Lecture: gestures within reach- Omek's Grasp TM

In brief:

gesture-based interfaces offer a wide variety of opportunities to create an awesome user experience. on the other hand, it poses significant challenges such as feeling the moment of pressing a button. the lecture shows several examples and possible solutions. we would identify design principles to the design process for the gesture recognition technology.

Done as part of my work as a UX designer at Omek Interactive.

showcased at UX on Beer conference, at May 22nd, 2013, organized by NetCraft.

Lecture: Dissecting the game- video game genres, game mechanics and connection between games and learning

on April 7th, 2013 I gave a talk about video games to educators working at CET israel.

these guys know nothing about gaming but know everything about education and teaching. they also understood that there is something about the game that catches the kids like nothing else before.

this is a lecture for listeners who never played video games before. it tries to explain why people love to play so much, why players get so involved; why do they play more than they watch TV; what happens inside the game that leaves the player with a feeling of "i want more"?

when you listen closely, you'll hear a lot of psychology and neurology.

Outlines of the lecture:

1. What is a game? what is the difference between a game and a toy or between a game and a movie? we'll try to get a clear definition.
2. Video game genres. video games have genres, much like any other type of media. actually, the genres are much easier to define. we will discover the secret of each genre, where is the fun in playing it and which players would play that genres.
3. Game design literacy. these are the professional terms game developers and gamers use to define games. understanding these terms will help you grasp the components of the game and their meaning to creating the experience. you'll see that there is tremendous importance to how the user learns to play. knowing the right terms would allow you to speak with game developers and better define your game to them. this will also assist you with better defining your game.
4. Where games and learning connect? where are the similarities between the two areas? we'll see that educational content areas, like: physics, biology and business management (and there are many more), already exist in nowadays video games. we'll talk on the psychology behind the game and interesting neurology facts happenning in the player's mind. what is Gamification and how we can create something like it?

Feedback

interesting questions rose from the audience that day. i would write articles about these subjects, so stay tuned. here are some:

• Do violent games not promoting violent people? 

• Are games detached from the reality? do players see their in-game characters as themselves? do players experience their in-game character's pain as their own?

• How can we incorporate simulation typed games, such as SimCity and RollerCoasterTycoon, into the classroom?

• How can in-game achievements and side-goals shape and determine the game culture? Can games teach moral codes?

• and many more.

Oz, S. (2013). Dissecting the game: video game genres, game mechanics and the connection between games and education. Tel Aviv: Center of Educational Technology.

Lecture: Similarities between game design and instructional design

On July 10th 2012, I gave a lecture about the similarities between designing a game and designing a lesson in classroom, at one of the biggest educational conferences in Israel: IUCEL Meital.

the lecture strove to show that educational and instructional design could learn from game design at how to tangle the users into the web of curiosity, challenge and fun.
I talked about 9 main design principals in the game design theory that can be used also in instructional design:

1. the player as the Messiah. let the user feel that without him the session cannot be over. if the user will not make the right move, nothing will happen. make sure you put it all into a good story.
2. rules. setup rules for the game/ lesson. only when you have rules, the users will try and break them. without rules, they will try and break the teacher... 
3. feeling of control. let the user feel they are in control, but actually you should control all the possible routes and choices they could make.
4. immediate feedback. give feedback as fast as you can, as precise as possible.
5. goals. setup big goals and smaller goals to keep the users on track.
6. balance the amount of content. no content is boring. too much content confuse.
7. balance the challenge and the ability. don't be afraid to challenge your users, just make sure they feel competent to the task. 
8. develop the feeling of success. make sure your users succeed. after a hard task, give an easy one.
9. reflection. always assist the user to reflect their performance.

my presentation for download (hebrew).
all other lectures' from the conference can be downloaded as well (hebrew). 

Lecture: Challenges in Designing a Menu System with Depth Sensor Technology

on February 22nd, in a conference meetup of the Israeli User Experience group, I gave a talk about designing a menu with the depth sensor techonology.

here's the abstract:

Touch-less technologies, such as augmented reality, depth camera sensor and voice recognition, are entering our lives. They confront user experience designers with the challenge to invent new interface and control scheme to allow users to interact with a simple menu system and select items.

This lecture would analyze the menu system and its UX guidelines; then we would describe the properties of the depth sensor and emphasis the challenges around it. Possible solutions would be offered and demonstrated.

Omek Interactive Studios create games and applications with the power of depth motion sensors. It has  deals with Intel, Lenovo, Panasonic and more market leaders.

here is the presentation of the lecture

Lecture: The Future Of Augmented Reality Gaming & Hands-on AR In Flash

on 23 of December, 2010 I have talked at the Israeli Flash&Flex group conference about the current vibes and future directions of Augmented Reality gaming. Moreover, I have released an open source code of functional AR flash application and thoroughly explained its code. The action-script developers have learned about the technology, how it influences UI and game design and also how to create one of their own.

Covered subjects:

1. what is augmented reality? what types of AR are there from the technical point of view? what do one need in order to see an augmented reality and to develop one?

2. Limitations and advantages of augmented reality is flash.

3. The augmented reality user interface. how AR influences the creation of UI? what types of UI have already been tried before?

4. AR gaming and influences of game design. how can we design our game to make it most suitable to the advantages and limitation of the technology? Example games and game designs.

5. Creating your first AR in Flash. how does the 3D world works in Flash? what are the basic elements in creating and programming a 3D world? I have released a fully-functional AR application and explained how to continue from there: how to add more objects, interaction and GUI elements. 

Lecture: Using Augmented Reality & video games inside your classroom

On December 9th, 2010, I have presented the AR technology and video games to the Information & Communication Technology, a course meant to improve the tech-accessibility skills for teachers and educators at Mofet institute. 

The teachers have understood the new technologies and learned about the role of the teacher in the "tech-classroom".  

The lecture goals were:

1. Lowering the hesitation and fear from technology at teachers and empowering them with tools allowing them to examine and test video games.

2. Showing the similarity between a good educational content and a good video game: gradual learning, continuous challenge, giving the feeling of "I can", and FUN.

3. There is no substitute for the teacher. Technology is just a tool. 

4. Showing that technology exists. The ball is in the educators court. They have to show the industry where and what to develop.

Here is the Prezi presentation I used during the lecture. 

Augmented Reality & Games in Education on Prezi

update:

here is a concept map that was drawn by one of the listeners, Lizi Cohen

Data Representation of survey's results

concept: a visual representation of a survey's results which checked the differences between three academic departments in HIT academic institute in Israel. The survey's subject was of web and computer usage goals and habits among the students.

created at: may 2007

Harnessing the power of games into education: Article presentation

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concept: presents the main concepts in the article of Squire and Jenkins about "Harnessing the power of games into education".

created at: March 2008

Voice Over IP - what is it?

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concept: Presents the main concepts in Voice Over IP technology and its future implications.

created at: January 2007

created with: Miri Hay, Sarit Hayat, Adi Hen

interactive environments for the special needs - research

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concept: research on the interactive environments exist to assist special needs society: physical disabilities, rehabilitation and learning disabilities.

created at: february 2007

created with: Yaniv Aroch, Gadi Yosef, Orly Edry

why water group to drops? surface tension of the water

concept: originally made for 9th grade siences class (with some background in molecules). the goal was to explain about the surface tension of the water and how it is created. additional educational value: the way water molecules arrange themselves.

created at: May 2007

in english:

in hebrew: