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It is important for a researcher not to spend too much time adjusting the monitor - they have other more important task at hand and this is managing/debugging the robot. A good monitor will be efficient but will also allow the users to use their own speedup tricks and maybe even provide a way to script some parts.
Design Elements (for the first two designs)
Number of layouts
The first two designs use the notion of layouts. A layout is a configuration of visualisations present. A layout is created by the user, and saved as a file. The designs vary in the number of layouts that the user has available. In a multi-layout design it is easy for the user to switch between several already selected layouts.
In a single layout the user is only concentrated on one layout and swapping layouts is done less efficiently - by navigating through the whole list of layouts. Layouts are similar to tabs in functionality. Multi-layout design allows the user to organize and group visualisaitions based on common factors. A layout can be also used as a cathegory to contain related visualisations.
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This design is fundamentally different from the previous two designs - it assumes a fixed layout which always shows all the available channels in a list. In other words we can also say that this design is layout-free. It also presents visualizations differently - in the so-called graph screen which gives a visualization the full screen. Finally it introduces the ability to control a system through the Robo-monitor by sending specific messages to it. This last feature can possibly be used in the previous two designs as well.
Main Screen
The main screen shows a list of available channels and color codes them based on recent activity. Tapping a channel selects its detailed view (bottom right) which displays live graphs of any numeric quantities. Tapping a graph or number in a channel brings up the graph interface (below).
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When graphing text, we display small colored bars at the bottom of the screen that change color when the text changes. While this does not convey what the text is, it conveys that it has changed, which may still be useful. We use a hashing strategy to display colors, so that the same text will always have the same color.
Control mode
A control mode, accessible from the Menu button on the main screen allows the user to change parameters. Options are presented as spinners which update in real-time (send data on finger-up). An interface for selecting the resolution of the spinner is shown in the lower right.
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