ExperienceLab

Gaming on the Go!

PlayableGames recently conducted research on how developers and publishers can design better mobile games that can be used where they are intended, on the move.

We used a range of the current best selling mobile devices and went walkabout, using them in a whole range of different locations, where and when the mood struck us. The key things we learn't were that tailoring a mobile game for short, snappy sessions was essential as we often snatched a few minutes when waiting for a bus or train and needed to quickly shut down the game as our transport arrived.

Our findings, which are available from the PlayableGames research page, cover a range of different aspects that are useful to consider when designing a mobile game including, touch screen and audio issues, the various control mechanisms, lighting, and what to do if your gaming device is a phone as well.

Silver Sat Navers

Over the holidays it was the ideal time to visit friends and relatives, as everyone seemed to be on a break. My Mum and Nan, in particular, wanted to visit family in west London. So, not wanting to be the family’s permanent chauffeur service during my time off… I handed over the satnav.

While identifying the main roads wasn’t going to be an issue, the destination was in an unfamiliar part of town, and so that’s where the satnav was to come into play.

 

 

With mum at the wheel, they headed off from East London on the A406 towards some random part of Southall, using the satnav but not really paying closer attention until they had to locate the specific address. When it was time to make the return journey they set the satnav to go home…except now here’s the problem.

They wanted to return via the same route used to get to their destination because they knew the main roads that they needed to get to. However, a journey that should have taken maybe an hour, took three hours.

The satnav unhelpfully programmed itself to drive through central London. Mum didn’t think she needed to check the details of the route the satnav had planned for them as it took them through the A406, which was the ideal route, and just started driving. As they were unfamiliar with the destination area they trusted the satnav to take them home. What they really wanted was for the satnav to remember the route.

Why can’t satnavs be programmed to remember routes? Why can’t I save a journey? Why can’t it remember the route I want to travel by? Consequently, Mum's driving home, now even more confused when following the satnav, not realising until it’s too late that they will end up central London with a diabetic Nan in the car cursing the satnav. That’s an awful long time especially when it’s not expected.

Although, I am quite reliant on my satnav, it would be great if I could save a route. I just want it to take be somewhere and bring me back the same way. At least that would help me remember the route too...it’s just not as simple as I want it to be.

MiFi impossible

A new trend for mobile broadband has been the appearance of mobile WiFi routers or 'MiFi's' allowing the user to setup their own WiFI hub quickly for internet access via 3G. As many of our jobs here at ExperienceLab mean that we need to be out and about we decided that one of these MiFi's would be a useful addition to our technology arsenal.

Mobile phone comparison site is launched

Mobile Phone Expert, www.mobilephone-expert.co.uk is a mobile phone comparison site that prides itself on offering users a simple process to find a new mobile phone and tariff. The site aims to do this by providing users with fewer results based on their preferences so they don’t have to scroll through pages and pages of phones.

Revolution in connectivity for mobile devices?

I got to play with one of the Flip video cameras for the first time yesterday. These are video recorders, the size of a compact camera that seem to work brilliantly even in very low light and some models can even record in HD quality.

Beyond the video recording functionality, the aspect I was particularly excited to see was the reason for the name 'Flip'. The camera has a built in USB socket that 'flips' out from the side. I gather it also has any software required to transfer the videos built in. Whilst not exactly rocket science, this is a real innovation in connectivity and so user experience, and one I am delighted to see. No more hunting around for a memory card adapter or USB cable to transfer content could have a big impact on the regularity with which users transfer their content. 

Could we start seeing similar built in USB features on camera and mobile phones in the future? I do hope so.

"Take Back The Beep" Campaign

What if you were a mobile phone company and you could figure out a way to keep millions of customers on the line for an extra 15 seconds every time they left a voicemail message? You'd make millions.

In the US, when you call someone's mobile and it rolls over to voicemail, you hear their outgoing message and then an extra message from the carrier telling you, in case you've never done it before, how to talk after the beep. That's the extra 15 seconds.

David Pogue, the Personal Technology correspondent for the New York Times, does the numbers:

Augmenting the reality of games

Augmented reality has been around in one form or another for the last decade. There have been some interesting concepts but in the main they've stayed just that, concepts.

The idea behind augmented reality is to take a scene from the real world, typically via a camera, and overlay computer-generated imagery in order to 'enhance reality'. For example a recent application on the Google Android platform allows you to hold the camera up to a group of buildings and the app will overlay information about those buildings, such as what each is used for, and where they are.

There have also been some example of the use of augmented reality in gaming, although very little has made it into the commercial domain.