unexpected transformation is the key.
[Norman04]

67. what about smule’s ocarina?

69. FEEL, AND FEEL FOR: AICHAKU
“Believing that all things around you - rocks, river, moun-
tain, and clouds - are somehow “alive” was something that I
couldn’t grasp as a child.”
John Maeda

70. Aichaku(ahy-chaw-koo) is the Japanese term for
the sense of attachment one can feel for an
artifact.
It is a kind of symbiotic love for an object that
deserves affection not for what it does, but for
what it is..
Acknowledging the existence of aichaku in our
built environment helps us to aspire to design
artifacts that people will feel for, care for, and own
for a lifetime.
[Maeda06]

71. Emotional aspects inherent to the object
• holes and breath visual feedback colors are
able to be personalized (possible principle: the system
admits user personalization on aesthetic matters?)
• the interaction subversion: transforming a
mobile phone into a wind instrument
• the act of blowing into the phone
• generative graphics on “world”attention and
the feeling of being alive so we give
view (gives
affect) (pp: systems should integrate generative “alive” systems with
personalized answers) - aichaku

72. Flow
To be fully engrossed within a movie is to feel the
world fade away, time seem to stop, and the body
enter the transformed state that the social scientist
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has labeled "flow."
[Norman04]

73. Flow
• detached state of consciousness, in which
you are aware only of the moment, of the
activity, and of the sheer enjoyment
• can occur video games, boardactivity: skilled
tasks, sports,
in almost any
games, or any
kind of mind-absorbing work,.
• you canbook, or with intense problem solving.
reading a
experience it in the theater,
[Norman04]

74. Flow
Conditions to occur:
• lack of distraction
• activity paced precisely to match your skills
pushes you slightly above your capabilities
[Norman04]

75. The level of difficulty has to be just at
the edge of capability: too difficult and
the task becomes frustrating; too easy
and it becomes boring.
There can be no interruptions or distractions
that might divert attention if one is to become
truly captured by flow.
[Norman04]

76. Tool usage concept from Heidegger
In applying the tool it becomes invisible
to its users during its implementation,
thus becoming an extension of them.
The objective presence of the tool only
occurs if it breaks during its
application.

77. does the system allow user’s to reach
the flow state?
• sometimes, finger-touches seem to not register or
release early or later.
• no mouthpiece, no haptic feedback (blowing visual
feedback is not instantaneous) while blowing, the air
might go another direction
• annoying blip of the in-between notes: no note off
delay (delay the action of raising your finger by a few
milliseconds)

78. Serious conclusions will be taken on
the written paper

79. References
NielsenJ.(1994). “Ten Usability Heuristics”, useit.com-Papers and Essays, 1994,
http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html
[Norman04] Norman, D (2004). Emotional Design: Why We Love (or
Hate) Everyday Things, Basic Books (2005), ISBN: 0465051367 /
9780465051366
[Maeda06] Maeda, J (2006). The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design,
Technology, Business, Life), The MIT Press (2006), ISBN: 0262134721 /
9780262134729
Reference websites
Usability first: http://www.usabilityfirst.com/accessibility/principles.txl
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/