HP Innovation Journal Issue 05: Winter 2016 | Page 21

INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT
The HP Immersive Experiences Lab
Jetty story
I
n the previous issue of this
and their adult child, living apart
journal, we talked about
from one another. The idea was
how the members of the
to find situations where both
Immersive Experiences Lab
participants in each pairing
(IXL) are creating new explor-
could simply meet in person
atory concepts across areas of
but still struggled to find time
focus such as “Authentic User
to communicate effectively
Experiences.” One such concept
with one another. During the
is called “Project Jetty,” which
study, participants could see
combines real-time weath-
when the other member of
er data projected around a
their “pair” was at home and
3D-printed house inside a pho-
when they were away.
Figure 1: Example of “Project Jetty” with lights on and “windy” weather conditions
to frame. When the residents
When the “art objects” (as
of the house leave for work, the lights inside pictured above. The team ran through several we described the “Jetty” devices to the study
the house turn off; when they return home, the possibilities before arriving at a workable solu- participants) were first presented to participants,
lights turn on again. F igure 1 shows how the tion using an HP tablet and a mirror.
they asked about the technology first because
house would look on a windy day.
But the holographic weather was just one they wanted to know how it worked. But after
This research project had humble beginnings of several technical hurdles. The team also had they lived with their “Jetty” devices for a week,
in a design thinking workshop that members of
they shifted to a much more human-centered
the Lab conducted together. During one group
perspective and saw the value of these devices
discussion, IXL member Hiroshi Horii responded
as useful supports for their mental well-being.
to a simple question that another member had
They used words like “heartwarming” to describe
posed: “How can we help people feel connected
how “Jetty” made them feel. The results of the
without being connected?” Figure 2 shows how
study were extremely informative regarding
Hiroshi responded to this question: He made a
the direction that “Project Jetty” could take. We
low-fidelity prototype using the limited materials
have already field tested a follow-up concept,
at hand. The materials are unimportant, howev-
but perhaps that story will be told in a future
er, compared to the ideas they represent. In this
issue of this Journal.
Figure
2:
IXL
member
Hiroshi
Horii’s
original
“snow
globe”
case, this prototype shows a 3D-printed house
idea
with real-time weather information projected
onto it, all contained inside a “snow globe” ob- to figure out how to 3D print houses using ba-
Alexander Thayer is Senior Manager of
the Immersive Experiences Lab at HP.
ject. This simple idea quickly became the genesis sic photos and map data, how to reliably show
He has a PhD in Human Centered Design
of “Project Jetty.”
presence information, and most importantly how
& Engineering from the University of
Washington, and is a 20-year veteran
Along with Hiroshi and the authors of this two “Jetty” devices could communicate presence
of the tech industry.
article, Kevin Smathers and Jishang Wei worked information between them.
together to determine whether the essential
In the IXL, we understand the value of get-
ideas were technically possible. The team spent ting our ideas into the hands of real people. So
Ji Won Jun, is a Research Engineer in the
a couple of weeks rapidly iterating and making we designed and conducted a field study using
Immersive Experiences Lab at HP. She
has an MFA from the Art Center College
many physical prototypes. One of the first chal- 10 families in the Bay Area who could live with
of Design and is a 2016 SXSW Interactive
lenges involved trying to figure out how to display a “Jetty” device in their home for a full week. We
Innovation award winner.
weather using the holographic-style visualization recruited pairs of participants: an older parent
Issue 5 · Winter 2016 · Innovation Journal 21