IdeaBall
Master thesis by Clio Kakoulli, supervised by René Bohne
About
IdeaBall is a physical prototype for controlling turn-taking and recording brainstorming sessions. It is used in conjuction with the IdeaBallNavigator, a desktop application for logging and displaying information gathered by the IdeaBall.
Download thesis
You can download the PDF version of the thesis here.
IdeaBall - Hardware
Communication between the IdeaBall and IdeaBallNavigator is accomplished by a bluetooth connection. Turn taking is recognized by recording a change in the RFID tag read. The IdeaBall provides audio feedback to signal the change in RFID tags read, and consequently that the ball changed hands. Interaction between users and the IdeaBall is achieved by shaking the ball.
The main components of the IdeaBall are:
- Atmel Atmega644p
- 125KHz RFID Reader ID12
- 3-axis accelerometer ADXL335
- Bluegiga WT32 Bluetooth Module
- ADMP401 Mems Microphone
- 125KHz RFID tags
User Input: shake
User Feedback: visual, audio
IdeaBall Eagle Files and Firmware
IdeaBall Eagle Files IdeaBallFirmware
IdeaBallNavigator - Application
The IdeaBallNavigator aims to provide an overview of the meeting with audio playback, time-based and indexed navigation. It runs locally and is meant to be used by a single user.
IdeaBallNavigator Features:
- Mac OS X 10.7
- Application runs locally
- Meaningful depiction - minimum processing
- Color coded participant information allows visualization of turn taking and speaking time
- Omnipresent timeline provides an overview of the brainstorming session and allows for fast navigation
- Idea Authorship is guarded by rendering some information (such as speaking start-end time) unmodifiable