How can your users understand how a product will work before it’s been made? How can they understand what it will feel like to use, and how can they tell you how they would like it to work?
As part of our work on Augmented Prototyping – using immersive technologies to create the next generation of design prototyping tools – we’ve created a real-time reconfigurable games controller, that let’s users freely edit interfaces while maintaining functionality.
This tech demo uses an additive manufactured controller with layers of capacitive filament that can detect user interaction, image recognition, real physical interface elements, and a simple game engine to give users full control of their own interface.
Don’t like the button where it is? Move it. Don’t want a button? Remove it. Want other controls? Sure. Put them on and try them out!
By letting users explore the interface design freely we can increase their understanding and streamline the process of gathering their requirements. By maintaining function, users can understand not only what the product might look like, but also how it feels to use. And by overlaying our engineering knowledge we can guide their decisions to comply with our constraints, such as internal packaging.
This is demo is one of many we have planned exploring the feasibility of integrated physical-digital workflow in design prototyping. Want to know more or get involved? Get in touch!