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By using this system, you are participating in a National Science Foundation funded research project being conducted by the Interface Ecology Lab at Texas A&M University. The following explains your involvement in the study:
Introduction
The purpose of this sheet is to provide you information that may affect your decision as to whether or not to participate in this research study. If you decide to participate in this study, this form will also be used to record your consent.
You have been asked to participate in a research project studying interactive systems that work with information. The purpose of this study to investigate how the designs of interactive systems affect the way people interact with and understand information. You were selected to be a possible participant because you are interested in collecting and representing information.
What will I be asked to do?
If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to use versions of an interactive system to work with information. You will be asked to perform tasks that involve searching, collecting and organizing information resources from the web.
What are the risks involved in this study?
The risks associated in this study are minimal, and are not greater than risks ordinarily encountered in daily life.
What are the possible benefits of this study?
The possible benefits of participation include learning to work with information on novel interactive systems and the discovery of new ideas and information.
Do I have to participate?
No. Your participation is voluntary. You may decide not to participate or to withdraw at any time without your current or future relations with Texas A&M University being affected.
Who will know about my participation in this research study?
This study is confidential, and we will not link or associate your name with your responses for the study. The records of this study will be kept private unless you explicitly share your responses with others. No identifiers linking you to this study will be included in any sort of report that might be published. Research records will be stored securely and only Dr. Kerne and his research assistants will have access to the records.
Whom do I contact with questions about the research?
If you have questions regarding this study, you may contact Dr. Kerne (979 862-3217, andruid @cse.tamu.edu).
Whom do I contact about my rights as a research participant?
This research study has been reviewed by the Human Subjects’ Protection Program and/or the Institutional Review Board at Texas A&M University. For research-related problems or questions regarding your rights as a research participant, you can contact these offices at (979) 458-4067 or irb@tamu.edu.
LiveMâché is a research prototype web application that enables you to collaboratively collect and organize media from the web in a zoomable composition space or mâché. You can also add live video and audio streams into mâchés to present yourself or content captured from your screen.
Getting Started
Creating an Account Go to https://livemache.ecologylab.net and sign up with Facebook, Google, or an email address.
In order to activate your account, you will need to use the access code for your course.
For the best experience, we suggest that you use Google Chrome if possible.
However, many features also work in Firefox.
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at live@ecologylab.net.
Creating a New Mâché Once you have logged in, you can create a new mache by clicking the "Create new Mâché" button.
Once the new mâché page has loaded you can change the title by clicking on it.
Adding Media Elements To A Mâché
Now that you have a mâché, you can start adding images, gifs, YouTube videos, text, sketches, and shapes.
Adding Images/Gifs To add images or gifs simply drag them in from another website or your local computer.
Adding Sketches/Shapes/Text Sketches, shapes, and text can be added using the respective tools in the toolbar on the left. These tools can be accessed by clicking on the left-hand buttons or by pressing P for sketching, S for shapes, and T for text.
Inserting YouTube Videos YouTube videos can be added by dragging the URL bar of the video onto the mâché.
Inserting Links
Notice the lock icon to the left of the url at the top of your browser.
Select and drag that lock icon to the tab of your mache, and finally into the mache itself.
Hyperlinks are now in your mache.
Inserting Google Docs/Slides/Sheets/etc. Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc. work similarly to links, and will appear as icons in your mache. These icons are similar to other elements, and can be resized.
Copying and Pasting Across Maches In LiveMache, using the hotkeys Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V copies and pastes from the OS clipboard.
To copy and paste from one mache to another, you must use the selection menu on an element:
Right-click an element in your first mache
Select copy
Right-click again in the mache you wish to paste to, and select paste
Manipulating the View
The mâché space is semi-infinite and zoomable.
You can pan your view of the space by clicking and dragging on background of the mache.
You can zoom in and out of the space by using the scroll wheel, - / + keys, or pinch-to-zoom on a track pad. Double-clicking an element will focus the mache on that element.
Additionally, when working in a mâché with others, you can click on their user thumbnail in the upper right to follow their camera.
The hand tool can also be used to drag around the mache using the mouse without moving existing elements. Press and hold the spacebar to activate this tool.
Composing Elements
Moving a Single Element Once added, media elements can be dragged around the composition space using the mouse. The select tool can be accessed by clicking on the arrow tool on the left of the screen or by pressing V.
Elements can also be rotated and resized using the control knobs around a selected element. Once in place, an element can be locked by selecting the lock icon below the item.
The layering of elements can be changed by right clicking on an element and selecting "Bring to front" or "Send to back". Selecting Multiple Elements Option 1:
Right-click towards the top left of the group of elements you want to select
While holding the right mouse button, drag the cursor to the bottom right of the group of elements. Dragging to the bottom right selects the "selection box" option in the menu that appears.
Option 2:
While holding the shift key, left click each of the elements that you wish to include in your multi-selection. This acts much like grouping the elements.
Editing an Element Right-click an element to see a list of element options. Options include:
Scale to original size: return the element to its original size.
Opacity: change the opacity of the object.
Bring to Front: move the element all the way to the front.
Send to Back: send the element all the way to the back of the mache.
Cut: Ctrl + X
Copy: Ctrl + C
Duplicate: make a duplicate of your element.
Download: save the element on your computer.
Ping Element: creates a flashing icon that can alert collaborators as to where you are in the mache.
Delete: remove the element.
Adding Live Media to a Mâché
When presenting or discussing your work with others, you can add live video and audio streams to the mâché.
To do this, click the add video/audio streams button in the bottom right of the window.
This will allow you to select a webcam view and audio device to add to the mache.Note: Make sure to give the browser permissions to access your webcam and microphone. After selecting your video and audio sources you can click "Add Streams To Mache".
At this point, your video and audio stream and controls will appear in the bottom right of the interface.
From here, you can drag your webcam view into the mâché space and adjust your audio's volume.
Additionally, you can choose to add a screenshare to the mâché by clicking the "Add Screenshare" button at the bottom of the window.Note: When screen sharing using Chrome, you will be prompted to install our IdeaMâché Chrome extension.
This is needed in order to enable screen sharing.
Sharing your Mâché
Once you have created your mâché, you can modify the permissions of the mâché so that you can share it with others.
When sharing the mâché, every user is assigned a role, either that of editor, commentator, or viewer.
Editors have full access to the mâché, they can edit the mâché, modify the mâché's sharing permissions, and control other participants' video and audio streams.
Commentators can add video and audio to the mache, but they cannot modify the mâché.
Viewers can watch other participants' video streams and their edits to the mâché, but they can only communicate with other participants by using the mâché's chat channel.
The creator of the mâché has the same permissions as an editor.
In the share settings window, editors can specify the roles of other participants.
A default role may also be specified for all users who don't have an explicitly defined role.
