[Sugar-devel] Porting LopArt to Sugar
Hi, I found the LopArt idea mentioned in the Project ideas page<http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Project_Ideas> to be interesting. But I cannot find the LopArt program for Linux (its supposed to be open source for Linux). Does anyone have an idea ? Below is the mail I sent to the company that is developing the program. Mohan -- Forwarded message -- From: Mohan Raj R Date: Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 9:08 PM Subject: Porting LopArt to Sugar To: ar...@loplop.com Hello, I am Mohan, a computer science masters student at UBC <http://ubc.ca>. I came across your email in Sugarlabs<http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Project_Ideas>. The email talked about porting your application to the OLPC XO platform. It further mentioned that the Linux version of your product LopArt is open source. I am interested in the project. But I was not able to find the Linux version in LopArt download page <http://www.lopart.org/lopart_03/lopart_eng.html>. Can you please redirect me to the Linux version of LopArt. Thank you, Mohan ___ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
[Sugar-devel] gsoc Ideas: interface for younger children
Hello, I am Mohan, a Computer Science Masters student in UBC, Canada interested in GSoC. My area of study is Human Computer Interaction. My thesis is in the area of learnability issues (in content creation software). I believe that developing better interfaces to bring out the creativity of children is of paramount importance. I would like to hence work on the Sugar UI for the next 1.5 years, making it an integral part of my thesis (hoping everything goes well. fingers crossed). I would like to start my work with GSoC. I went through the project ideas and several of them interested me. I need some clarifications on few ideas. I appreciate any help in this. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Development_Team/Project_Ideas: > EduKT Simple content - history creation tool that needs: Simplify the interface for little people Is it talking about age or the physical attributes of the children? I assume it is age. If so, what range is being talked about? What age range qualifies as little? Do we have data about the age ranges of current users of OLPC/Sugar? According to the website, the system is targeted at "children from 5 to 12 years of age". But what is the split up in the real world. Any idea? *Questions that I am interested in finding an answer:* Do children belonging to different age groups need different UI? Can we design UI targeted at different age groups of children such that it improves their experience (usability) with the system? Can such UI designed specifically for different age groups also facilitate learnability of the UI (the system features that it abstracts) as they move from one age group to another? (culminating in a desktop, for e.g from ubuntu-sugar-remix to ubuntu) *What we need to do:* We would need to build a UI abstraction layer that would enable users of different age groups to experience the system differently. This should be achieved requiring minimal change on part of the developers, especially activity devs. *What I could do:* A UI abstraction framework is too much work: for something that we aren't even sure we need. And I couldn't do it myself in 3 months. So I could start paving way for what could eventually grow into a framework, but still manage to do something useful for the community in these 3 months. Lets take the feature of discoverability of keyboard shortcuts and context menus. I could start work on bringing this feature into Sugar. But do younger children need keyboard shortcuts ? Can the clues for enhancing discoverability of such features lead to confusion for those who dont need it ? So depending upon the age of the child using the system (obtained from user profile), the system could choose to expose certain clues or not. I think this can be done in 3 months. Please have a look at my project page (rough first cut) and kindly share your thoughts, ideas. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Summer_of_Code/2010/Adaptive_UI_Framework_for_Different_Age_Groups Please let me know if you interested in mentoring me or working with (advising) me on this? Thank you for your time, Mohan ___ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
[Sugar-devel] GSoC ideas for feedback
I have been having some ideas for pushing the help system to the next level by embedding the power of the community knowledge directly in the UI using videos: See-Me-Do kind of thing. I came across some related projects http://www.autodeskresearch.com/projects/learning > ToolClips > > One of the main learnability challenges associated with complex software > applications is learning to use the tools which the application provides. > Advancements in the technologies that we use provide new opportunities to > provide the necessary assistance. In particular, video assistance has become > widespread. However, such assistance is generally in the form of long video > tutorials, accessed externally from the software application. With the > ToolClips project, we augment traditional tooltips with videos, giving users > rapid, contextual, and within-application access video clips, to help > understand how to use the associated tools. Our research on ToolClips has > been published and is also being transferred into Autodesk products. > CommunityCommands > > Amazon recommends books to its users. Netflix recommends movies. With > CommunityCommands, Autodesk will recommend command functionality to its > users. CommunityCommands collects usage data from thousands of Autodesk > users, through the Customer Involvement Program (CIP), and then generates > personalized command recommendations using newly developed algorithms. > CommunityCommands will expose users to the critical commands which they > should be using, but are not aware of, accelerating the learning process. I think if implemented properly these might make the activities and the system itself more accessible to a large number of children - especially those in underdeveloped nations with little/no exposure to technology and very little external help. And.. I had proposed an idea earlier http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Summer_of_Code/2010/Adaptive_UI_Framework_for_Different_Age_Groups Is it sounding too complicated ? unnecessary ? not clear ? timeline not good ? - appreciate any feedback. Am really looking forward to be part of the community. Thanks, Mohan ___ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
[Sugar-devel] Sugar for the elderly
I found this discussion (more than 2 years old) interesting http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/community/one_xo_laptop_grandmother.html Does anyone know of any progress along these lines ? (Is this the right list to ask this question? or IAEP?) You may be interested to know, your idea is already under experimentation in > an adult retirement complex in the Niagara Peninsula,* Ontario, Canada*. I > just saw your blog to day, but back in November, I had the same idea, and > joined the G1G1 donors in order to get an XO laptop for trials. I moved > recently into an adult community (Heritage Village, Vineland, ON). I'm still > working and have computed via PCs for 25 years, but many folks here are in > their 80s without computers or Internet access. > I have set up a Meraki wifi mesh to share my DSL feed with a disabled > Senior (stroke victim, age 85) in a wheelchair. My XO Laptop arrived in > mid-January and we have been conducting trials to see if it could assist him > in his home. Wifi connectivity works great. > The small-size keyboard and screen is not really an issue. Perhaps the > contrast of symbols against backgrounds could be improved. He finds that his > poor motion control makes it difficult to get the cursor arrow in the right > spot. Too many drop-down mini-menus and disappearing black frame. I'm > working on some solutions found on XO forums for eliminating the frame > appearance/disappearance and using the key control instead. A USB mouse is > essential. > So far he has figured out the Internet browsing, photos via Record and > Googling for information. We're working on the Gmail module. Even though it is designed for easy learning, the XO Laptop software is not > intuitive and needs to be taught. The OpenSource community will have to > improve the software and fix the bugs and missing features. But at least one > Senior is delighted with his new toy. > Yesterday he claimed that the mental exercise of learning the XO laptop has > improved his damaged mind. He can now walk more steps under better balance > than before. He is struggling to get out of his wheel chair and the XO > laptop has given him hope and connectivity. "I would suggest something like the OLPC as an everything. Yes, it's geared > for children but I guess you're kind of dealing with ... well, in some cases > degenerated minds. > > I don't say that to be mean but ironically my four year old cousin and my > 80 year old grandfather have some of the same needs when it comes to high > tech gadgets." > Kids and elderly do have the same needs, though maybe in a different form > factor. The OLPC XO would need to be SuperSized - made with enlarged screens > and keyboards for those with failing eyesight and poor hand-eye > coordination. But would much else need to be altered? I'm supporting quite a few elderly users whose only needs are Internet > browsing and word processing and an inexpensive, simple and easy to use > computer like XO would be ideal for them. Come to think of it, that's what > many/most people use their computers for anyway. Add to it a 'super' eBook > functionality and you have a winner - surely, even an OLPC critic like > yourself should be able to see this... Mohan ___ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
[Sugar-devel] Contextual video assistance
I was watching this video and thought that it makes a lot of sense to have this feature in Sugar http://www.autodeskresearch.com/publications/toolclips#video Thoughts ? ___ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
Re: [Sugar-devel] Contextual video assistance
Interestingly I found a few similarities between what I am imagining this system could do and this proposal http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Summer_of_Code/2010/Insights ___ Sugar-devel mailing list Sugar-devel@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/sugar-devel
