EPortfolio Chunk 10

Norman Chapter 6 from The Design of Future Things

"Without feedback it wasn't possible to create the appropriate conceptual model.  Any one of a dozen things could have failed: without evidence, there was no way to know" (p. 138).

Feedback, whether it be from our cars, homes, teachers, or partners, are necessary influences over our decision making.  Norman argues "feedback is probably even more essential when we interact with our machines than with other people" (p. 139).  I'm not certain one can weigh out the relative importance of feedback of people and machines, but I do appreciate Norman's point.  I think that a necessary part of the design process of machines must incorporate mechanisms for feedback.  Add to this Norman's idea of creating a dialogue with our machines, and we must factor in a model for reciprocal feedback where machines can read human responses and make appropriate decisions accordingly.

I want to connect this idea of machine feedback to a movie theatre experience I had last week.  A friend and I went to see Battle Los Angeles, a terribly written alien invasion film you should avoid at all costs.  Cineplex has introduced their new motions seats, D-Box. http://www.cineplex.com/Theatres/D-Box.aspx, and these were available for an additional $8.00 if one were so inclined.  The seats promised thrills of rumbling the viewer when helicopters soared or guns blazed.  We were a few rows away from these seats and felt the vibrations from afar.

I blog this because it is current example of a monologue with a machine.  The D-Box seat is programmed to follow the script of the film, rumbling when gunfire lights up the screen.  It isn't all that different from the rumble feature in the current generation video game controllers.  What if the machine sensed when you shifted?  For example, if it were a horror film with the proverbial cat jumping out of the cupboard, could the seat sense when you started to feel more tense, then shock you with a movement to enhance the experience?  I guess I'm curious how we can overcome the one way communication of our machines through feedback.  There is a ton of talk about personalizing learning in education.  What about personalizing our entertainment experiences through a dialogue with our machines?