Point of Need Computing

• How do we identify places to locate kiosks?
• What tasks do those places afford?
• What hardware/software do we plan to use?
• Can we identify a set of tasks common to kiosks in general?
• What sort of interface will we provide?

How do we identify places to locate kiosks?

• What places are convenient (where do people "stand around" alot; where do they stand when they wait for, eg, the printer; where are they when they need to perform tasks?
  • Are there thought experiments which can help to identify these places?
  • Are there real experiments which can help to identify these places?
• Why do people go back to their offices? Are any of those needs solvable using appropriately placed kiosks?
  • we go back to send someone email when we discover they're not in.
  • we go back to write down an appointment
  • we go back to ...
• What areas function as community areas, and can kiosks help with community tasks in those areas?
  • the copy room, meeting rooms, coffee rooms, stairwells, entryways, hallways

What tasks do those places afford?

• Access messages (esp. urgent) stored in email, voice mail, ...
• Directory Information (finding someone or something)
• Documents (viewing, printing, records, ...)
• Games (eg treasure hunt)
• Information Presentation ("About" button)
• Internet phone(talking to people) Since there will almost always be a telephone available, this seems unnecessary.
• Leave notes/send notes (an electronic bulletin board)
• Ordering Supplies
• Phone Forwarding This involves some cross architecture work that is beyond the scope of this summer's project.
• Printing job control
• Reporting problems, errors, etc
• Scheduling
• Screen Saver (?)
• Suggestion Boxes (add, discuss, and vote on suggestions)
• Other Scenarios

What hardware/software do we plan to use?

Right now we are considering several different hardware platforms.  We will probably use the Windows95 operating system. For our interface, we plan to use a combination of cgi-bin scripts, HTML, and java. This will (hopefully) be easily accessible both from the desktop environment and the PALplates.

Can we identify a set of tasks common to kiosks in general?

What sort of interface will we provide?

Objects have properties. Directory, Notes, Suggestion Boxes, etc all pick objects based on who's near, what's near, and where's near, not just one of them.

Web based, probably.

Two different approaches discussed so far:

• A combination of cgi-bin scripts for accessing a database of different interface configurations, and java code for providing functionality beyond what a normal HTML page provides. The database outputs HTML files. The interface is done using large images for buttons, etc, but can be viewed from any browser.
• A mud back end, with an internal model of the office building. A java-based mud client provides the interface. This is very similar to the previous approach, but the need for cgi-bin scripts is circumvented completely.

Copyright © 1996 FX Palo Alto Laboratory, Inc. For problems or questions regarding this web contact Jen Mankoff. Last updated June 20, 1996.