Shapes & BriefsĪfter sketching out a rough idea of the user interface, I proceeded to mock it up in our very own Briefs to get an idea of what the application might look and feel like on an iPad.Ĭrafting the user interface in Briefs to get a feel for what it will look like in the end.įor a smart mirror, it was important to me to use clear shapes and easily readable text, so the entire app is basically just black background - which won’t be visible in the mirror - and white text for graphics, with just a tad of graphics to illustrate the weather. Nothing fancy, just the three top headlines from any given RSS feed, user-configurable in the system Settings app so we can avoid adding configuration UI inside the mirror app. Finally, I wanted to see a news feed at the bottom of the screen. Next on the list is a clock, along with a list of upcoming appointments in the user’s calendars.
#MAGIC MIRROR CALENDAR WITH EVENTS PLUS#
I figured that I would have to include a weather component, showing the current weather plus forecast for the current location, with the added bonus of using animated icons to illustrate the conditions. I went over a few iterations until I decided to use just three elements for starters and forego most user-configurable things until it becomes obvious that it actually makes sense to include them. Don’t simply start writing code, obviously, but plan in a clever fashion so that the scope is still realistic.
#MAGIC MIRROR CALENDAR WITH EVENTS SOFTWARE#
Also, real artists ship and if I learned anything from my adventures creating an Apple TV game last year, it’s that the best course of action is to create a small, feasible and doable version of the software first. Complexities in software grow in a cancerous fashion, so it became obvious to me that I would have to keep this simple. Eventually though, I realised how out of scope this would be. At first, I thought about creating a completely over-engineered version of the software that would fulfil all possible future needs anyone might ever experience.
I had a lot of back and forth while designing the software for this mirror. This would only be a prototype, a side project, but I still wanted it to be flexible enough to be able to turn it into a product if it turned out that it was a feasible idea. While waiting for the mirror and some other minor materials to arrive, I got started with the software planning process. Now, I’m going to talk about how I approached the software side of things, from planning to execution including some of the pitfalls that came up along the way. The text at the bottom are the latest headlines from Der SPIEGEL. The app uses completely localised time format, day names and temperature units as per the device’s locale setting. Last week I wrote about how I ended up building the hardware side of an iOS-supported smart mirror, from planning the frame to purchasing the materials and - most importantly - the mirror. MartianCraft Smart Mirror Project-Part 2: Software
0 kommentar(er)
