Keeping the User in mind
Here are some considerations to make on how to make the TouchSense experience more user friendly in your application. |
| • | User Customizable Settings |
| | | Add a control panel with settings for number of effects in the game (i.e. high = lots of effects, medium = some effects, low = a few effects, off = none).
Or, checkboxes for different categories of effects, giving the user the ability to turn off building textures and alerts, but leave on weapon effects and explosion jolts. |
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| • | User Adjustable Force Levels |
| | | Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 has a nice property page that allows users to adjust the magnitude of all the tactile effects (e.g., engine vibration, g-forces, collisions, etc.). Some players may like a lot of engine vibration for realism, others may want a more subtle engine vibration, and still others may think it is distracting and not want it on at all. Other touch-enabled applications can benefit greatly from a similar level of adjustability. For example, if an application lets users customize the feel of different Windows controls and operations, some users may want to feel a strong snap to window borders while others may want a more subtle feeling. It is really valuable to be able to individually turn on or off and adjust each type of tactile effect in your application. |
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| • | Overall Strength Slider |
| | | In addition, there should also be an overall force magnitude slider that globally affects all tactile effects in the application. Some people have big, strong hands, and other people have smaller, delicate hands. Furthermore, different devices might vary slightly in strength. A global force magnitude adjustment allows everyone to find a force level comfortable for them and their device. |
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| • | User Customizable Forces |
| | | Embedding all your tactile effects in an Immersion Studio Resource file allows both you and the end user to customize the forces at any time, even after the application has been released. This is another way of letting the user individually adjust the magnitude of each effect in the application. Furthermore players can share the effects they customize with friends or others on the Internet.
Providing a method for customizing the effects does not mean that a developer is off the hook for implementing a set of default parameters that work well. In fact, there should be a clear way for users to easily return to the default parameters in case they are unable to design a customized set of parameters to their liking. If your application uses an IFR file, this means it should be able to either 1) restore the IFR file to its original state (e.g., from the CD-ROM), or 2) allow the user to disable the use of the external IFR file. For option two, you would actually compile the IFR file as a resource directly into your application and also allow the same IFR file to be read in dynamically. If the user chooses to disable the external IFR file, the application would just use the compiled-in IFR resource instead of the external one. |
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