Vispol 1.0 – Case-Scenario Visualisation

Quick sidenote on another project I’m working on. Another collaboration with multitouch-hard- and software wizzard Johannes Luderschmidt, which is an interactive case-scenario tool for the police of the state of Hessen in Germany called Vispol. It was originally concepted and developed as a masterstudy by Johannes but is now a full-grown software for instant use on multitouch able surfaces. I created the design concept for this has-to-be-very-functional software and developed all the designs. And yes, it’s all circles again.  Believe me, it was the best suitable form for this use. 

What you can see now is a movie about Vispol 1.0, but we’re already working on a design update, which will feature a much better contrast and signal colours. You can see all details about it on our collaborative website www.visactible.com.

-> all details: www.visactible.com

New Digital Volvelles Movie

Finally another cut movie with the aim to show the functionality of the Digital Volvelles 2.0 application a little bit better. Hopefully there will be soon an online mouse-version to try it out. 

Acknowledging the potential of the wheel

A new book has been published by “Die Gestalten Verlag” called “Data Flow” (9 Sep 2008). Its content deals with the visualisation of information in graphic design and the first topic of the book features the potential of circles as dataspheres. An older book that has pointed out the potential of wheels as a relevant model for modern interactive design even better is “Reinventing the Wheel” by Jessica Helfand (around 2002). Both books are very recommended sources for any information/interaction designer.

* Data Flow at Amazon.co.uk ->
* Reinventing the Wheel at Amazon.co.uk ->

Movie about how it works

Finally I’m able to put some filmmaterial online. We’ve filmed the way you interact with the Volvelles on the touchscreen-table in a proper way too, but still have to cut and finalize it. So in the meantime you can see this quick-and-dirty made version. We are also working on a mouseclickable version for the web so everyone can experience the new retrieval interface and its system behind it. Stay tuned.

Private view at the Mall Galleries

The private view was a real success for our multitouch-able self-built table with the Digital Volvelles interface (Please have a look at the ‘ABOUT’ section of this blog, if you want to know what it’s all about the Digital Volvelles). It was great to observe how people interact with it and how intuitively most of them had understood what they have to drag, touch, turn, etc. It has proven that the concept, the design, and the implementation work well together and that all the research and work has finally payed off. To get first hand feedback from the users was one of the best experiences during the private view and this will hopefully enable us to continue with the improvement of the interface and the multitouch-table. Thanx to everyone, who could make it to the show. It was a great evening.

Guests at the private view discover how to use the Digital Volvelles:

Impressions of the interface:

Silence before the storm

Supporting print material. After all, I’m a communication designer with an affinity to information design!

Ready for the private view:

Exhibition set up of the Digital Volvelles

The set up for the Central Saint Martins Final MA Show startet at 8am sharp at the Mall Galleries. Within 2 days the whole show was set up. Our multitouch-able table with the Digital Volvelles interface had to face some problems with the gallery lighting, which was interfering with our LED-sensorial movement tracking of the table. It took a lot of attempts, patience, and staying power until we realized that also the reflecting light off the white gallery walls was interfering with the multitouch-table. The light temperature of the bulbs was too warm. The touchscreen functioned without any problems in a brightly lit room where ‘cold’ artificial neonlight was used. Again, a new thing we learned, even on the spot of an exhibition. Johannes might now turn to laserlight for table version 2.0.

Setting up the table and the interface:

The empty gallery space in the beginning of the set up:

Set up almost finished:

The gallery space on the day of the private view:

Digital Volvelles at the Mall Galleries

Finally our little baby will be ready for some live testing. Our Multitouch-Table with the wheels-interface will be presented in the context of the Final Degree Show of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. If you are around London from the 13th of June to the 19th of June feel free to stop by and have a look and feel!

Entrance to the Mall Galleries:

Things that happen every day right outside the Mall Galleries:

Location: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1Y 5BD

Opening Times: Friday 13 June to Thursday 19 June – 10am to 5pm

Official URL: www.macd2008.com

Volvelles multi-touch hardware is now working

What you see in the video is the hardware for the Digital Volvelles project. The app that is being used is just a Flash application that is bundled with the touchlib project: 

 

Creating the print material

While Niqui, Johannes, and Lelo are fully occupied to make the wheels working digitally, I’m kind of working on both sides – digital and print – to prepare everything for the show set up in June. The supporting print material is going to present useful and additional information how everything works. For example, two posters will show all possible combinations that can be arranged with the digital wheels in order to get a different kind of information. The work itself is getting quite complex, but somehow everything comes together now.

Steps to create the posters based on the digital interface, which are going to show all possible combinations: