KUPLA - get to know what you see

Team members: Chrystal Giam, Yee Feng, Alba Tudó Domingo, Aivis Gailītis, Rachel Hagreen, Emilia Kwiatkowska, Clara Calvet Oliver, Ineke Brinksma, Anna Garriga i Valverde

video & presentation slides

KUPLA aims to create a system that allows you to access information about everything you see by using simple gestures and innovative projection technology with wearable devices which has sensors. It will be the perfect product for a busy individual who wants to increase knowledge and productivity whilst continuing with their busy day-to-day life.

The content (data/information) is retrieved from the Internet via open data (Wikipedia style) and you can also bookmark info that you wish to review later into the system.

We designed this product because we wanted to make knowledge more accessible at anywhere and anytime. KUPLA is meant to make life easier and more complete with all the information you can get around you. Its simple design interface makes learning easier and more efficient as well.

 Here are just some among many functions that we envision KUPLA to have:

• Real time translation. The ability to translate any language in any situation.
• Site Navigation / GPS: Maps and directions projected as you get to your desired location quickly and efficiently.
• Education e.g. learning history of the buildings in more efficient way by visualization and interesting storytelling.
• Object information e.g. description, ingredients/materials, price, place to get it
• Human e.g. type of outfit, physical attributes, etc.
• Entertainment e.g. watching films/ TV, information of the actors, setting location, etc.
• Bookmarking. Possibility to continue expanding the knowledge at a later time.

During MC2020 students were learning not only from the teachers but also from each other. While working on our concept we could count on help from all teachers which were giving us tips. It was really helpful especially during the time when we had to divide work between each other. The thing is that “never is too late” to implement better solutions.    

Networking is about making connections and building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships. To succeed you must continually connect with new people, cultivate emerging relationships and leverage your network. To MC2020 we met a lot of people from different countries and cultures. We got to know our skills and work attitude what can bring profit in the future or really good friendships. One day all of us will be working in different places but we will still remember about each other.

FEEDBACK

Our team have improved the concept from the first edition into a wider area because it was a limited idea in the beginning and there are already products developed (LinkedTV, Second Screen). During brainstorming sessions we went through a lot of stages. While thinking about getting content vs. creating content to get information we mainly focused at education learning tool projected into a room. After having a lot of discussions we finally focused on “get to know what you see” slogan used in our project and since then we wanted to create a product which will be always next to you when you need it. In the way this concept is extension of Google glasses or simpler Google search engine but we wanted to try to remove the aspect of using devices like smartphone. We did not focus on specific thing/aspect/area because we wanted to get information about everything as much as possible. Movements which are used to “open” KUPLA are short and they do not have to be repeat many times. We think that it wouldn’t be a problem in the future if this became a trend or norm. Nowadays most of the people are tapping and swiping on smartphones and other devices.

Our team members had a little bit knowledge here and there (in general) in different skills, so it was a little difficult to set roles for everyone in the team. But through our two-week experience of working together, we learnt that task list and workflow timeline are essential to keep us on our feet. We pulled it together as a team and delivered a memorable presentation.

photo by Rosa Pons

The feedback statement to the team presented by René Lansink in the feedback discussion, last day plenary.

The KUPLA project focused on using gestures to interact with a virtual visual interface. The idea is to connect or link ‘virtual’ information onto ‘physical’ objects. In a movie several user scenarios were visualized. For instance, extra information over food, location specific events, navigational data etc. could be retrieved by using specific gestures. It was also possible for users to ad information to ‘real world’ objects using a kind of Wiki-like application.

The project group did not want to focus too much on the technological details of the ‘system’, but elaborate more on the possible use and interaction with this  so called ‘location based augmented reality system’. ‘Get to know what you see’, a simple design interface and the use of real time information where the key ingredients of this project.

The use of gestorial information for interaction is of course a promising area of technological development. Especially in a context in which other means of interaction are impossible (danger, handicap, language or cultural  barriers). As a next step such a specific, carefully chosen context, could be worked out in greater scale.

Feedback from other teachers

The video was very good and clear, resulting into a very strong point of the presentation to understand how to interact with the virtual world.
The presentation had another strong point: it was sympathetic.
The examples could have been thought more far away, to challenge a more fictional experience, it was more of an interface, to focus in one situation would have been better. 
It's a big group of eight members: it was difficult for them to organize the roles because of the similar skills they have. When they finally settled down the roles they were much more efficient and comfortable. They lacked of a coordinator, but the suggestions of teachers were helpful to reshape the group dynamics.