The First Post

So the time has come for my first blog post (long overdue), the following blog entries relate to my developing  PhD work which is concerned with using new media (specifically augmented reality) as an interpretation tool for the heritage sector. In an attempt to finally get organised and make some progress with my writing, I have  decided to keep a blog of my developing production work, research and general musings.

I had a meeting about my work yesterday which raised some interesting points that I have had to ponder over. Firstly, I have probably focused to much on building the prototype (and making sure that it is all working ), an have possibly neglected recording the process. The point was raised that I have already done enough work for a chapter which needs to be written up. This would be:

• Chapter 1: Creating and testing the initial prototype (which for initial convenience was built around the Edward Povey Hall of Illusions mural at Bangor University).
• Chapter 2: Choosing the proper heritage site and trailing the basic agented display.
• Chapter 3: Trailing and comparing the alternative treasure hunt style display.

I think the problem was that I never really intended to use the Povey painting as I always wanted to work at a dedicated heritage site (e.g. a national trust site) as this has the benefit of a stream of visitors (the willing study population) to try the display. However, approaching a site was put back due to teaching responsibility and it seemed like a good idea to make sure that I could get the display working (by testing it on the Povey painting) before approaching the intended site. Whilst I have got the display working with the Povey painting, it turns out that the painting is not quite suitable for the type of augmented display I am putting together (the main issue is the scale of the painting, and the distance from it that you need to stand). Because of this, it was my intention to move on to transferring the painting over to the selected heritage site, however it was pointed out that I am missing an opportunity in not turning the Povey pre-trial into a chapter in its own right, and exploring in detail why the painting was not a suitable subject for the augmented interpretation (the term I have come to use to explain what I am doing). I think that this would be a really good approach. With this in mind I think that I need to do a few things.

• Write the questions to test the test subjects understanding in relation to the augmented painting.
• Put together a short usability issue questionnaire (to identify the main user issues with the Povey version of the display).
• Run the pre trial with three test subjects (probably willing students).

I need to try and do this as soon as possible, as I have a conference coming up and it would be good to use the pre-trial as the focus.