PALplates Scenarios/Ideas

Please add to this page ("~toomey/public/palplates/ideas.html") with your scenario ideas, comments, etc.

Roadmap for what to do?

• Refine PALplates definition.
• Continue adding applications to the Tasks List for PALplates.
• Organize/Categorize tasks.
• Put PALplates around the office: Scribble Pads/Paper etc.?
  • It could read something like: "What would you do if this was a computer?"
• Define issues.
• Write White Papers on issues (to get depth in understanding), for example on:
  • What PALplates are not?
  • What are the various levels of abstractions?
• Pick a subset of tasks to implement.
• What design fits?
• Cost/function justification.

General Ideas and Comments

• Calendar/Schedule Keeper
  Use a map (e.g., a 2D bldg. layout like the Emergency Exit diagrams, or a 3D VRML model) to navigate through the office to get to the PALplate info/UI you need. For example, selecting/moving to Kumo on the map from the coffee room PALplate would bring up Kumo's PALplate UI, allowing you to check/schedule the conference room.
• Person Locator.
  Find people (or last where they were when they last interracted with a plate) perhaps by viewing a map. Includes a mechanism for exchanging permissions to see this information.
• Object Locator.
  Find printers (or other selected "located-objects") perhaps by viewing a map with their room locations hilighted.
• Office/Room Locator.
  Select a person's name and find out where their office is located perhaps by viewing a map with the room highlighted. Alternately view a map of the floor with people's names labeling their offices.
• Visitor Guidance.
  Select a person (or object) and see a map with dotted path from the current location to the selected object.
• Urgent Messages
  Authenticate then receive urgent messages, e.g., email marked "urgent," or voicemail sent to a special mailbox, or a plate message left from another plate. Leave messages for others at their PALplates/PALplate UI's.
• E-mail reader
  Quick check of unread email (no reply).
• Phone mail check
  Listen to and/or respond to phone mail.
• User Manual
  Allow viewing of device manauls.  Replaces, for example, the 3 books sitting on the Majestik printer.
• Service History
  Allow viewing of previous repair reports etc.  Replaces, for example, the paper history repairmen carry with them.
• Call Repair
  Report problems with a device. Automatically routes to correct person or repair company via email, pager, voice mail, etc.  Logs problem time and info.
• About Menu (MacOs) or Help Menu (Windows)
  Provide the "About <Company>" function of the Macintosh. Alternately provide a Window's like "Help" with frequently asked questions, primers, etc, about proximate devices and services.
• Teleporting a plate (Teleplating)
  Hit map buttton then PALplate icon in any room and pop up the UI from that location.
• Programmable
  Click on the PALplate icon on your desktop and customize your PALplate.
• File Locator
  At the printer/fax authenticate and traverse to your filesystem to print/fax.
• Internet Phone
  Stay connected from any place to anyplace.
• Thermal Data Recorder
  Keeps temperature data.
• Yellow Pages
  Phone numbers might be needed during a meeting/break/etc.
• Supplies Locator
  Locate where are Office supplies, Printer/Copier/Fax, Kitchen supplies.
• Inventory Maps
  Locate books in library, locate supplies in shelves, map to specific locations.
• To-do lists
  For people who move a lot in office e.g: System Administrators, salespersons etc.

Scenarios

Entrance/Lobby

• Floor Map
  Select the name of the person/place you want to go to and the PALplate shows a map of how to get there from where you are.
• Person Locator
  As described earlier.
• PALart
  Displays art when not in use.

Hallway

Personal Office

Manager's Office

Conference Room

• Extend the scenario described in the vision/scenario document where a meeting breaks up with the decision to reconvene the next day. After using the PALplate outside the conference room to schedule the meeting, each participant could flash their badge over the PALplate reader to add the newly scheduled meeting to their individual calendars.
  
  

Shared Laboratory

Library

• Book shelves map
  Helps locate shelves for the desired title/catalog number.
• Check-in/Check-out
  Enter the catalog number to check-in or check-out books.
• Wait Queue
  Enter the waiting queue for library resources.

Coffee Room/Kitchen

• Daily News
  Get news feeds from the web.
• Food on Demand
  Order pizza or other food items from a list of local caterers.

Storage Area

Patio/Terrace

Photocopier

Printer

• Privy Print
  Queue a document with "hold" status and release for printing when you arrive at the printer in order to ensure nobody sees confidential documents.
• Redirect Print
  Move your print job from the proximate printer queue and route to a different printer (because printer is broken, or long queue, etc.)
• Cancel Print
  Cancel your print job at the proximate printer
• Print
  Authenticate and select one of your files for printing at the proximate printer.
• Print Public Documents
  Call up a list of public documents for printing at the proximate printer. Documents may be workplace procedure manuals, expense vouchers, order forms, fax header pages, technical reports, etc.

Fax Machine

• FAX Notify
  Select a colleague and send mail with the stock message "you have a fax, come pick it up <here>"

Multifunction Device

Meeting Room

• Resource Requestor
  At the time of reserving a meeting room request any needed audio/video equipment. The request is automatically forwarded to responsible personnel.
• Controls
  Get information about device controls in a meeting room.

Across Locations

• Conference Room Schedule
  Find the conference room schedule from any PALplate location. Authenticate and then navigate through the PALplates network to get to the schedule at the conference room's PALplate.
• Conference Room Reservation
  Authenticate and navigate to the conference room PALplate to reserve the conference room.
• Public Announcements
  A visual PA system whn not in any other use.
• Suggestion Box
  Enter (location related!) suggestions for the administration at any PALplate.
• Administrative
  PALplate administrators authenticate themselves and can modify content of information on a PALplate.
• PALplate map
  Hit the "up" button and get a map of PALplates by location.
• Supplies Information
  Hit the supplies button to check supplies for the printer, fax, coffee room, etc.
• Order supplies
  Automatically format a letter to admin to to order supplies that are specific to locations.
• Complaint book
  Enter printer/fax problems at the location which is forwarded to the appropriate personnel.
• On-site help
  Access help books and manuals at the site specific to the location.
• Phone Forwarding
  Authenticate, then hit the phone forwarding button at any PALplate location and enter your phone number to be forwarded to your present location.

How would "...." use PALplates?

• Fireman : may not be a good idea because of unreliability in the event of a fire.
• 
  

  to find who is in the building
  

  to hit an emergency button to alert everyone.
  

  provide directions to exit.
  

  provide information about fire extinguishers or water points etc.
  

  act as a black-box.

• Salesman
  

  for directed marketing from information on plates at office doors.
  

  expecting hosts may flash messages for visiting pizza, fedex person.
  

  get to their PALplates for information.

• Teams
  

  authenticate and pull a page to any workstation/PALplate to share.
  

  put urgent group wide notices.

• Repairman
  

  where are supplies, equipment to be fixed, contact person?
  

  service history on-site.
  

  announce that the machine is fixed.

Outside Office PALplates Applications?

• Grocery Stores
  PALplates by the aisles/carts for location/price information about products.
  
• Hospitals
  PALplates by beds for patient records.

Do PALplates need a keyboard?

maybe a pop-up keyboard, e.g. to make an entry into conference calendar, if there is an email reply feature.

PALplates Demo

Liveboards with pens.

Put paper PALplates at various sites.

Scan-in floor map of FXPAL for demo.

What is the nature of PALplates?

active message boards, communicators, controllers, information access etc..(no need to classify??)