Design Of A New PumaPaint Interface And Its Use in One Year of Operation Roger Williams University...

Design Of A New PumaPaint Interface And Its Use in One Year of Operation

Roger Williams University

Bristol, RI

ICRA2004 April 28, 2004

Michael CoristineUndergraduate

Student

Matthew SteinAssociate Professor

of Engineering

What is PumaPaint?

Online robot that does one thingJava interface to let users do itDemonstration of remote telerobotic controlNot a plotterWWW site for creating and receiving a physical artifact

Origins

Wilkes University 1998-2000

Roger Williams University

2002-Present

Roughly 40,000 users to date

The Java Interface

Original InterfaceEnglish text predominantSomewhat flat, grayNot entirely intuitive

This project

Develop a new interface using Java2/SwingMove from English text to iconsProvide a warmer feelUndergraduate independent study for two semesters

The New Java2 Interface

OK, it’s still kind of flat and gray

Some key improvements

Camera windowsA. Ryan TieboutWinTV cardCGI interface and controlsNear live video

Some key improvements

Context sensitive mouse

Brush Colors

Some key improvements

Animated buttonsGrayed out when invalidShows current color

Some key improvements

Slider animations

Unintended consequences

Slider animations can be confused with actions

Return “Dip” button

Do you move the slider to paint?

May be misleading indication of contact

One year usage

Source: httpd logAugust ’02-August ‘03

Total

Distinct

Main Page 9391 4848PumaPaint class 2720 2472“Class not found”

1716

Intersection 239Roughly 2500 people connected upAbout 40% of potential users did not have Java2Of those, 14% apparently bothered to obtain the plug-in and return to download the interface

What did they do with it?

Typical canvasLots of textLots of scribble

What did they do with it?

Some nice piecesSome mailed to users

Not all

Recent Phenomenon

Dedicated vandal

Recent Phenomenon

Metronome like strokes

Automated issuance of commands?

Hundreds of hours connected

Recent Phenomenon

Likes to tear down the paperMetronome strokes on easel

AOL user from New JerseyAsked for canvases but ignored repeated requests to explain techniques or motivation

Summary

Site continues as a vehicle for undergraduate projectsOnline 5 years and counting*Still interested in paintingsDedicated vandal something newCurrently developing 3D manipulation using anthropomorphic hands to model clay