Automatic ad-hoc Connection Script

After long research on how to use the windows command prompt to automatically create its own ad-hoc network, we came up with this script.

netsh wlan add profile filename="C:/Users/Taka/Desktop/DataFlo.xml" interface="Wireless Network Connection"
netsh wlan connect ssid="DataFlo" name=DataFlo interface="Wireless Network Connection"

The XML file contains profile information on the DataFlo ad-hoc network.  It will be password protected with WEP protection so computers without WPA capabilities can also connect to it.
Since this is located in a .bat file, one click on this bat file will automate these two commands.  It takes about 4 seconds for the network to be connected.

netsh wlan delete profile name="DataFlo" interface="Wireless Network Connection"

This command will delete the DataFlo profile.  Once this profile is deleted, the computer should automatically reconnect to the wireless profile that it was previously connected to.

The XML file is located here: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BzR604KXSTxKY2U4ZjYyMjAtNjAxYi00NTA4LTk5NDMtOTk4NTJlZTE5YTZj&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

More Group Observations

Two meetings held by 1 group. One on 11/7, one on 11/8

MEETING #1:

Number of participants: 4 (1 via webcam)
Number of laptops: 5 (1 extra just to display webcam person)
Duration: 2 hours

Group Task:

Writing a group paper

Situation:

Small rectangular table. JC is at head of table, ST and AY are on opposite sides. A laptop with JH (who is on webcam) is at the other head of table.

Observations:

Group used GoogleDocs, for its multi-user/instant edit capabilities.

Since GoogleDocs shows a little flag for every user that's editing the page (live, at the exact spot), the members often used GoogleDocs itself to communicate with each other. Such as typing "LOOK RIGHT HERE." - to show another member which part of the paper they were referring to in their verbal discussion.

The members physically present mostly just discussed verbally, and wrote on the GoogleDoc. This part of the paper didn't require much data exchange/info-sharing. However, occasionally, when talking to JH via webcam, AY actually turned her laptop around in attempt to show JH something. It is an automatic instinct, so even though AY realizes the pointlessness (text is obviously too small for JH to see through webcam) as soon as she starts turning her laptop around, she does it on more than one occasion (about to start turning laptop, then stops)

Group kept praising the awesome-ness of GoogleDocs, and commented they couldn't imagine how they used to write group papers w/o it.

MEETING #2:

Number of participants: 4
Number of laptops: 4
Duration: 3 hours

Group Tasks:

• Come up with design ideas for an interface redesign
• Finish writing group paper

Situation:

Rectangular table with round half circles at ends. JC and ST are on one side of table. AY is perpendicular to them, at the head of the table. JH is on opposite side of JC and ST.

<-- gist of positions

Observations:

While discussing design ideas, JC finds an existing cool design online and says "Oh, this is a neat idea. Blahblahblah..." ST (on same side as JC) leans over: "Whoa!" AY (on the perpendicular side) is close enough, so leans over as well. She has to go out of her way more so than ST. JH looks over her laptop but doesn't move, since it would take too much effort to get up & walk around the table. JC turns her laptop 180 degrees to face JH, so she can see too. The table isn't too wide, but there is still some distance, so JH can see the gist of the design, but not much else.

AY thinks the design is cool, and flicks her eyes up to the URL bar to see the source of the article. The URL is long, so she just takes note of the main domain name, goes back to her own laptop, and googles the domain name + interface keyword. The same article is one of the top results, AY clicks on the link, and reads up more on the design.

JH - "What would be cool, is if the back of the laptop is transparent. Or I can somehow see what she's seeing directly."

AY - "It's annoying how we have to keep leaning over to look at what’s on each other’s screen."

AY uses DropBox sometimes, but for this, it's too much effort for such fleeting information. 1) None of the other members use DropBox, so they would have to download the program or go to the site, 2) Even if all the users had DropBox, you can't drop a link in. Would have to take screenshot of page & then drop in. Too much of a hassle.

Since they were all on GoogleDocs, they could've also simply copied & pasted any links to the doc, and instantly allow the others to copy & paste it to their own URL bars, but none of them did this once throughout the meeting. They used it to communicate about the paper, but not for outside info.

The group split up 2 and 2 to work on different sections of the paper. ST and JC naturally paired up as they were closest/on same side. AY scooted closer to JH. AY would look over at JH's screen, even though both working on same doc/section in GoogleDocs! This was b/c occasionally JH would point to certain parts of the paper with her finger.

JC mentions an interesting article she saw last night. JH says she saw the same article, or at least she thinks it's the same article. JC pulls up the article, AY goes over to look, crouches down to read article on JC's screen. Then goes back and glances at JH's screen to see if they were talking about the same article. They were.

User Observation Notes

Meeting Observation 1:
Number of participants: 4
Number of laptops: 1
Number of Smartphones: 1
Roles of the participants: One Notetaker, 3 Listeners
Duration: 2o minutes

Meeting Events

• Notetaker draws a diagram on paper (Everyone hovers over paper)
• Listener A touches laptop to reflect need to input detail to diagram
• Notetaker adds to diagram
• Notetaker goes to laptop to search for a website (Ralphs.com) (Everyone hovers)
• Notetaker asks for everyone's email address then emails diagram to everyone

Group Tasks

• Setting a future time to meet: There was spoken collaboration but it would go back and forth. "How about after class?" "I'm busy, how about ..."
• Exchanging phone numbers (Task took 3 minutes for 4 people): Everyone directly inputed each others' numbers to their phones, Notetaker wrote the numbers down on the diagram document.

Evalution:

The act of exchanging and sharing information was prevalent even with this short meeting. If an application were made to streamline the process of exchanging contact information, it should be able to do so (f0r 4 people) in less than 3 minutes. Could that be possible? Would it be beneficial to have Smartphones linked with laptops when certain links are being viewed?

Master Plan

We developed a comprehensive plan in order to keep us on track.
Step 1 (11/5/10): Gather initial user data.  Three or more group studies.
Step 2 (11/5/10): From the gathered data, see where the bottlenecks are. Is the current method efficient/inefficient?
Step 3 (11/9/10): Come up with a design to improve data flow, based on the results of Step  2.
Step 4 (11/16/10): Start coding.
Step 5 (11/23/10): Get user feedback for first prototype.
Step 6 (11/30/10): Based on feedback, continue developing prototype.
Step 7 (12/14/10): Finish prototype.

The Beginning

Collaboration and research come hand in hand. Conferences and meetings are held worldwide to bring interdisciplinary groups together to work on current topics and subjects of interest. Often times with differing schedules and time zones, people find it difficult to set a date to sit down, discuss ideas, and tackle problems. When a date is finally settled, it is crucial that every minute is not taken for granted or wasted away. With this in mind, we want to enhance the efficiency of the conference room experience.  
Our goal is to enhance the information sharing experience, the idea that collaborators, whether they are sitting right next to you or sitting virtually across from you from a different country, can access and view what is wanted to be shown in an instant. This application will make sure that group members are not searching for a website or file during discussions and are not exerting extra effort to find what is already being displayed. We hope to use current technology of networking sharing to make sure that people do not have to download outside programs for this application to be successful.
This problem can be addressed by creating a simple platform in which information can be shared easily and almost instantaneously. One vital way to enhance the virtual interaction between members of a group is to be able to share information, such as documents, web pages, images, videos, etc., efficiently and without the need of visible external hardware or programs. We vision a setting where two or more people are able to share the windows opened on their personal computers with a click of a button. There is no limit to the type of file that can be transferred; if the receiving computer has the necessary program installed, i.e. Firefox, Microsoft word, etc., that program will be used to open the file received, otherwise, a simple image will be displayed on the receiver’s computer.
Another possible way to promote effective communication, that we will try to implement if time permits, is to be able to share/sync contact information instantaneously on your phone. This will save users time, which could instead be used in making human to human interaction, during the meeting.