Datasheet

Jon Waddington
69
5 Conclusion
In this report, an Information System has been designed to provide home control, and a
prototype has been developed and constructed. It was found that there is a need for this
type of device among elderly and disabled people and that it is not an unrealistic
situation.
The Information System worked as expected, allowing the user to control X10 modules
by adding devices to the device’s memory via the remote control or a keyboard. The
devices can be sorted into rooms to ensure that the number of devices doesn’t
complicate the software or overwhelm the user.
5.1 Usability of the Information System
The menu was kept simple, with just 4 items it is always easy to return to the main
menu. This keeps the software straight forward and prevents the user getting ‘lost’ in
the menus.
The navigation of the menu is simple, needing the use of just three buttons; up, down,
and enter. This meets the needs of elderly people who may not be comfortable at getting
to grips with more complicated software. The software becomes a little more complicated
when adding X10 devices, needing numbers to be pressed but this should be something
which most users are familiar with, having used remote controls before.
The response from the remote control was impressive, taking into account that when a
key was pressed, the cursor had to be redrawn or a completely different menu was to be
shown. Any delay from the user pressing a button to the screen refreshing is not
noticeable to the human eye.
The screen resolution of the Information System’s interface is low, with a character grid
of 40 columns by 13 rows. This makes the characters large and easy to read for visually
impaired users. The white text on a dark blue background is also easy on the eye.