Recitation 8: Serial Communication, by Daniel

Instructor: Marcele 
 
This is a write up for Interaction Lab SP18 Recitation on Serial Communication on Apr 19, 2019. 
 

Piano 


 
 

Tracer 


 
 

Schematics 


scheme of circuits 
 

Source Code 


Please see Github
 

Thoughts on interactivity 


Tracer 

Let’s talk about the usability. The vertical knob was hard to control. My brains couldn’t control both knobs at the same time. This makes me appreciate the invention of mouse, track pads, and touch screen. 
It is also beneficial to reflect on the limitation of human control. Understanding what humans are good at is at the core of interface design. 
 

Piano 

This piano is hard to play. Especially when there is a long travel, it is hard to nail the next note. Overshooting and undershooting is frequent. This reminds me of a GUI design equation: 
Ease = button size / travel distance 
Real pianos don’t have this problem, because of haptic feedback. We know where our fingers are. We also feel the keys of the piano. Our hands are trained to interact with the physical world. A mouse is not quite there. 
This is also one of the problems our final project needs to solve. 

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