SOFTWARE

For detailed technical information about the system’s software and hardware components, as well as future recommendations, please see the Virpets Theatre Technical Overview.

Background

The Virpets technology was first created by students Shawn Patton, Elan Ruskin, Jon Parise, and Ken Strickland, who worked with advisor Frank Garvey to create a digital performance medium. It was then adapted by Cort Stratton and Ingrid Moncada in the Spring of 2002 and used to “perform” Rift, a theatrical piece created expressly for the medium. Our group has been charged with using the Virpets software as the basis for a compelling interactive museum exhibit for children.

The Virpets software system consists of three main components:

• TheStage: Main server and the graphics and display engine

The Stage
• PuppetMaster: Character rigging and control utility
• A series of XML utilities for authoring program-specific files

VPM Utility(click to enlarge)

The Virpets Theatre system also includes the following new components:

• Graphical user interface for puppet selection (Director MX)
• Virpets Network Agents: Two utilities that handle information about puppet selection

INTERFACE DESIGN AND GUEST TESTING

see the full document (.doc)

Target Audience & Inherent Challenges

Ours is an exciting challenge – design a technology-heavy interactive museum exhibit for children from 4-7 years of age. A few of the unique challenges that our young user base presents:

- Reading & Writing Ability
? Most children at this age will not be able to read
? Those that are literate will not be sophisticated readers.
- Attention Span
? Children will probably not want to sit through multiple tests.
? Even if they do, they cannot quantitatively express their preferences.
- Gathering Data
? It is unlikely that written surveys would be effective in this situation.
? The best way for us to obtain information is observation and video interview.
- User Consent
? Parents must give permission for children to appear on video.
? Our users are not legally capable of providing permission themselves.

As a result, our methodologies will differ somewhat from standard user testing methods. We will not be attempting to gain quantitative knowledge from these tests – rather, we will concentrate on gathering as much from observation as we can. When appropriate (and permissible), we will also tape interviews with the children to get their reactions to the system.

A large part of designing any interactive experience for children is putting said experiences through the rigors of repeated playtesting “in the field.” This is especially important for the Virpets Theater team, since we have very little in common with our intended guests. We must examine everything from the input devices to the backdrops we create from a child’s point of view. We have developed a preliminary plan to address this need that includes a minimum of 4 live tests at the Museum. What follows is an enumeration of said plans along with an examination of our target audience, as well as our findings so far.

Interface Design

The key challenge in designing the Virpets Theater guest interface is the struggle between educational content and simplicity of design. The simplest design would be a simple “list” of puppet pictures that allows children to click on their favorite puppet and begin. However, the Children’s Museum would like this to be an educational experience, and this means sacrificing a bit of simplicity in the process.