DESIGN EXPLORATION WITH USELESS RULES AND EYE TRACKING
Year: 2011
Editor: Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Dong, A.
Author: Jowers, Iestyn; Prats, Miquel; McKay, Alison; Garner, Steve
Series: ICED
Section: Design Methods and Tools Part 2
Page(s): 66-77
Abstract
uter-aided design systems, offer poor support for shape reinterpretation, and are not well suited to ideation in early stages of design. A key difficulty in implementing systems that support shape reinterpretation is the issue of interface – how can a user guide a system with respect to their interpretation of a shape? In this paper, a software prototype is presented that uses shape identity rules (so called ‘useless rules’) and eye tracking to support the creation and manipulation of shapes in the generative and explorative stages of conceptual design. The paper presents theoretical developments that have informed development of the prototype, including a summary reporting the outcomes of a series of eye tracking studies. The software prototype builds on results from these studies and uses gaze data and user input to restructure designed shapes so that they afford manipulation according to users’ interpretations. It is suggested this work can significantly impact professional design practice.
Keywords: SHAPE INTERPRETATION; SHAPE GRAMMARS; EYE TRACKING; COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN