Jen Mankoff
Summer, 1996
FX Palo Alto, Inc.

PALplates

Summer Intern Project Proposal

My goal for this summer is to explore the area of ubiquitous, "point of need" computing, using a mobile user/ubiquitous stationary machine paradigm. More specifically, I will implement and test "PALplates". PALplates are multimedia kiosks, located where you need them, providing access to tasks relevant to their location. For example, a PALplate located near your office would allow people to leave you virtual postit notes. A PALplate located in a printing room would allow people to order supplies such as toner or paper.

The following list of tasks should be completed by the end of the summer:

• Literature survey to identify other kiosk systems and related research.

• Definition of problem: How is what we are doing different? How is it useful?

• Design of architecture: What should the interfaces look like? How can we make it accessible from multiple computing platforms?

• Selection & purchase of hardware: What type of touch screen should we use? What sort of computer?

• Implementation of system: I will develop several scenarios, and implement them. Specifically, I expect to implement

  • Virtual Bulletin Board -- a system for creating & viewing causual notes sent to one or more PALplates

  • Suggestion-box -- a company-wide system for suggesting, discussing, and voting on different issues

  • Visual Directory -- a visual view into the database of people, objects, and places in the system. A search for an object returns a map representing the user, the object, and a path between them

  Depending on time constraints, I would also like to implement

  • Document browsing/printing/modifying – public and private documents can be

  • Ordering Supplies – orders are given a priority such as "Now" "Today" or "This Week" and automatically emailed to the person in charge of the object or area at appropriate times.

  • Evaluation of system: By recording usage data about each interaction of the system, we should be able to evaluate what people used, and where errors occurred. Each PALplate will also have a button for suggestions, which people will hopefully use to tell us what they did or did not like.