Homework 10: Interfaces

1) Ten examples of interfaces between people and the real world.
1. A vacuum cleaner is an interface that allows the user to suck up dirt from anywhere in there environment.
2. A microwave is an interface that allows the user to heat up any item (usually food) that will fit.
3. A bicycle is an interface that allows the user to quickly travel through their environment.
4. A table is a physical interface that the user can use to place objects offset from the ground.
5. A smoke detector is an interface that monitors smoke levels in the surround environment.
6. A microphone is an interface that amplifies the users voice so that others can hear.
7. A dresser is an interface that someone uses to keep their clothes organized to simplify retrieval and storage.
8. A photograph is an interface that someone uses to remind them of the past.
9. A light is an interface that someone uses to light up the surrounding environment.
10. A bed is an interface that someone uses as a platform to sleep and regain energy.

2) A good interface is one that utilizes multiple dimensions in an elegant way to give the player a sense of power and control. One such example is in the game Halo when the player switches guns. It's obvious when the gun switches because you can see that it's a totally different gun. And it switches very quickly. This is good feedback. Also you can see the amount of ammo you have left by looking on the gun. This is an example of using a specific dimension to display data, and it's better than having the number listed elsewhere where it wouldn't make much sense.

3) A bad interface is one that has a lot of different controls that are confusing and hard to learn. Having pop-up menus for a gamepad is one classic example of an incorrect usage of interfacing. Also having different actions depending on whether a button is tapped compared to being held down for every button will leave the player overwhelmed and likely to give up playing because they loose the sense of control and fun because it's not transparent.