Analysis of User Interfaces
to Accelerate R&D Processes
to Accelerate R&D Processes
Basler area scan cameras in OptoFidelity's measurement instruments
- Customer
- OptoFidelity Ltd.
- Location
- Tampere, Finland
- Date
- 2013
Watchdog is a camera-based measurement instrument for analyzing user interface latency and response times during the whole R&D phase. In addition to hardware response times, WatchDog can measure user response times to the information on the display. For Watchdog, OptoFidelity needed an area scan camera with a Camera Link interface to deliver high-quality images. However, ultimately, the deciding factor was camera speed.
Quantitative measurement of user experience
With the introduction of OptoFidelity Watchdog, older methods for testing device performance became obsolete. Watchdog, with a multimodal option, is an automated camera-based event detector. Its multimodal option events include all user interface sensory feedback methods, such as audio, tactile, and visual feedback.
Visual tracking of user interactions
Visual feedback events appearing on the display of the product are detected with a camera. To start testing, the tester simply places the product under the camera and selects an area of interest from the captured scene. After area selection, the product is ready for testing. The multimodal unit detects user interaction with the device and automatically starts the measurement.
OptoFidelity Watchdog creates a report of the captured events automatically. An event report shows user interaction, audio feedback events, and start and end times for all visual events. The report also shows tactile feedback from the device. Performing the identical tests with another device, even with a different device model, is very easy. A test case could, for example, be a measurement of the opening time of a YouTube video with three different devices, three times each. From the test results, a summary report showing the average result for each device can be compiled.
A high frame rate ensures optimal image quality and measurement results
The time resolution of the Basler camera for AOIs is commonly as high as 600 frames per second for this application. Higher speeds ensure low motion blur, improving the image quality. With higher resolution, the image area can be exploited better, and images are sharper.
We tested different cameras. The high camera speed was very important for us and in the end we decided in favor of the Basler camera. It guarantees accurate measurement results.
OptoFidelity is a Finnish technology company specializing in test and measurement automation, machine vision systems, and test and engineering services. OptoFidelity’s mission is to provide novel solutions that will speed up its customers’ R&D processes.