221CR: Hidden Coventry Logbook
19/11/07: Today we were allocated our groups for our assignment. After we met we set about identifying a plan for the project. In order to plan effectively we needed to establish a timescale, with milestones. This hopefully should allow us to allocate the correct amount of resources into producing content for the Poster Display Presentation, dividing the workload equally, and taking advantage of our best abilities.
My main task was to be in charge of researching hardware possibilities for use on the Hidden Coventry – i-Sight Tour. I had to establish whether there was existing hardware that could be manipulated using either existing or new software to suite our specific needs. Designing the hardware for the Tour would be relatively straight forward, because the specific requirements of the hardware required aren’t that demanding.
21/11/07: Today I began to fully investigate existing hardware that could suitable for our tour. I had to find hardware that had touch screen capabilities, text to speech facilities, an inbuilt camera, GPS navigation onboard, fire wire/USB outputs and long battery life. These handheld navigation systems will need to be lightweight so the users find them easy and convenient to transport. To minimize effort for i-Sight employees the units must be rechargeable with direct power inputs. I looked at Tom-tom GPS units and Navman GPS units. Navman had a diverse range of handheld GPS units, more importantly some with built in cameras. I found information on the Navman N40i which from the specification looked like the nearest match to our desired unit specification. The software supplied with Navman clearly would not have enough functionality for us to be able to implement the tour guide using the existing platform. This meant that we would need to update/upgrade the software on a different more common platform. It was also decided by David and I that i-Sight would initially need at least 10 handheld units to launch.
Resources/Research: http://www.navman.com/Navman/Templates/productinformation____47198.aspx
Here is the product overview for the N40i: I used this to identify whether the unit had the features we demanded.
“And further afield is exactly where the new Navman N40i helps you go as it comes complete with European maps and advanced GPS navigation.
Unmistakeable destinations
The N40i includes an integrated digital camera for taking NavPix to create an unmistakable reminder of your chosen destination. So you can find your way there - no matter how far away it is – whenever you want.
The NavPix itself combines exact geographical information with an image, so whether it’s the Arc de Triumphe, Trajan’s Arch or the Cinquantenaire Arch, you’ll easily find your way back.
You can also download NavPix or share your own in the NavPix Library.
Reliable and accurate
The slim N40i brings together advanced software with ease of use and a finger-friendly, 3.5” touch screen.
What’s more, that ease of use is carried over into the intuitive display and GPS navigation features.
So you can choose whether to use a NavPix or an address, including the postcode (even 8-digit UK postcodes), to find your way to a destination reliably and accurately every time.” – www.navman.com
“The Navman N40i brings together NavPix™ functionality with a digital camera and accurate, reliable navigation in a cost-effective package, offering:
NavPix compatibility so you can download and then use NavPix to navigate
Integrated 1.3 Mega Pixel NavPix camera
Nearest Fuel and Park buttons to alert you to the nearest petrol station or car park
Large 3.5” touch screen
Compatibility with the optional T1 Traffic Pack for real-time, subscription-free traffic updates in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands
Reliable, accurate GPS navigation
Advanced Motorway Navigation
Journey View function
Enhanced battery life, up to 5 hours depending on use
Enhanced software
The N40i also builds on the enhanced software capabilities of the iCN 700 series to offer:
Greatly improved, finger friendly interface
Pre-installed safety camera data
POI import capability, so you can add your own points of interest, such as safety cameras
Drive-Away™ so it’s ready to use out of the box
Automatic re-routing with Back-on-Track™
Pre-installed regional map”
Hardware
Weight
200g
Size
81mm (H) x 118mm (W) x 22.5mm (D)
Memory
64MB SDRAM plus Flash-based ROM:
UK and Ireland, Benelux, Spain and Portugal, Australia and New Zealand = 256MB
France and Andorra; Italy; Germany, Canada; Scandinavia = 512MB
USA = 2GB
Camera
Yes
Hard drive
No
Processor
Samsung 244-400MHz
Battery
Rechargeable integrated Li ION – up to 4-5hrs life (depending on use)
High-quality loudspeaker
Yes
GPS Receiver
SiRFstarIII™ Generation 2
GPS update rate
Typically every second once fix established
GPS accuracy
Fix to 5 metres 95% of the time
Screen
Anti-glare high resolution 3.5” (89mm) colour touch-screen
In-Car Suction Mount
Yes
Power
12V in-car power connector
PC connection
USB 1.1
Software features
NavPix™ navigation to pictures
Journey View
Drive-Away™
Back-on-Track™
POI (points of interest – transport-related POIs)
Nearest POI/POI import
Full postcode address search (including 8 digit postcodes in the UK) – not full postcode-based search in the Netherlands
Voice guided instructions
Favourite destinations stored
Multiple routing options, eg, shortest/fastest, nearest POI
Navigation views
Turn-by-Turn™
Next manoeuvre
3D Moving map (adjust 3D zoom mode downwards to achieve 2D moving map mode)
2D Mini map
Mapping
Tele Atlas 2006
SmartST™ 2006 SE navigation software
Local and European maps”
22/11/07: I decided today that in order to fully examine the Navman N40i I couldn’t merely just look at the technical specification and pictures shown online. I went to Halfords and asked to test one of their display models. The functionality seemed great, it had almost every feature that was desired of our GPS units, the only software editing that would have to be performed would be to add information pop-ups when the user reached each POI (Point of Interest)/Geocache. I purchased the Navman N40i for just under One hundred pounds and was told that if I was interested in purchasing bulk amounts I would be looking at a far more pleasing trade price of Fifty four pounds per unit(boxed retail). This meant that if we did choose to go with using Navman, at least the solution would not be too expensive and support would be available from Navman’s after-service team.
I decided to take some initial photos of the Navman and to bring the unit to the next group meeting we conducted.
As you can see the Navman has been ergonomically designed to fit in the palm of a person’s two hands so that they can both input data and view onscreen information displayed to the user. I decided to test fully if the Navman could be used with customers of all ages by observing my girlfriend and my little sister “testing” the kit. Here are some photos displaying the observations:
26/11/07: After further examination and group discussion I concluded that the Navman I had purchased would be suitable for our purpose, however it would have to be aesthetically re-designed and for ease of use the software would have to be manipulated (simple changes throughout such as button functions – simple “macro’ing”/binding and menu organization). This meant that instead of creating a GPS handset from scratch I would have existing documentation to follow, and I was able to spend more time fine-tuning the user-centered design aspects of the Navman. Today I prepared a more detailed work schedule detailing the processes the Navman would have to undergo, design wise, before it could be used as the end product, the i-Sight navigation handset.
Project Milestones for Hardware Completion
26th November – proposed project checked off and given go ahead.
2nd December – Button reconfiguration to be completed with new logos/icons and altered functionality.
9th December – Testing onboard Camera and data transfer methods to be completed.
16th December – Feedback from group on hardware capabilities and limitations.
7th January – Review progress in tutorial and prioritize any important issues with development.
21st January – Decide which aspects of the hardware design should be included in the poster
28th January – Edit any items for poster viewing, such as editing out slightly in-depth explanations and maximizing picture resolutions etc.
10th February – Group meeting scheduled to arrange and collaborate on a poster design, and to allocate areas of space on the poster to individual aspects.
20th February – Submit articles to be used for poster show for printing.
25th February – Revise notes for oral defence at PDP.
This project plan was not necessarily written in stone however it was useful to me as a guide for when I was falling behind. This was one idea of project planning and management that was utilized to ensure the hardware element of the concept was completed in a timely fashion.
02/12/07: After studying the Navman in detail I have constructed sketches of what I think the i-Sight unit should look like. I have tried to keep the same functionality and ergonomic design as the Navman, whilst utilizing its aesthetic properties to create a modern, simplistic attractive handheld navigation and information tool. Sketches and graphics of the final product are shown below in
N.B. Please excuse the quality of the sketches, the scanning method proved lossy.
06/12/07: Today I created button logos for the navigation unit, these had to be designed so that they could be understood by a varying demographic. I looked into de facto methods of construing particular actions, like delete, preferences, main menu, return to headquarters(home) and enter. It seems there are many techniques used across modern technology to show these functions, so I designed my own, relying on what I thought were intuitively obvious icons/logos.
Button Icons:
05/01/2008: Today I began detailing the technical specifications of the i-Sight navigational tool. These ideas are shown on the next page:
*The logo on the first page was produced by myself and I also created the name of the project, i-Sight. I wanted a logo that depicted a sight that could be seen in Coventry, including the advanced technology used on the tour . The name needed to be modern and catchy, i-Sight reared first as a cliché word play, but gradually became known as the tour name.
This was the raw photograph I used as a background image:
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