Project1

Project-1: Warehouses with Interactive Content

How to design a comprehensive environment for exploring, contributing to “programs/animations/simulations” in a warehouse as opposed to static models

Unlike the Google 3D warehouse where static models are the only inhabitants, a new generation of warehouses that contain programs, visualizations, animations, etc. will provide a more complex set of challenges for designers. Not only will users need to quickly scan and explore these new more complex models but they will also need a simple way to contribute to them.

Examples:

• Netflix and YouTube:

• Netflix provides users with a large selection of dynamic video material. It invested a large amount of money to make its content personalizable, quickly searchable, and it also employs many techniques to help users quickly preview content including but not limited to: personalized rating system, statistics about each video, summaries of content, user reviews, and when available trailers. ? But Netflix only has to incorporate professional content into its repository!
• YouTube is a participatory, video sharing website.

Objectives:

Explore and try to answer:

1. Is YouTube successful in allowing people to explore, find, add to content quickly?
2. What metrics does it provide to help users preview content?
3. What are problems, strengths, weaknesses, and requirements for ‘dynamic’ repositories?

Starting Points in addition to the example above:: Study and explore

• the Scratch environment at: http://scratch.mit.edu/
• the 3D Warehouse at: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/

Sponsor: Jane Meyers (jane.meyers@colorado.edu) and Holger Dick