Assignment: Midterm Project 1: Group project proposal

Collaborators:

Collaborators: Annette Greiner, Sarah Van Wart

Memory Metre

The Problem: Though measuring instruments such as rulers and tape measures are a convenient and familiar way to obtain object dimensions, they can be bulky, difficult to manipulate, and often require the measurer to have “more than two hands.”  For example, it is difficult to both measure and record; it is easy to lose the piece of paper on which measurements have been documented; it is nearly impossible for people with poor vision to take measurements using a meter stick; and depending on where an object is positioned, it can be difficult to read a measurement. 

A New Concept: The Memory Metre enhances a familiar tool – the meter stick – by adding digital and computational capabilities.  By assisting users in recording and reading measurements through audio, visual, and tactile clues, the Memory Metre embodies measurements in the device itself.

A Embodied Measuring Process:

• The Memory Metre (MM) functions as a regular meter stick, but can better facilitate the process of measurement by:
• Allowing the measurer to record each measurement by simply touching the stick at a desired distance along the stick (or, for more precise measures, moving a slider).  For measuring tasks in which the length of the object exceeds the size of the stick itself, a "hand-over-hand" strategy can be employed, whereby the MM can be pivoted about its endpoints.
• Allowing users to tag any measurement with recorded audio to be played back later with the measurement.  This would be very useful for people with a visual impairment.
• Showing users visual clues as they measure (LED lights will illuminate the distance of each measurement for instant feedback).
• Allowing quick area and volume calculations based on measurements stored in the MM. The user can touch two measurements in rapid succession and hear the area of the rectangle they define, or touch three measurements and hear the volume. 
• Storing sets of measurements in measurement “sessions,” which are tagged with voice recordings and time stamps.
• Transforming MM measurement data into another format by allowing it to be synchronized with a computer.

Conclusion: Memory Metre enhances the familiar metre stick by embodying the results of its function, measurements, into the device itself.  Measurements can be easily recalled later both visually and audibly.