ICT MxR Lab's Response to Google's "April Fools Day" Gmail Motion, using OpenNI and FAAST

I recently purchased a Kinect and have been chomping at the bit to do something creative with it.  I have been  too busy with work to dive into a project. Fortunately,  great minds have been paving the way!


I was almost fooled by Google's April Fools prank, "Gmail Motion", a mythical application designed to allow Gmailers the opportunity to conduct email tasks through gestures alone. 


Robert Kosara, an assistant professor of computer science at UNC-Charlotte, and author of the EagerEyes visualization blog,  recently shared a link to a video of  a working prototype of the Gmail Motion concept.  The video features Evan Suma, a post-doc at USC who earned his Ph.D. at UNC-Charlotte.  



"This morning, Google introduced Gmail Motion, allowing users to control Gmail using gestures and body movement. However, for whatever reason, their application doesn't appear to work. So, we demonstrate our solution - the Software Library Optimizing Obligatory Waving (SLOOW) - and show how it can be used with a Microsoft Kinect sensor to control Gmail using the gestures described by Google. This project uses OpenNI coupled with FAAST and was made by Evan Suma and the folks at Mark Bolas' MxR Lab at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies."

Below is the video that almost had me fooled on April 1st  : )
>

RELATED
FAAST Video Gallery
Download FAAST from the USC ICT FAAST website.
University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies (USC ICT) 

The FAAST website has loads of  additional "how-to" information. The list below is just a sample of what can be found on the site:

To use FAAST, you will need to download and install the following software:

1. OpenNI Unstable Build for Windows v1.0.0.25
2. PrimeSense NITE Unstable Build for Windows v1.3.0.18
   During NITE installation, enter the free license key from OpenNI: 0KOIk2JeIBYClPWVnMoRKn5cdY4=
3. Hardware drivers for your sensor (only one of the following)
   • Microsoft Kinect: SensorKinect Module – download Win32 installer from Bin folder
   • PrimeSensor: PrimeSensor Module – this does NOT work with the Kinect

FAAST should then run out-of-the-box; no additional installation or setup is necessary. If you encounter an error on startup, you may also need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package.

FAAST project members are Evan A. Suma, Belinda Lange, Skip Rizzo, David Krum, and Mark Bolas

Monday Musing and Meanderings: Interesting videos and links about emerging technologies.

INTERACTIVE TANGIBLE TABLETOP MUSIC


Reactable Live! SubMixPro Studio Torino

The Reactable featured in the above video is used for DJ-ing in clubs. The one I've played with is at the science museum in my area - I love it. It is fun to improvise on the Reactable with another person.  For more information, see my previous blog posts featuring the Reactable.

AUGMENTED REALITY
While listening to CNBC on my satellite radio on the way home today,  I heard that investing in Qualcomm might be a good idea.   I wonder if this means that Wall Street analysts think that  AR will become mainstream soon...   


The video below shows a variety of creative AR game applications:


Qualcomm has an AR SDK that comes with tutorials, samples, an API reference, and developer forums. The SDK can be downloaded from the Qualcomm AR web-page.

For more information:

GDC 11:  AR- The Augmented Future of Mobile Serious Games?  Eliane Alhadeff, Serious Games Market, 3/7/11

Qualcomm Augmented Reality Research

Qualcomm Extends Augmented Reality with Unity Technologies

Qualcomm's secret mobile weapon:  Augmented Reality Robert Enderle,  TG Daily, 2/24/11

This sort of technology has been around for a while. For an example, take a look at  the 2007 MScape game demo of the AR game, Roku's Reward:

THE KINECT FOR MEDICAL DATA VISUALIZATION 

Here is another use of augmented reality, but this time, harnessing the Kinect:

Magic Mirror for Medical Data Visualization using Kinect

Madhav K. ,  Kinecthacks 

Public Presentation of mirracle

PHOTOELASTIC TOUCH

Transparent Rubbery Interface using a LCD and Photoelasticity
Toshiki Sato, Haruko Mamiya, Taro Tokui, Hideki Koike,  The Unversity of Electro-Communications;  Kentaro Fukuchi, Japan Science and Technology Agency
Abstract (pdf)


ART AND SCREENS

Nomad capacitive brush turns your iPhone into an art canvas for $24.00
Darren Murph, Engadget, 2/22/11

Nomad Brush for the iPad from Don Lee on Vimeo.

Video: Kinect at the Supermarket - Supporting "Sales Conversations" Using Pointing Gestures - a prototype

Supporting Sales Conversation Using Pointing Gestures via Johannes Schoening:


Innovative Retail Lab in cooperation with Bizerba

Why bother switching from GUI to NUI? - Asked and Answered by Josh Blake; My 2-cents; Stevie B’s Microsoft Research Video; Marco Silva’s NUI-HCI Presentation (and links)

In Chapter 1 of Natural User Interfaces in .NET,  Josh Blake asks and answers a question posed by many people who have been under the spell of keyboard input and GUI/ WIMP interaction: 


Why bother switching from GUI to NUI?  The answer?  Read Chapter 1 (pdf) of the book - the chapter is free.


Here are a few of my personal reasons:  
1.  I want to buy the next version of the iPad or something like it.
2.  I want to buy a new large-screen Internet HD TV.

3.  I want to buy a Kinect.

4.  I do NOT want to interact with my new TV with a Sony remote.  Too many tiny buttons!

5. I do NOT want to interact with my new TV with a keyboard,  because it reminds me of...work.

6.  Most importantly: 

I want to design apps for the people I care about, and others with similar needs:

    My mom.  

    My grandson.

Moms and dads with kids in tow.
People with special needs and/or health concerns, and the people who care and guide them.
Knowledge sharers and (life-long) learners....

RELATED

"Smart" Interactive Display Research

How Natural User Interfaces are changing Human Computer Interaction

 

View more presentations from Marco Silva

My YouTube Playlist:

Post-WIMP Explorers' Club Videos

"Natural user interfaces, gesture interaction, multi-touch, natural interaction, post WIMP examples and more... "

Interactive Multimedia Technology Post:
Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It": Revisited

RELATED - and somewhat related   

Moms with Apps

Design for Care

SparkOn

NUI Group

UX Matters      "Why don't usability problems get fixed"

Encyclopedia:  Human Computer Interaction, Interaction Design, User Experience, Information Architecture, Usability and More (Interaction-Design.org)

Josh Blake's Blog: Deconstructing the NUI    Book: Chapter 1 (pdf)  Free!
Blake.NUI

"Blake.NUI is a collection of helpful controls, utilities, and samples useful for multi-touch and NUI development with WPF, Surface, and Silverlight."

OpenKinect Wiki

OpenKinect Community Founder Joshua Blake Comes Up With His Own Version of Win 7 Multitouch on Kinect   (Madhav K, KinectHacks 1/14/11)

Kinect SDK Could Open New Worlds for Motion-Controlled Interfaces (Mike Martin, TechNews World, 2/22/11)

Seth Sandler

Seth Sandler's Blog

Seth Sandler's  Ultimate List of Interactive Tables

Dan Saffer

Bill Buxton

Johnny Chung Lee's Procrastineering Blog
Adam Greenfield's Speedbird Blog

 (This is not an inclusive list.)


GUI to NUI Post-WIMP Manifesto:  TBA

Today I hooked up a Wii to the IWB in the school's therapy room. Next - a Kinect?! (Angels are welcome to help us expand the school's "games" programs for students with special needs)

Today, I hooked up our school's Wii to the newly-installed IWB in the therapy room for the first time, and used it during a session for for a social-skills activity with two students who have autism spectrum disorders.  The students helped each other to create their own "Mii" avatars.  I had them play the bowling game, and was impressed how this activity elicited social conversation between the students, with minimal effort on my part.

Most of students in the program at Wolfe are in grades 6-12. They have cognitive, language, and motor delays.  A good number of the students also have autism spectrum disorders. Some have multiple special needs.

We have found that when our students are provided with interactive activities displayed on the large screen of an IWB, they tend to increase their level of attention to their peers and also communicate more with one-another, as well as with the teachers and staff.

By using an IWB for games at school, we are extending the reach of how this technology can be used with students who have more complex special needs.   By providing a means  for our students to learn to play positive games, we help them develop important physical, social, and leisure skills that they can use outside the school setting with non-disabled peers and siblings.  My hunch is that the games will also help promote cognitive/problem solving skills, too.

NOTE:
The funds to purchase the Wii were donated to our school, but did not cover additional games or accessories. We'd like to purchase Rock Band and Wii Fit. We'd also like to expand our program and purchase an Xbox with a Kinect.   An iPad or two would be OK, too : )

If there are any angels out there who'd like to donate funds for our "games" program at Wolfe, please contact me through my Google profile. I will connect you with the appropriate person.

Game designer/developers/researchers/students:
If you are interested in volunteering your efforts to work on a basic cooperative, pro-social game for the Kinect, SMARTTable, or interactive whiteboard, please contact me.

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Is Changing the World: BLUR Conference, February 22-23, Omni Orlando Resort (Includes video)

Blur Conference

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 8:00 AM - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 5:00 PM (ET) Omni Orlando Resort, 1500 Masters Blvd. 

 ChampionsGate, Florida 33896 Phone: (407) 390-6664

ABOUT BLUR 

(from the conference website)

"It’s easy to forget that the computer mouse is over 45 years old."

"What’s not as easy to forget is that we’re now collectively getting used to interacting with computers via means and interfaces that have moved way beyond the keyboard and the mouse — the iPhone and Wii being the most prominent examples."

"The truth is that we stand on the verge of a major revolution in the models of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). A revolution that will fly right past academic and into a world of retail, medical, gaming, military, public event, sporting, personal and marketing applications."

"From multi-touch to motion capture to spatial operating environments, over the next 10 years, everything we know about HCI will change."

"Blur is the only conference that is exploring the line of interaction between computers and humans in a substantive, real-world and hands-on way."

"At Blur, vendors, strategists, buyers and visionaries assemble to not only discuss the larger issues of HCI, but also to lay their hands on the latest in HCI technology. Blur is the only forum for a focused, hands-on exploration of the varied technologies evolving in the HCI."

"Come play, investigate, learn and apply at Blur — where we’re changing how you interact with computers forever." -Blur



BLUR Conference Agenda
(Note:   I added the links to conference participants and/or their organizations. Feel free to leave a comment if you know of any corrections or better links!)
Keynotes:

Neuroergonomics: How an Understanding of the Brain is Changing the Practice of Human Factors Engineering - Dr. Kay Stanney, Design Interactive

On Social Robotics - Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, Personal Robotics Group, MIT

When Computers Feel: Understanding Human Emotional Measurement  - Hans Lee, EmSense

A Quick Hit on Mobility and HCI - Juan Pons, Swype

Panel Discussion: Haptics- The Beginnings and Future of Touch  - Nimish Mehta

Augmenting the World of Things - Jeff Powers, Occipital; Matt Szymczyk, Zugara; Robert Rice, Neogence; Gene Becker, Layar; Moderated by John Minnihan, Freepository

Why HCI will lead the biggest tech revolution yet - Andrew Tschesnok, Organic Motion
Location as a Primary Interface Input - Matt Galligan, SimpleGeo; Nick Brachet, Skyhook Wireless
Robotics, Gaming and The Future of Entertainment- Paul Berberian, Orbotix
Virtual Coaches in Healthcare: A Vision of the Future - Dan Siewiorek, Carnegie Mellon University
10 reasons to be happy about giving computers emotion sensing - Dr. Rosalind Picard, MIT
Commercializing HCI Technology - Dr. Paul Kedrosky, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Dr. Gerry Barnett


Breakout Sessions:
Human Instrumentation - James Park, FitBit; Ben Rubin, Zeo; Jason Jacobs, RunKeeper;
Steve Larsen, moderator
New Museum Experiences: Learning from Multitouch and Multiuser Installations - Jim Spadacinni, Ideum
Kinect Hacks - Jonathan C. Hall; Lonergan Harrington; Jim Spadacinni, Sean Kean, moderator
Interactive Ads and Consumer Experiences - Alessio Signorini, Immersive Labs; Jon Fox, Helios Interactive
Augmented Reality - Ready for Primetime? - Vikas Reddy, Occipital; Carlin Getliffe, Omniar; Edwin Rivera, Credelis; Dan Rua, moderator
Building an Interface for Endangered Language Learners - Finn Thye and Kelson Adams, Univ of Colorado - Boulder
Alternative Interface Inputs - Gary Clayton, Nuance; Nick Langdale-Smith, Seeing Machines; RJ Auburn, Voxeo; Steve Larsen, moderator
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation "Idea Hack" - Commercializing HCI Technology: A Discussion - led by Paul Kedrosky
Building Natural User Interfaces - Thomas Peterson, SoftKinetic; Ohad Shvueli, Prime Sense; David Minnen, Oblong
3D Interactive Design for the Human Body - Albert Hwang
Panel: Will the Kinect Change the HCI Industry Forever? A Group Discussion
HCI in the 21st Century:  Technologies for Extending and Amplifying the Human Experience (pdf) - Dr. Charlie Hughes, UCF; Dr. David Pratt; Dr. Joseph LaViola;  moderated by Steve Fiore, UCF


Some Videos of HCI/Tech featured at Blur 2011 
360 Panorama occipitalhq


"Illuminous" Eric Gradman



"Standard Gravity" Eric Gradman, OpenKinect (libfreenect/python)


Organic Motion Markerless Motion Capture


Advisory:
Steve Fiore, University of Central Florida
Bob Allen, Disney R&D
Kay Stanney, Design Interactive
Capt. Dylan Schmorrow, USN

New Radiohead video, Lotus Flower: Will we see Thom Yorke's moves on Kinect's Dance Central or Just Dance 2 anytime soon?

When I saw the new Radiohead video, Lotus Flower, featuring a dancing Thom Yorke, I wondered how his moves might play out in a dance application for the Kinect or Wii.

Wouldn't it be fun to figure out a way to represent the dance "steps" in this video?  Just a thought.  



RELATED
Radiohead Surprises With Early Release
Jon Pareles, New York Times 2/18/11
"Wii Just Dance 2 and Kinect Dance Central: UI and Usability Approaches"

Supertouch Group: Use an iPhone or iPad to Send Balls into Kinect Dodgeball

See how they inter-"kinect"!



"The SuperTouch group mission is to generate wonder through simple, fun, entertaining and educational uses of interactive technology and HCI."


RELATED


iPAD + Kinect + Processing

IPAD + Kinect + Processing = stellar foundation for interactions from SuperTouch Group on Vimeo.

Wii Just Dance2 and Kinect Dance Central: UI and Usability Approaches; Challenges for Developing Accessible Games (revised)

I love to dance- I studied dance through college, and off and on as an adult.   I have a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) game-floor pad somewhere in my attic gathering dust.  I'm ready for new challenges.


I'm planning on buying a couple new dance games for the Wii and the Kinect. There is more to this story, given my interest off-the-desktop, post-WIMP HCI (human-computer interaction), interactive multimedia and games, and a career as a school psychologist dedicated to young people with disabilities, I'm excited to see where new technologies, interfaces, and interactions will take us.


So what do the wise men of usability have to say about new ways of interacting with games and other applications?


"Kinect has many great design elements that clearly show that the team (a) knows usability, (b) did user testing, and (c) had management support to prioritize usability improvements, even when they required extra development work." -Jakob Nielsen


Jakob Nielsen, one of the godfathers of usability,  shared a few words of wisdom about the Kinect in his 12/27/10 Alertbox post: Kinect Gestural UI: First Impressions.  Although he did not review Dance Central, he concludes that the game he reviewed, Kinect Adventures, was fun to play, despite usability problems.


If this is a topic that interests you, I recommend you read Neilsen's post, and also take a look at which are outlined in the post.  Also take a look at recent essay Neilsen co-authored with Don Norman, another godfather of usability: Gestural Interfaces: A Step Backwards In Usability

Why is this topic important to me?

I have been involved in the Games for Health and Game Accessibility movement for many years.  Lately I've been exploring the OpenKinect project with an aim to create ways of making movement-oriented games accessible for young people with more complex disabilities.  For example, there is a need to have dance and movement games modified for students (and adults!) who need wheelchairs or walkers.  There are students who have milder mobility challenges who love to dance, and the current games don't address their needs.  Some of my students have vision or hearing impairments, too.  They deserve a chance to play things designed for the Kinect.

"OpenKinect is an open community of people interested in making use of the amazing Xbox Kinect hardware with our PCs and other devices. We are working on free, open source libraries that will enable the Kinect to be used with Windows, Linux, and Mac."

Note:  I currently work as a school psychologist with students up to age 22. My main office is adjacent to a large OT and PT room at Wolfe, a program for students who have special needs.   We just had a large interactive whiteboard installed in the room that is begging for us to connect it with the school's Wii,  and soon (we hope), a Kinect.   If we are going to use dance games to help promote healthy activities among our special students, the games need to be accessible for students with cognitive, motor, and other limitations.

FIRST STEPS
Although I can dance, I understand what the world is like through the eyes of many of the young people I work with who have motor coordination and sensory integration problems that interfere with their ability to  move and dance, let alone access fast-paced dance games on the Wii or Kinect. 


My initial plan is to look at what the new dance games might be like from the view of someone who doesn't know how to dance, and admits that they have "two left feet" - an perhaps, no sense of rhythm.  Where would I start?


Wii's Just Dance2 seems to offer some support for learning how to dance through the use of simple movement icons, in the form of outlined figures, that provide information about how to move with the dancer on the screen. As you can see from the video below, the gamer is provided with information about upcoming moves throughout the game.


I decided to take a look at Just Dance2's  MIKA "Big Girl" (You Are Beautiful) because some of the adolescent females I work with have weight concerns that interfere with their health. During the teen years, this can become a vicious cycle, resulting  in less movement, and less participation with peers in physical activities, such as playing dance games.  If a teen has depression as part of this mix, we know that exercise can help,  and a fun dance game might be a life-saver, in more ways than one.

The screen shots below show how the movement icons are used in the game:

I thought it would be useful to learn more about the story behind the making of JustDance2.
At 2:22, Alexia, the project's usability expert, makes her presence known. From what I can tell, she focused on aspects of the game that would make it more usable for non-dancers, including those with "two left feet", to play the game.  (I don't know if there was anyone consulted about accessibility concerns for the game.)


Kinect Dance Central
Dance Central uses a different approach when it comes to "teaching" people how to dance along through the game. It would be interesting to test out Dance Central and JustDance 2 with the same set of people to get a better feel for what works and what doesn't.  Below is a video that previews, in split-screen, the interaction that takes place in Dance Central:

Dance Central Full Motion Preview


In Dance Central, gamers are provided with information about the moves through icons that cycle up the right hand side of the screen.  The level of dance-coordination to keep up with the moves is challenging at times, even for people who are OK at dancing.  Players can select dances according to level of difficulty. 


Kinect Usability with Regular People

Steve Cable (CX Partmers) shared his team's look at usability issues related to the Kinect by testing several games, including Dance Central, with groups of people in his article, "Designing for XBox Kinect - a usability study".  The quote below is from the Steve's article:

"We’ve loved playing with the Kinect. There’s no doubt that the game play is lots of fun. In-game menus are a barrier to that fun. Kinect should allow players to move through menus quickly and compensate for inaccuracy.

We felt the Kinect would benefit from some standardised global controls – much like a controller uses the A button to select and the B button to move backwards. We also think it needs a more responsive pause gesture – one that doesn’t interfere with the user’s game play.

Most of our participants found the Dance Central menu to be more effective, more efficient and more satisfying to use. Here are our recommendations for designing a Kinect menu interface:

1. Allow users to make selections through positive gestures, rather than timed positions
2. Place options on a single axis to make them easier and quicker to select
3. Allow users to control menus with the game pad if they prefer
4. Use large easy to read text
5. Don’t make users scroll through options unnecessarily – it takes too long
6. Users will be distracted if used in a social setting – test your menus in a social context to see if they are prone to errors
7. Avoid the cursor metaphor, it’s not what gamers are used to seeing in game menus, and makes it harder to implement alternative joypad controls"

Below are screen shots that provide examples of how the movement icons are displayed in Dance Central:

RELATED
Just Dance 2 Review: Get your body moving. No, really. Give it a shot.

Kexa MacDonald, 10/19/10

Dance Central Website

The awesomeness of the Dance Central UI

Istran, 123 Kinect, 11/15/10

CX Partners
OpenKinect 
Alertbox
Game Access SIG -IGDA  
Game Accessibility
Games for Health

Accessible Games for Health and K-12 Education: Lessons from the Classroom

Quora Question:  What are the basic principles of NUI-Natural User Interface Design?    Question Followers

Another close encounter with in-store digital display marketing at Best Buy, bad internet TV controllers, bowling with the Kinect, and more...

Not long ago I visited a Best Buy. While I was there, I wanted to play around with the Kinect, but the demo system hadn't arrived.  As I wandered around the store, I encountered quite a few digital displays, part of  Best Buy's recent in-store digital media marketing effort.  I later shared my experience in a blog post,  Close Encounter with "Best Buy On": Example of a multi-channel marketing approach using in-store digital media that includes an on-line magazine.  


During today's visit to Best Buy,  I noticed that there were more display centers in various departments in the store, and many of the displays had useful and informative content. The Kinect demo was up and running, too.


Within the store,  I noticed a strong emphasis on HDTVs with internet capabilities. I  was hoping that the new Internet HDTVs would come with user-friendly touch-screen controllers, or at least an app for use on touch-screen smartphones, iPads, or other touch-screen tablets. 

What I found was disappointing.  On display were traditional-looking multi-button remote controllers, controllers that looked like PC keyboards,  and of course, Sony's confusing multi-featured contribution to the Internet TV scene.


None of the controllers seemed to be easy-to-use, or capable of supporting web-navigation and other web interactions on HDTVs from a distance, especially when the goal is to watch movies and video from a recliner in a darkened family room.  


What sort of user-centered design or usability studies were in place during the hatching of Sony's Internet TV controller?!  (For more about bad remote controls, one of my pet peeves,  see  "Oh! No! Sony's "Mother of Remote Controls" for Google TV, 74 Buttons and Counting")


Below is a partially annotated slideshow of pictures I took of some of the displays and other things I encountered at Best Buy.  Enjoy!



Close Encounter with Kinect Bowling
It wasn't easy trying to bowl and take video with a phone at the same time! 
(Please excuse the shaky video effects and the view of my fingers.)

Close Encounter with "Best Buy On": Example of a multi-channel marketing approach using in-store digital media that includes an on-line magazine.

Over the next 9 months or so,  I'll be in the market for a computer, an iPad or something similar, a Kinect, and maybe a mid-size Internet-enabled HDTV.  As a consequence,  I turned in to  a Best Buy on my way home from work Friday to see what I could find.  I didn't want to spend much time at the store, since I'm the type of shopper who goes in, finds the desired item(s), and leaves.  


During this trip to Best Buy, my shopping habits were broken, at least temporarily.  I found myself wandering around, looking at the numerous displays of all sizes located about the store.  The displays distracted me from my intended mission.  Below is a slideshow of the pictures I snapped as I wandered about Best Buy:

As a result of the displays,  I spend more time in the store than I'd planned. I left the store empty-handed.  But that is OK, since I think that this strategy, in the long run, will have the power to entice me back to the store and leave knowing that I've made an informed purchase.


According to Gail Chiasson in her Daily DOOH post,"Best Buy's New In-Store Network", Best Buy established an internal advertising and editorial team in 2009, and officially launched a multichannel network called Best Buy On, which extends the in-store network of displays, to the online magazine, also called Best Buy On .   Best Buy On focuses on different theme each month. This month's theme featured all of the cool things that were unveiled at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. 


The bottom line with in-store DOOH is that customers are provided with with enhanced information about various products in each department, and this information is coordinated with the enhanced information they can access on-line.  Put together, this might lead to better sales,  and happier repeat customers in the long run.  


As I went about Best Buy,  I thought that it would be better if the in-store network of displays was less disjointed.  I also was puzzled by the somewhat inconvenient placement of some of the displays.  People who stand in the middle of an aisle to look at a screen block the view of the screen and the other items on display, and also block the paths of other shoppers!


Although I didn't spend a lot of time scrutinizing the content on all of the screens I encountered, what I did look at gave me the impression that there is need for improvement.  Pretty multimedia content might be attractive to the eye, but if it doesn't  meet the needs of customers in specific departments, it might not be effective.  


Here is a personal scenario:
My 80-year-old mother needs a new laptop and would also like to find an eReader that is suitable for someone her age.  She needs a new printer and is thinking about getting a digital camera.  She has some money to spend, but from what I can tell, she'd be a little confused by all of the flashing screens!  


I'm not sure what my mother would make of the displays, especially those that run animated comments about products from Facebook fans!


(Note:  I plan to go with my mom to Best Buy soon, and I'll share this experience on this blog in the future.)


Although there is room for improvement, the Best Buy On approach is a start.   I would like to see more touch-enabled displays as part the in-store network, given the fact that Best Buy sells touch-screen gadgets, tablets, and all-in-one PCs.   The large-screen touch-enabled displays could provide customers with an Amazon- like advisory feature.  This is something that would be very helpful to my mom and other non-geeks.


Best Buy also needs to get the Kinect demo up and running!


RELATED

FAR OUT 1/9/11 (Best Buy On video about products at CES)

What is Best Buy On?  (Description of on-line magazine)
Best Buy Addresses High-Tech Obsolescence
Shirley Brady, Brand Channel, 1/18/11
Buy Back Program from Best Buy Helps "Future-Proof" Today's CE Purchases
Jeremy Baier, Best Buy, 1/10/11
"Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn describes the consumer electronics retailer's just-launched Buy Back program as "a game-changer." The goal: to help customers embrace new technology with greater confidence."