Today we had three teams of visiting students in our lab. They totaled about 60 and came from a few Portuguese professional and secondary schools. The visits were themed after the Wall -- our big screen -- and our very recent multi-touch table.
The first visit ran quite well without any problem; projector #12 turned off at the end (lamp has ~1700 h, so it could be understandable).
The first visit ran quite well without any problem; projector #12 turned off at the end (lamp has ~1700 h, so it could be understandable).
The second demo started off less well, as suddenly the "Batalha" demo didn't want to start up; improvisation had to shift the focus out of the Wall for a while so that a few processes on the machines could be killed to restore a good working condition. This was a particularly crowded demo and one with less well behaved individuals, some of the equipment must have felt vulnerable to abuse, and the tracking computer mysteriously showed the famed Windows blue screen because of a memory error. After reboot, tracking was back online, and the demo continued.
The third demo also had many people inside the room, but things ran slightly better. However, projector #7 -- one with a 390h lamp -- decided to turn itself off unexpectedly!
In my personal view, these visits showed that for some audiences, there should be a maximum number of persons inside the room. This number should take into account the demos to show: Observing the Wall as like standing during a cinema session may allow some 15 individuals to lay around with comfort; A demonstration involving tracking will require more unobstructed area inside the room for a presenter to move around, reducing the room's capacity slightly; and the multi-touch tabletop, typically designed to interaction of very few people cannot have more than another few watching it. As you can see in the picture, the "success" of showing the table was "attracting" people too close to it.
The third demo also had many people inside the room, but things ran slightly better. However, projector #7 -- one with a 390h lamp -- decided to turn itself off unexpectedly!
In my personal view, these visits showed that for some audiences, there should be a maximum number of persons inside the room. This number should take into account the demos to show: Observing the Wall as like standing during a cinema session may allow some 15 individuals to lay around with comfort; A demonstration involving tracking will require more unobstructed area inside the room for a presenter to move around, reducing the room's capacity slightly; and the multi-touch tabletop, typically designed to interaction of very few people cannot have more than another few watching it. As you can see in the picture, the "success" of showing the table was "attracting" people too close to it.
