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UsingTheMscapeTester
Using the mscape tester
You will often want to test a mediascape out while you are in the process of making it. You can do this easily from within the mscape maker. Simply click on the button in the top bar under the ‘Try it on’ heading, that says ‘a PC’. This will start up the mscape tester with the mediascape that you are currently editing.
The basics
Once the mscape tester is running you will see a window divided up into four main sections. The main area in the centre will be familiar from the mscape maker; it simply shows the map of the area and the regions.
To the left of it is a simulation of what will appear on the screen of your mobile device as you navigate through the mediascape. Also any sounds that are part of your mediascape will be played through the computer.
If you click somewhere on the map you will place a small figure at that point and on the screen simulation and the sound you will see and hear what they would see and hear at that point in your mediascape.
By clicking elsewhere on the map you can move the figure to that point and see and hear what would happen if the user moves there.
That’s the basics. For more detail read on.
More on the mscape tester
Below the map: viewing controls
The bar of buttons directly below the map are viewing controls. These are very similar to those in the mscape maker.
You can zoom in or out of the map view. Using the hand you can drag the map around to alter your view. Using the foot you can go back to placing your little figure in the map. The home icon resets the map view to the initial viewing position you started off with. Finally selecting a place from the menu of places that you have defined re-centers the map display on that place.
The right-hand screen area: advanced simulation
This currently contains two panels both of which are concerned with more advanced aspects of mediascapes.
A mediascape that reacts to pressing buttons
The top one simulates the standard button layout that accompanies the screen on many mobile devices. It is possible to make a mediascape where you can interact with the mediascape by means of the buttons on the mobile device. This panel of buttons in the mscape tester enables you to test out such functionality.
A mediascape that reacts to walking behaviour
While the top panel allows you to simulate what happens when the user pushes buttons to interact with your mediascape, the other panel allows you to simulate how your mediascape reacts to other user actions connected with the GPS positioning.
When you are writing your script you can make things happen in reaction to the users speed of travel and their direction of travel. These are both simulated in this panel, you can input the speed that your little figure is travelling at and which direction they are travelling in to investigate how your mediascape reacts.
There is also a check box where you can simulate whether or not the mobile device has got a GPS fix or not. This is not a user action but it is a situation that can easily happen, either when the user switches the mobile device on for the first time or if they loose the GPS signal due to obstructions.
(If the mobile device has got a GPS fix it means that it ‘knows where it is’, i.e. it has picked up signals from the GPS satellites and has worked out where it is on the earth.)
The bottom screen area: text output
Finally, at the bottom of the screen is a text area that shows a continual listing of what the mediascape is doing. This shows error messages and messages from the event scripts that the designer has requested be written there.
If there are any problems with your mediascape then this is the first place to check. Although much of it is highly technical it will show you if anything unexpected has happened.
Using mscape tester on its own
It is also possible for you to run the mscape tester on its own without having to run mscape maker first. Simply choose ‘mscape tester’ from the ‘mscape’ group of programs in the Windows ‘Start menu’. Tester will start up and will prompt you to tell it which mediascape you want to test.
Pros and cons of using the mscape tester
Using the mscape tester instead of going out into the field to test mediascapes has a few advantages and disadvantages.
Faster testing
It is a lot easier than doing the same thing outside in a real mediascape, you can test things out without having to run around, you can try something in one corner and then test something else in the other corner without having to walk between the two.
Comprehensive testing
Mediascapes can quickly become complex and ensuring that complex mediascapes do what you expect them to do is difficult if you are testing them out in the field. Using the mscape tester enables you to rapidly do test routines that would take a long time in the field. For example you could have a media object that is triggered only if the user goes into region A and then region B and back into region A. To test this out in the field would require a great deal of co-ordination and movement. Testing it out in the mscape tester is quick and simple.
Inaccurate user experience
The experience of a mediascape is not just the media, it is the combination of media with place. Using the mscape tester is a good way of evaluating the correct function of the media delivery, but it is difficult to get a feel for the real user experience of the mediascape. So while it is a good tool for getting a mediascape working, it is no replacement for actually going out into the field and trying your mediascape out ‘for real’.
Debugging
Sometimes you will be using the mscape tester to try out a mediascape you have downloaded before you go outside to use it. In this case the description above is sufficient.
There will be other times when you are using mscape tester to test a mediascape that you are in the process of developing. In this situation you may require access to more advanced controls to help with debugging (finding and fixing problems with your scripts).
You may have noticed that above the map in the mscape tester there are two tabs. The map is shown in the ‘Place’ tab. The other tab is ‘Debug’. This tab gives you access to extra functionality. This functionality is similar to the editor except that you are not really making permanent changes to your mediascape you are just changing things as it is running to investigate what happens.
This ability allows you to try out ‘what if...’ scenarios. You can see how the mediascape reacts if certain parameters are different’ ‘What if we make this audio a looping audio? What if the volume of the first audio is less than the second?’ etc.
Not all the properties can be edited, those that are grey are fixed.
