DESIGNING EPHEMERAL USER INTERFACE USING SOAP FOAM

THE SUMMARY OF MASTER’S THESIS

DESIGNING EPHEMERAL USER INTERFACE USING SOAP FOAM

Master of Science The Department of Industrial Design KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

2015. 02.

YESEUL KIM 1

THE SUMMARY OF MASTER’S THESIS

DESIGNING EPHEMERAL USER INTERFACE USING SOAP FOAM Thesis Title

The Ephemeral User Interface: Designing Interactive Media Using Soap Foam

Publisher

Yeseul Kim

Date

2015.02.

Advisor

Prof. Woohun Lee

Degree

Master of Science

Institution

Department of Industrial Design Korea Advanced Institute Science and Technology

Keywords

Ephemeral User Interface, Interaction Design, Materiality

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ABSTRACT The focus of my master’s thesis, “Designing Ephem-

eral User Interface using Soap Foam,” is to design an

ephemeral interface with soap foam and to delve into

the adaptability of a natural material as a User Interface element of Tangible User Interfaces. Since ephemeral

and natural materials like fog, ice, and water have abun-

dant inherent properties, they provide rich aesthetic and hedonistic experiences that artificial materials cannot replicate. This has sparked my curiosity about how

ephemerality could permeate digital and design spaces

and how transformation processes of natural materials could be adapted to interaction design.

My thesis commences with the definition of Ephemeral User Interfaces in Tangible User Interfaces, supported by academic research and examples from media arts.

The core investigation delves into soap foam’s physical

properties and semantic values, which can be developed as UI elements in interactive media. Secondly, I describe

the hardware design of the interface to control the soap foam’s physical transition (generating - floating - disappearing) and the physical computation to detect users’ behaviors. Several applications and user scenarios are suggested based on three different degrees of user

engagement. Finally, the specific properties and semantic values of the material defining the affordance of the

interface were evaluated through feedback from a work-

shop with the users. This research explores the possibility of adapting ephemeral materials through multisensory experiences for the future of interactive design.

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THESIS STRUCTURE INTRUDUCTION Analyzing the background and trend of Ephemeral User Interface (EUI) in the area of Human-Computer Interaction, Interaction Design

Definition of EUI, Design Space

The examples of EUI

Body Exploring the factors of foam for interaction

Designing a new interface design using soap foam

User evaluation through application designs

Conclusion Conclusion and future research

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Discovering design opportunities for EUI and establishing the goal of research

Exploring the physical and metaphorical design factors of the new EUI interactive media

Developing the technical elements operating the material’s transformation.

Defining the design model for the interface Establishing the application scenarios according to the levels of user engagement

Observing the design factors, quality of interactions from user tests

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EXPLORING MATERIAL: SOAP FOAM USER WORKSHOP & FINDINGS Exploring and positioning the soap foam’s properties compared to other materials

USER WORKSHOP I conducted a user workshop to explore the properties and features of soap foam and to find possibilities for the material to be used as a user interface element. (with 4 participants, 90minutes) They were provided with soap bubbles in a tray and extra visual and tangible materials, which helped them generate ideas and imagine how soap foam could be used in the digital context.

FINDINGS FROM WORKSHOP Diverse interactions between the participants and soap foam were categorized into three steps: generating, playing/manipulating, and making it disappear. This idea inspired me to design an interactive platform based on these stages.

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1. Generating Foam

2. Playing & Manipulating

3. Making foam disappear

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USER INTERFACE DESIGN: THE HARDWARE & PHYSICAL COMPUTING DESIGN

Regulating the level of pressure of helium

Controlling the open and close solenoid valve

When the computer sends a signal, soap foam is generated.

Helium helps foam to go upward and float in the air.

Different diffuser designs

The structure of buckets

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Sensing capacitive touch

Directing color through Webcam

By connecting Arduino and Processing the interface recognizes users’ touch and transfers a signal to the computer.

os de Vi n ink tio e l h ra st k t on lic m ec De as e Pl 9

FRAMEWORK FOR DESIGNING APPLICATIONS I suggested three applications according to the different levels of user engagement. They are defined as ‘Direct Interaction,’ ‘Notification,’ and ‘Ambient Media.’

CLICK & WATCH DEMO CLIPS Foam DJ

https://vimeo.com/112776750 SNS NOTIFICATOR

https://youtu.be/IxTvQwO0QJk Foam coaster

https://youtu.be/ynivhIYslVswatch?v=ynivhIYslVs

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1-1. Direct Interaction: Sound Sculpture

By bursting bubbles, users can create melodies or play music.

I used MAX/MSP and Open Sound Control Communication to get a signal from users’ touches and to generate sound.

Further scenario: Installing several bubble drums that function simultaneously allows users to make various sounds with different inputs and outputs.

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1-2. Direct Interaction: Bubble Game

The bubble game is an interface where players can burst virtual bubbles on the screen while bursting soap bubbles in the physical interface. If a player rushes to burst bubbles too quickly, bubbles in the physical interface disappear, and the player loses a chance to get the score. When reaching a high score, a player can gain more bubbles generated by the interface.

Further scenario: Connecting the bubble interface to music games while replacing its own plastic controller makes playing more enjoyable.

3. Ambient Media With the most minor engagement, the interface is used as an ambient media. It represents information such as weather and the level of noise. It could also be decorative, ambient media art that makes the space more vibrant.

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2. Direct Interaction: SNS Notificator When a new message or notification arrives, users notice a change in bubbles generated on the platform. By touching or bursting bubbles, users can read or ignore the message. This interaction was designed to reflect the ephemerality of the digital content’s temporal quality.

CONCLUSIONS The unique aspect of a disappearing material, whose appearance changes over time and under different environmental influences, holds a solid metaphorical characteristic. This uniqueness is particularly significant in human-computer interaction, as it forms a compelling metaphor for the fusion of disappearing materials and computing systems. This metaphor encourages designers and users to contemplate their temporal relationship with digital information, providing them with access to multi-layered information enriched by the distinctiveness of the materials.

This shift in design approach implies that creating an ephemeral user interface using disappearing materials necessitates a different strategy from the one we employ in designing TUI and other product designs driven by pragmatic goals. It underscores the need to understand materials’ emotional and contextual features for designing interfaces and their applications, thereby fostering rich interactions between users and media.

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DESIGNING EPHEMERAL USER INTERFACE USING SOAP FOAM

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