170 lines
6.7 KiB
HTML
170 lines
6.7 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
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<TITLE>Kiosk HOWTO : Other Considerations</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-6.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-4.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO.html#toc5" REL=contents>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s5">5. Other Considerations</A></H2>
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<P>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss5.1">5.1 Screensavers</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Depending on where you deploy your kiosk, you may not want all the
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default xscreensaver images to appear. For our <I>Hands-On
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Biodiversity Gallery</I> we wanted to display only the animated
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fractal images that suggested life science themes.
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<P>After testing out several screensaver images, we decided that we to
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select randomly between two choices: <I>coral</I> and
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<I>forest</I>.
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<P>To limit xscreensaver to displaying these two, we created the file
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.xscreensaver in the filesystem root (/) with the following options:
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<P>
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<H3>/.xscreensaver</H3>
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<P>
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<HR>
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<PRE>
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programs: \
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coral -root \n\
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forest -root \n
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</PRE>
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<HR>
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<P>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss5.2">5.2 Sound Files</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Our kiosk machine contains a Sound Blaster AWE64 card with attached
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speakers. We chose this card specifically because it works well with
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Linux sound drivers.
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<P>The MySQL database that drives our Biodiversity Gallery kiosk points
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to a collection of sound files that a visitor may listen to, including
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a ``bird song quiz.'' The downside of using Linux Netscape for a kiosk
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is that some of the multimedia aspects are primitive, compared to
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Windows and Macintosh.
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<P>To enable sound, we implemented a Unix Netscape plugin called Xswallow
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written by Caolan McNamara (
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<A HREF="http://skynet.csn.ul.ie/~caolan/docs/XSwallow.html">http://skynet.csn.ul.ie/~caolan/docs/XSwallow.html</A>). All the
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sound plugins we tested create a separate web page as the sound is
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being played (unless the sound file is embedded). Of the programs we
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tested, Xswallow worked the best and had the cleanest display page.
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<P>Although the extra page is inconvenient, we decided that having the
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stability of Linux was more important than the extra click required to
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return to the previous screen.
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<P>An additional problem is that when a sound is selected, the Xswallow
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page displays ``Click to Abort Swallow of type audio/basic''. Clicking
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merely returns a blank page. I made a slight change to the author's
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source code for UnixShell.c, changing
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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char *text2 = "Click to Abort Swallow";
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>to read
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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char *text2 = "Click BACK Button to return from playing file";
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>The phrase ``of type audio/basic'' appears to come directly from
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Netscape rather than Xswallow.
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<P>After recompiling, I added the plugin to Netscape.
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<P>A last note about sound files: the original set of files we received
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were a mix of .au and .wav files. Our experience was that the .au
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files worked the most reliably in Linux and we converted all sound
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files to .au format.
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss5.3">5.3 Trackballs</A>
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</H2>
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<P>Not having the funding for a touchscreen display, we opted for a
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trackball (and no keyboard) for our kiosk navigation. Our colleague,
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Andy Rauer at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, tipped us off to
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using ``industry-strength'' trackball components from Happ Conrols
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Inc., Elk Grove Village, Illinois
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<A HREF="http://www.happcontrols.com/">http://www.happcontrols.com/</A> (check under their Interactives
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section).
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<P>One of the things we needed to do was disable any right-mouse button
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click equivalents from being used in Netscape Navigator because
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right-click events invoke user dialogs.
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<P>By building our own trackball, we were able to wire it any way we
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wanted. We wired in two push-button controls, both with a left-mouse
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button equivalent. The buttons are arranged on either side of the
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trackball, allowing ease of use from right-handed and left-handed
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visitors. Our gallery designers then took the trackball parts and
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built them into the gallery's kiosk enclosure.
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<P>For our kiosk we purchased the following components for building a
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heavy-duty trackball designed to withstand visitor use (and abuse):
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>A 2 1/4-inch Atari Trackball Assembly (we selected red)</LI>
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<LI>Trackball Interface Kit for IBM (Microsoft serial mouse
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compatible)</LI>
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<LI>Illuminated Push Buttons (red)</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>From a local electronics vendor, we purchased a Hammond Manufacturing
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plastic handy case (Cat no. 1591ABK) for housing the electronics board
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for the trackball.
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<P>Anticipating additional kiosks, and potential part failure, we ordered
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four sets of each of the above for spare parts and testing.
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss5.4">5.4 Designing or modifying HTML pages for kiosks</A>
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</H2>
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<P>In the best of all possible worlds, you will have the opporunity to
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design your kiosk pages from scratch. Bearing in mind that using a
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kiosk is a different experience from sitting at a desk browsing the
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web from a personal workstation, the following guidelines are useful
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design principles:
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>Keep text passages very short and use large fonts.</LI>
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<LI>Avoid screens that require scrolling.</LI>
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<LI>Use colorful, large, eye-catching images on every page</LI>
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<LI>Create embedded navigation if possible, e.g., return to previous
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page, go to next page, go to kiosk menu, etc., should all be designed
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right into the pages themselves.</LI>
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<LI>Avoid anything that requires a keyboard. Design for clicking.</LI>
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<LI>If you use sound files, keep the duration short. Embed them into
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the page if possible.</LI>
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<LI>Make everything punchy and snappy. Design for short attention
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spans and pass-through traffic. Save your theses and exegeses for
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elsewhere.</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>Unforunately you will sometimes inherit pages that were designed for
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web browsing rather than kiosk browsing. In these cases it may be too
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time-consuming or too difficult to redesign them as kiosk pages. When
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implementing standard web pages for a kiosk display:
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<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>Remove all external A HREF's, including MAILTO's.</LI>
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<LI>Remove all unnecessary verbiage, logos, etc. from the pages.</LI>
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<LI>Check font sizes and increase if necessary.</LI>
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<LI>Remove any animated GIF's that don't pertain directly
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to the pages being viewed.</LI>
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<LI>Actually, remove any animated GIF's, period.</LI>
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<LI>Do anything else you can to simplify the page design.</LI>
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<LI>Check into using server-side includes to add some fundamental
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navigation or a consistent graphic to tie the pages together.</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>
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<P>
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<HR>
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<A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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