Microsoft Expressive Pixels: a platform for creativity, inclusion and innovation
“Emojis are already ubiquitous in digital communication platforms, consisting of text-based messaging, email and social networks. They require fewer ‘clicks’ to express intent, add context, or set tone. A single emoji can considerably alter or improve the interpretation of a message. We think they can be leveraged as an extra expressive proxy for people who may not have access to speech or the muscles that drive facial expression,” Paradiso says. “Our PALS collaborators have been a few of the funniest, most thoughtful and creative individuals I’ve understood, however their expressive range can be restricted by the constraints of special needs along with today’s speech gadgets and their hidden technologies. We understand that people wish to express a lot more with their AAC gadgets than standard transactional communication. We wished to create something that would assist people stay more actively engaged in discussions, be visible in low light and from a distance, and provide another opportunity for unique expression, playfulness and connection.”
The group looked at various types of secondary screens, but they kept coming back to LED displays, for several factors: they’re affordable, they work fairly well and “they have kind of a cool factor.” The group’s partners in BUDDIES also made it clear they didn’t wish to use anything that might have unintentional unfavorable social consequences for the users.
“Enjoying somebody living with ALS and having the ability to empower them to do something that they previously had quit all hope of having the ability to do is enough to motivate you to desire to do more,” states Dwayne Lamb, a developer who focuses on User Experience and User Interface production who signed up with the Enable Group in early 2017. “The majority of the time when you’re attempting to interact with someone who can only utilize their eyes to interact, they’re utilizing their eyes to type into a keyboard on a device right in front of them, and although it’s not socially excellent rules, you typically discover yourself type of examining their shoulder to try and see what they’re typing.”
Meaningful Pixels evolved in part from wanting to fix that problem.
And with Meaningful Pixels, it’s possible to develop animations on screens of numerous sizes, up to 64 x 64 pixels, says Christopher O’Dowd, who assisted fill the hardware spaces on the task. He mentions that LED displays are ubiquitous at Maker Faires, on houses during the holidays, and so on. LED displays are so flexible, you often even find them on fabric (face masks, caps and knapsacks, for instance) or banners.
One early method the group integrated LED screens was through hands-free music, an acclaimed SXSW project.
There, they used a customized midi-enabled, music synced LED range as an extra visualization to an eye managed, physical drum rig designed for one of their collaborators, a Seattle location musician coping with ALS. The job, which won the 2018 SXSW Interactive Development Award: Music and Audio Development, includes a suite of novel eye-controlled applications for music efficiency, collaboration and composition.
“How does someone without access to speech or motion compose or perform music, command a phase, or get in touch with a live audience? What about collaborating with other artists in rehearsed or improvisational scenarios? How can we decrease the barriers to making school music programs more inclusive without ‘othering’ or minimizing the trainees with impairments? These were a few of our fundamental questions,” Paradiso recalled. “We wanted to adapt our technology and styles to align with an individual’s innovative goals and real-life situations, rather than the way around.”
Lamb developed the concept to include Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) capability, with the core concept to send different signals to different instruments– an idea that would move to Expressive Pixels.