Simple User Interface for Non-Programmer

[valentin]

H/W Config Editor

The current PhilipsHue implementation uses a config file to specify device id, IP address, etc. The Pi’s GPIO implementation relies on a similar config file to define devices and assign I/O pins. All HW interfaces support an enabled flag, which could be configurable. I’m considering adding support in the nodejs UI for configuring that data, but want to make sure that I’m heading in the right direction and not duplicating effort. Is this a good idea? Is anyone else in the middle of doing sim…

@KevinOrtman I think I realized only now what you actually had in mind.
If we would have a simple interface serving for example the Philips Hue, the platform could be used right away by non-programmer/ Hue-consumer.

One could just start an application on your computer add your Philips Hue credentials and ready is your AR-Interface. Is this what you had originally in mind?

[griffingdm]

@valentin I definitely back the idea of creating an interface for non-tech, hue consumers to use out of the box. It’s a great way to get people bought into the idea without having to invest time into learning the code.

Also, I currently work as an experience/web/interface designer and have a degree in industrial design, so you can imagine my excitement while watching the presentation for this. I just got my Yun up and running and have multiple projects planned for this. I also want to help the community out in whatever way I can. I noticed a lot of mentions of UI suggestions and I think I can help with that. Have you thought about creating any physical products?

[valentin]

Hi @griffingdm Welcome to the community!
Yes I had a lot of ideas for products as well in multiple occasions some companies with a specific interest. However I think it at least in the moment more relevant to build this foundation here. I find it very exiting to build tools that help on the one side designers to build things and the other side users to make better use of these things. Because designers are the people who build the things we all want surround us with!

I think there are three critical spots that need an extra design eye.

1. I think we can always improve a bit more on the developer webpage so that it is as easy as possible for designers to work with. This is the webpage when you load <yourObject>.local:8080
2. One of the hottest topic since the platform exists are some more general purpose examples and UI elements. For example, there is a chemistry teacher in NY who would benefit from some common graphs that he can connect sensors to. Imagine teachers all over the world start using the reality editor for education. Maybe while you work on projects you generate some general purpose UI elements that can be feed back to the community with some tutorials. You could publish your tutorials here: GitHub - openhybrid/documentation: This is a work in progress documentation for open hybrid (its super empty and unstructured right now, but we just started with the documentation page)
3. It would be nice to have some simple on-boarding UIs for IoT devices that are allready out there (like Philip Hue).

But in general, I think if you just have fun playing with the Reality Editor and this tool enables you to do thinks you where not able to do before, it already will make us proud and happy!
If you learn something on the way, just drop it in to the documentation or this forum here.

By the way, I am holding a design workshop at the RCA in London later this month and a talk in Berlin and the Bauhaus University in Weimar later in February. I am curious to get more feedback from product and graphic designers to understand better how to improve the design tools perspective. I am looking forward to hear more from you and any other designer who is reading this topic!