UQ Usability Laboratory Open Hou

UQ Usability Laboratory Open House

The University of Queensland Usability Laboratory (UQUL) held an Open House on Thursday, November 11, 2004

Prof Penny Sanderson introduced the UQUL and the evening's events (presentation). The theme for discussion was "User-Centred Design Education: Teaching Process or Critiquing Outcome?" The discussion was led off by Ash Donaldson (presentation) of Produxi Pty Ltd, followed by Dr Anne Miller (presentation) and Dr Margot Brereton (presentation forthcoming) of The University of Queensland.

Following the discussion there was a viewing of the state-of-the-art UQUL facilities. Visitors saw the UQUL control room and two test rooms, the briefing room and the AV room, and watched or took part in the activities taking place. Pictures and further descriptions are below.

	Some of the crowd at the discussion
	The UQUL's combination Brochure and Poster is distributed to visitors.
	Prof Penny Sanderson introduces the UQUL and the evening's events. Her presentation is available here.
	Audience members listen to the presentations and discussion.
	Mr Ash Donaldson (Produxi Pty Ltd) leads off. His presentation is available here.
	Food and drink do the rounds during Ash's talk.
	Dr Margot Brereton (Information Environments, School of ITEE, UQ) follows. Her presentation is available here (forthcoming).
	Dr Anne Miller (Key Centre for Human Factors, UQ) presents third. Her presentation is available here.
	Penny Sanderson locates the food, drink, and exhibits for the attendees.
	Food and drink is served continuously in the School of Psych courtyard, adjacent to the UQUL.
	Inside the UQUL, a corridor conversation. UQUL's radio foreheadcam is being worn by Dr Marcus Watson at right, and is sending wireless audio and video feed to a receiver for display on a monitor. Radio foreheardcam devices are being used in collaborative research with Royal Adelaide Hospital and with Airservices Australia. The original radio foreheadcam was built by John Craick of the Swinburne Usability Laboratory.
	Attendees could take a tour of the UQUL with the Microvision Nomad(tm) Head Mounted Display. This picture gives an approximation to the view through the monocle. The UQUL's Microvision Nomad(tm) is the first one in Australia.
	A visitor reads instructions from the Microvision Nomad(tm) monocle as the Nomad guides her on a tour of the UQUL.
	Conversations unfold in the UQUL Control Room while usability sessions take place in Test Room 1 behind. UQUL Operations Manager Jennifer Crawford is at centre.
	The UQUL's Vivian Shek and Rizah Memisevic demonstrate a user evaluation session in Test Room 1. Does the website let Rizah find information about hardware prices effectively, efficiently, and in a satisfying manner? The Hypercam software captures the screen and a webcam records Rizah's attention and reaction. The Test Rooms are also fitted with Dome cameras and pressure-zone microphones for whole-room pickup.
	In Test Room 1, Viv Shek explains principles of user evaluation to visitors
	At right, Phil Cole, UQUL Senior Research Technician, answers visitors' questions about our Digital Tiger--a four-display configuration running off a single laptop. We use this configuration for control room simulations. When time comes to test our control room display design ideas, we will move two set-ups like this into one of the UQUL Test Rooms, This will let us emulate an entire industrial control room.
	Laptop running four displays with a Digital Tiger (box at left of the laptop).
	In the UQUL's AV Room, Dr Marcus Watson demonstrates the Arbiter anesthesia display software (right) and Stephen Philp demonstrates the MacSHAPA video analysis software tool (left). The AV Room is where we prepare software and devices for evaluation in the UQUL Test Rooms. We bring digital and audiovisual data back to the AV Room from the UQUL (or the field) for analysis.
	UQ PhD student Stas Krupenia helps a young visitor to the UQUL adjust the monocle of the Nomad(tm) HMD. The UQUL's Microvision Nomad(tm) is the first one in Australia. Stas is exploring the potential for its use by anesthetists in the operating room. Do people lose peripheral awareness when using a head-mounted display? What is the role of auditory displays in helping people maintain peripheral awareness?
	The head mounted part of the Xybernaut(tm) Wearable Computer showing the miniature monitor (small blue square) with its supporting glasses. UQUL honours student David Liu has performed an evaluation of the Xybernaut(tm) Wearable Computer for his ITEE honours thesis.
	Visitor wearing the Xybernaut(tm) wearable computer.
	Visitors experience the head-mounted displays. At right, a visitor estimates the visual angle subtended by the Xybernaut's(tm) miniature monitor.
	Stas Krupenia explains the finer points of the Microvision Nomad(tm) to a visitor.
	When you're wearing a radio foreheadcam, you can make patterns in the monitor that is displaying the video from your foreheadcam!

For further information about the UQUL, see: the UQ Usability Lab home page Download our Brochure and our Poster.