AI Summary

Fabien Bénétou, Frode Hegland

The major topic of the meeting was discussing gesture interactions for their experimental VR/XR research project and issues of documentation and communication within their team.

Speaker Summaries

Frode Hegland shared a positive update about a dinner with hypertext conference organizers, discussed concept ideas for gestures in VR (calling one a “grounded gesture” where interactions happen in specific spatial areas), and expressed concern about clarifying that they’re building experimental research prototypes rather than polished products. He emphasized the need to collaborate on website content to ensure it reflects team consensus.

Fabien Bénétou expressed concerns about terminology (like avoiding terms such as “user” and “feature” which suggest a product-focus rather than research), showed strong ownership over team communication, and emphasized the need to categorize and evaluate gestures based on factors like cultural dependence, memorability, and composability. He suggested developing a grammar system for VR interactions and advocated for a more structured approach to gesture design.

Issues Raised and Proposed Solutions

1. Website content ownership
   • Problem: Confusion about whether website content reflects individual or team views
   • Solution: Clearer attribution of authorship and email/Slack direct communications for draft content
2. Terminology concerns
   • Problem: Terms like “user” suggest product development rather than research
   • Solution: Find alternative terminology or use specific persona names instead
3. Gesture design approach
   • Problem: Need structured way to evaluate gestures
   • Solution: Create properties/criteria for each gesture (memorability, cultural dependence, composability)
4. Documentation of ideas
   • Problem: Ideas getting lost without structure
   • Solution: Use journal category on blog to document experiments
5. Menu interactions in VR
   • Problem: How to design intuitive menus for dimension selection
   • Solution: Experiment with hand-based menus or sequential gesture patterns

Decisions and Action Items

1. Fabien to write a journal post about his ball and box experiment
2. Consider adding website statement clarifying they are building research prototypes, not products
3. Plan gesture testing session (potentially Tuesday before Frode leaves Wednesday)
4. Possibly introduce gesture discussion topic at Monday group meeting
5. Need to develop a “grammar” for VR interactions similar to Doug Engelbart’s NLS approach
6. Document gestures with criteria for evaluation