Co-experience, exercise and entertainment in the backseat ABSTRACT This paper describes our design process when designing our game concept for a car in Interactive Prototyping course at the University of Art and Design Helsinki at spring 2008. Design process contained small user study, benchmarking on existing products, concept creation, building preliminary prototypes and building the actual prototype. Because of the delay in the course the final user test will take place after the summer. Course s platform was car and user group was children. Our idea was to bring some entertainment and movement into a car. According to our studies children are bored easily in a car and then they get easily angry. We wanted to offer some entertainment with movement so children can use their energy and not get frustrated. The challenge was to create enough simple game that requires movement from the player but in that way that it is not disturbing the driver. The final concept is for two backseat places in a car and the concept is about turning lights off by waving hands to the lights. One of the main ideas is that driver affects to the game when turning the wheel. Our conclusion is that even if car is a product that has been designed over and over again and it has high standards for safety there might still be change to have some movement and new entertaining ways into a car. There can also be interaction between the driver and passengers and the driver doesn t have to get involved too much. Riikka Hänninen Riikka.hanninen@taik.fi Jing Jiang Ella Kaila Jing.jiang@taik.fi Ella.kaila@taik.fi 1. INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTION University of Art and Design Helsinki organized a course in spring 2008 called Interactive Prototyping. Course s goal was to introduce and deepen the knowledge about prototypes that contain sensors and programming. Course s platform was a car. We had an old BMW in the workshop that we were encouraged to use to create and test our concepts. The target group were children. Each group could decide the age group independently. One of the design drivers was the statistic that showed how many accidents happen because of the distraction inside the car (Kohtaamisonnettomuudet päätieverkolla - kehitys ja syyt, Tiehallinnon selvityksiä 43/2003). The distraction can be a for instance mobile phone, conversation or children. In our user study parents were concerned about safety issues. One father said that when children start to fight he will concentrate on driving even more. Safety was one of the main things that we tried to keep in mind while creating our concept. Katja Battarbee s notion of co-experience was also important starting point for us. She has studied co-experience and stated that Co-experience is the user experience, which is created in social interaction. (Katja Battarbee: Defining co-experience). Taking these two things account our research question was formed: what would be the new thing in the car that can enhance children s co-experience and give them something to do without disturbing the driving situation? In the beginning of this course we were exploring different kind of interaction styles in a car. One part was interaction in backseat: what happens in backseat? Children usually sit in back seats because of the safety issues. According to our user studies children carry a lot of entertaining equipments into a car. That is something that caught our interest. Could there be something entertaining permanently in the car? Also user studies showed that children are bored quite easily and they have a lot extra energy that causes some trouble during the car trips. After concept creating session we decided to go with the game and exercise concept. People travel nowadays quite long times in cars so extra exercise is useful. To our concept Battarbee s theory meant that to enhance the user experience we had to take account that even though our game is playable for only one player still the one player needs co-experience. In the car the obvious solution was the driver. Taking driver and the surroundings to be essential part of our game we made the game more interesting even for only one player. When two players are playing the game at the same time the co-experience between them is clearer.
Our hypothesis was that children enjoy playing games. And they want to have some interaction to the surrounding and front seat s passengers that are usually mother and father. The more simple the game is the longer you want to play it. 2. DESIGN PROCESS User Study and benchmarking Our first task was to gather some data about the users, children in a car (figure 1). What they do or do not do in the car, how they interact with other people in the car and what kind of situation travelling has altogether. We had three Finnish families which had children aged from 8 to 11 years. We took and gathered pictures from car trips and interviewed parents. situation. They want to know where they are and how long is the trip going to last. The connection to outer world was also important. Based on the raw data, we created our personas (figure 2) and used the personas for our initial idea for the brainstorming section. We generated lots of ideas and we thought two of them have the potential to be the new generation games in the car for children. One is exercise equipments for children to release extra energy in the car (figure 3). The other preliminary concept called Driving Hero is a game which children use to follow or predict driver s movements by turning the their own driving wheel (figure 4). Figure 1: User study in a car Figure 2: Different personas Via our benchmarking we found out that car s accessories are expensive. We did benchmarking in car shops (BMW and Volvo) and in the Internet. Even tough displays seem to be quite commonly seen in movies and advertisements there was not any cars with displays in Herttoniemi s Volvo shop. We also benchmarked existing entertainment solutions in the car. Mainly there are three types: 1. Classic car travel games, e.g. counting cars game. Children are not that easy to get bored when playing classic games and some of the games are strongly connected to the surroundings. Best solution is that only passengers play games and the driver will concentrate to the driving. Otherwise, safety issue will be a problem. 2. Passive entertainment which users can only receive information from the equipment, e.g. DVDs and Audios. They are not unique for car environment. Children get excited in the beginning but will be bored quite soon. These entertainment ways are sometimes considered more passive and not so constructive than classic games. 3. Entertainment between human and equipment, e.g. Nintendo. Children like digital games, but still they can play it everywhere. Not necessarily only in the car. They still keep the children away from the surroundings. Concept creation After user studies our whole group went trough the data. For us some main points from user studies were that when being alone in the backseat where children usually sit, they don t have so much to do if they do not bring their own entertainment into a car. Usually children take with them for instance games, toys and food. Other finding was that children are interested in the surroundings and want to be somehow involved in driving Figure 3: Ideas about releasing energy in the car
We put all the activities we found from the user studies (eating, listening mp3s, fighting, playing etc.) in to a four field map and found out that so many of the group actions contained movement but individual action was normally quite still (figure 6). Children usually start a journey with still and individual action like listening to music. After a moment, they get bored easily and want more action. These situations sometimes end with fighting. We wanted to design something to fill this gap and we decided to go with the movement and individual action. Figure 4: Driving hero concept We did a mind map to see what elements can make our game unique (figure 5). We started from the key aspects game and exercise which we were interested in and ended up with two important elements. One is only for car, because car is a very special small and moving space, in which people are lack of communication within such a close physical distance, because of safety issue, noises, etc. Human s behaviour is different in the car when comparing behaviour in the room or in the outdoors. For example, keeping a short distance to an object will be quite challenging in the car, but it is not challenging at all in a still space. The other element is safety. Our game includes co-experience for the children in the backseat but it should not disturb the driver. Figure 6: Map about the actions in a car After we decided the key elements of our game and used the four field map to find the blank of the existing activities in the car, we did the second round idea brainstorming. One of the ideas made us excited. We called it not touching game. It s a backseat exercise game which you will get the points only when you closely waving to the lights but not touching and the lights blink according to the surrounding and driving. According to the data from user study and benchmarking, we realised that we need quite simple game in order to make children adopt it easily. Using the Kirsikka Vaajakallio s Make Tools Kit for body storming, we tried to create different kind of games and rules in the car (figure 7). This point was essential for our concept creation because we found the basic rules for the game while sitting in the car. Figure 5: Mind map about key words exercise and game
Figure 7: Creating the concept in the car Figure 8: Flowchart of the game Prototyping BugBugs Essential part for us to be able to prototype our concept was to put our game s structure to a flowchart (figure 8). In the flowchart we showed how the game works and what kind of features it has. With a flowchart we explained our game s structure to Jussi Mikkonen who helped us to do the programming. Game begins when front seat passengers (usually adults) turn the main switch on. Players have their own displays that turn on. Player touches two bugs at the same time and the game starts. Lights turn randomly on and player whips them off with hand. If he succeeds he gets +1 point. If player touches or misses the light the bench starts to shake. Then player must lean his back off from the seat or lift his legs depending where the shaking was. Then he can save the situation and won t get any minus point. Unless he isn t able to do so he gets -1 point. When driver turns the driving wheel it effects to the game s speed. When turning left the left side s lights start to blink faster and vice versa. One part that we didn t have enough time to implement in the code was the Milestone part. Milestone means that every two minutes all the lights turn on for five seconds and both of motors in the bench start shaking. Player can have double points by lifting his back and legs up while wiping the lights off. Also saving the scores- action has to be implemented to our working prototype. Both of the players have five bugs that work as buttons (accept unlike buttons player isn t supposed to touch them). Bugs are placed for example in the car s seat or sealing (figure 9). In every bug there is capacitive sensor that measures the distance between bug and hand. In the wheel there will be potentiometer that counts the angle of turnings. In the seat there are two motors per each player: one in the back rest and one under the knees. In the seat will also be few capacitive sensors to measure the pressure in Milestone situations. Both players have their own displays from where they can see the scores. Implementing all the technical parts required a lot of work. We build all the circuits by our selves with the instructions that Mikkonen gave to us. Testing the electronics (motors, sensors etc) consumed also many hours of work. Figure 9: Bugs in the car seat User test
In the beginning of this course we decided to do a field study with our final prototype. It felt the most proper methodology to use in our situation from the three different options: gallery, lab and field. The methodology field seems to be the most proper one to use in design especially when our purpose is to gather some user experience and develop the game further for the real users. The planned user study will consist of real moving car and children aged from 10 to 13 years old. Because of the delay in the course we did not have time to do the final user test. The idea is to do it later. Instead we tested the program in the classroom and later in the car with other students from this course (figure 10). After playing our game we asked some feedback from them and gathered some insights. In the coming user study we will not try to adjust the buttons to a car. Instead we use a cardboard where we put our game. Then the game will be easy to move and adjust to any car. Figure 10: Working prototype in the car 3. FINAL CONCEPT BugBugs is a backseat game in the car for 10-13 years old children (figure 11). It s a one way interactive game, which changes according to the driver s behavior and surroundings. Children who play it on the backseat can feel the interaction from the driver and surroundings but the driver won t be disturbed by the game. The purpose of the game is enhancing childrens involvement in the car journeys and integrating exercise and entertainment in one intensive and short time game in a certain small backseat space. Figure 11: BugBugs visual appearance Basic information about the game: For one or two players in the backseat Five bugs for each player One round lasts five minutes Player gets scores by closing the lights by waving Mistakes (touching/missing the light) cause vibration Milestone in every two minutes As we mentioned in the Design process section, according to our user study, kids want to be involved in the car journey and the existing activities in the car are either still-individual action or movement-group action. Our design driver is to design a movement and individual action for children in the backseat, and our final concept BugBugs fulfills the need. So far, the feedback from professors and classmates show that everyone is interested in our game. We will still do the user test with 10 to 13 years old children later on to get the feedback from real end users. Another interesting thing is that it s quite challenging to design a product which looks attractive but not touchable. From the very beginning the almost touching was the most important feature in the game. The point was to encourage people, especially children, for physical movement but in such way that it will not disturb the driver. During the project we tried to find the right form for the button object. The form and the colour had to be appropriate for car environment. The challenging part was to find a form that has semantics for something that people are used to reach for but aren t tempted to touch. After making several different forms and analysis we end up having a bug like form which also reminds with the line of light of some kind of laser barcode reader (figure 12 and 13). Because of the bug like shape the concept got a name Bug Bugs.
5. DISCUSSION In the beginning we found a gap in the field of backseat activity for controlled physical activity that can be done by individuals alone and together. We answered to this need with an idea of an interactive game, which is best when played in a car. In our opinion the concept so far has been successful although more user study and specifications still needs to be done. In this state we practically have the solution for the technical realisation. So we know that it can be implemented but the final idea of the game with all its features have not been tried out yet. Figure 12: Trying out different forms for the button Figure 13: The bug buttons 4. CONCLUSION The aim of Interactive Prototyping course is to improve coexperience in cars with safety in mind. In the paper, we deal with what we ve found about the human activities in the car, especially 10-13 years old children who sit on the backseat. We show our final concept, which is a backseat game which can give our target groups a new co-experience in the car. We want to communicate with our near and dear even if we have nothing to say. People are both individuals and social beings, and neglecting the social aspect of experiences would be to overlook a very important aspect of being human. (Katja Battarbee: Defining co-experience). In our study, we ve found that car is a very special space, in which people are lack of communication within such a close physical distance, because of safety issue, noises, etc. And children is the group especially been ignored of their social needs. They sit in the backseat; know nothing about where they are heading; small children even can not see the surroundings because the window is too high. They become restless easily since the environment can not fulfil their human needs. According to the problem we have found in the backseat, we designed a backseat game called BugBugs. It s a one way interactive game, which changes according to the driver s behaviour and surroundings. Through the game children are involved in the driving activity but the driver doesn t need to be actively participant in the game. This simply-rule game can meet the children s co-experience needs in the car but not sacrifice safety. According to our benchmarking, it s a blank area in either car accessories or entertainment or exercise. BugBugs has the huge potential to fill the gap. The prototype is right now ready enough for us to know that it works somehow and that it is potentially as entertaining as we hoped it will be. At this point of the project we have tentative understanding of how it feels to play the game in the backseat of the car. It seems like the idea of the game is easy to understand even for the first time users. The game also proved to be potentially amusing and entertaining. The game turned out to be quite challenging because of the places of the bugs when we tested the concept in the car. From the quick user testing we noticed that the display was playing a much bigger part than expected. It is clear that more testing and analysing is needed The physicality of the game still has to be tested. No doubt the concentration that the player needs while playing will consume energy. Even more energy consuming will be the movement during the game. Game will encourage player to use muscles which wouldn t normally be used in a car. It is still yet to be discovered what kind of elements moving vehicle will add to the game. Also adding the other simultaneous player in the game has to be studied. To keep the project going on the next plan is to build an exhibition of a working model which will include two players possibility in the School of Art and Design Helsinki. The purpose of this is to collect as much data as possible of the characteristics of the concept. Hopefully we will get some kind of estimate of the ideal timing, duration and the paste for the game. After applying gathered data to improve the concept the prototype will once again be implemented in to a car environment where the game can be tested with all the initially planned elements and with the right age group. Also discussion of the possibility of making the part in the game wireless has been started. Only reasonable way for really making the concept is to make it wireless so it is possible to move it from one car to another and even try it in different environments. The possibility to move the parts anywhere in the car enables the player to create different settings and reduce and increase the difficulty level of the game. We also need to come up with some idea how to attach bugs to any car. One option could be tweezers or Velcro combination system that bugs could be placed to any surface in the car. The wireless system in theory could be possible to actualize with using Bluetooth to make the pars of the game communicate with each other, but this would make the price of the product unreasonably high. In the real world a bigger production needs to be started to make the price of the product rational. One of the starting points was to create as simple and fun game as possible. These features are especially characteristic with old classics like Tetris and Pacman for example. This is why we initially designed a retro coloured logo for the concept. This kind of look could also be applied to the packaging of the product and branding could be build around the same idea. We
also want to try to avoid making the game look too childish. With this we hope to create a message that also adults can play the game. From our studies we found out that the selected age group prefers more serious colours. To summarise the main findings in the project were to understand the lack of possibilities to practice exercise in the car. Also it was clear that the interaction with the driver in some cases is fun for the other passengers. Both of these findings could work as design drivers for interesting projects. Our solution is just one solution for these markets holes. Kohtaamisonnettomuudet päätieverkolla - kehitys ja syyt, Tiehallinnon selvityksiä 43/2003 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Course was run by Ilpo Koskinen who was the organizer of the course and Jussi Mikkonen who took care of the electronical challenges. Petra Ahde was documenting the course. We would like to thank Jussi Mikkonen. His help was essential to us. Also we would like to thank all the families taking part to the user testing. REFERENCES Katja Battarbee: Defining co-experience