Printertainment: Printing with Interactive Cover Sheets

UC BerkeleyJason Hong

FXPALBill Schilit

Morgan PriceGene Golovchinsky

Coversheets

Printertainment Motivation• Do something useful with cover

sheets– Usually just thrown away– Can we use other people’s coversheets?

• Improve user experience when printing– Can we do something useful or fun

instead of just waiting for printouts?

Interaction• Reading• Discussing• Marking -> Computer input

– Paper Applications are a step towards bridging digital and paper media

– Users read and mark up the Paper User Interface of a paper application

– Annotations are scanned in and processed by computer at a later time

Design Process• Tried out Three Prototypes

– Xamagotchi– MadLibs– CoverNotes

• Developed on Xerox Paperware Toolkit– Checkboxes– Freeform ink

• Used our workgroup Printer / Scanner

Fun!

Xamagotchi• Virtual Printer Pet

overlaid on coversheet

• Check off action and then scan in

• Amusing• Hung up on walls• Take care of it?

PLAY: Print a document until the bat and ball icon appear on the banner page, then press the collate button to begin thegame. The object is to guess which way Xamagotchi will jam. To choose area A, press 2, to choose area B, press 1. I f youchoose the correct area, Xamagotchi will be happy. There are 5 chances in each game to match Xamagotchi; the more youmatch the happier Xamagotchi will be. To stop the game press the C button. Af ter playing, check the happiness meter tosee if it went up or down. Check toner f requently during play.

FEED: Print until toner and fuser-oil iconappear on banner page. Select either Meal orSnack by circling on page, then scan the pageto feed Xamagotchi . Also add more tonerand fuser-oil. Be careful not to overfeedXamagotchi ; if you do it will leave mess ondocument pages.

DUCK: J ust like real pets, Xamagotchi goes to thebathroom. I f droppings appear on the banner page, itmust be clean up right away or Xamagotchi will getsick. Cross out the poop icons on the banner page thenscan to flush. Xamagotchi will be very happy af ter themess is cleaned up.

HEALTH METER: Check Xamagotchi’s health, by printing a testjob in duplex mode until the health meter appears on the bannerpage, then copy thrice to check Xamagotchi’s age/ weightdiscipline, hunger, and happiness. Af ter you have checked all thecopies to see if Xamagotchi needs anything, press C to return tothe main mode. You should also check this health if Xamagotchi’spaper jams on you and the “attention” icon is highlighted.

MEDI CI NE: I f a “skull” image appears onthe banner page, Xamagotchi is sick andneeds medicine. Copy the banner page untilthe medicine icon is highlighted, then pressC. Sometimes 2 or 3 injections are neededbefore Xamagotchi is well. Call FieldService if problem persists.

ATTENTI ON: When this icon appears on bannerpages, Xamagotchi needs something. Check thehealth Meter to determine what Xamagotchi needs.I f Xamagotchi doesn’t need anything, it must bedisciplined or the Attention icon will stay on bannerpages.

DI SCI PLI NE: Xamagotchi needs discipline if it:1) jams even though it is full and happy2) won’t eat when it is hungry3) won’t play games when it is not very happy. I f you neglect todiscipline Xamagotchi when needed, it might grow up into anunattractive, bad mannered Sharp copier.

What isXamagotchi?Xamagotchi is avirtual reality pet whichwas first discovered in aXerox multifunction devicein J apan in April 1, 1998.Xamagotchi hatch from tiny eggsand live in the Xerox machineand show themselves on ban-ner pages. With proper careand feeding, it will growinto lovely virtual petsin a wide variety ofshapes and colors(model 5690 only)with diff erentpersonalities.

Happy No J ams Hungry Wants toner

Your very own

Xamagotchi“it lives in the printer”

Feed me Play with me Hold me Discipline me Clean me Love me Hate me Jam me Toner cocktail

usernamejob title01-04-98 10:59

username

X

MadLibsInput

MadLibsOutput

MadLibs Feedback•It’s fun

•Used by and talked about by groups•MadLibs hanging outside offices

•Problems•Is it a coversheet?•Synchronous

•Can scan app in, but need to wait for output!

•Not useful

CoverNotes• Print jobs get

CoverNotes coversheet

• Group communication– like a bulletin board

• Coversheets publicize information– freeform ink input

CoverNotes

Message

Every CoverNotes coversheet contains three messages from a pool of messages

CoverNotes

Fill in the empty box and check off the duration

Empty BoxDuration

CoverNotes

Fill in the empty box and check off the duration

CoverNotes

Scan in the form.

No waiting for scan to start or for output!

CoverNotes Feedback• One week usage• CoverNotes publicized info

– People left them by the printer

• Asynchronous interaction worked• But is it a coversheet?

– Not as faithful as the Xamagotchi prototype

• Not enough content

Future Work• Add outside content to make an

“Office newspaper”– Handwritten notes– Email Announcements– News stories from the Web

Conclusions• Interactive coversheets have

affordances of paper– Hand around and discuss– Hang on walls– Markup

• Lessons– Asynchronous interaction is key– Needs to look like a coversheet

• Three prototypes show that Interactive Coversheets can be fun!

Questions?

Spare Slides

Sample Apps - MadLibs

Strengths and Weaknesses

• No feedback– when scanning– when using widgets

• Undo– No history of actions

• Static content and form– Cannot do weather and stocks very well

Designing Paper Apps (cont.)

• Not well suited for synchronous apps• Slow update and turnaround time• Easy to lose state

– Throw it in the trash

• Debugging is difficult!– Generates lots of paper