RE: American Airlines - Angy Birds

I don't know the architecture of angry birds, but it very well could be the following:

(1) A collection of scenarios encoded in an SVG-like "AngryBirdML" format:
<AngryBirdML>
  <birds><yellow/><red/></birds>
  <pigs><pig x y/><pig x y/></pigs>
  <structures><wood x1 y1 x2 y2/><glass x1 y1 x2 y2/></structures>
  <ground-level y/>
</AngryBirdML>
 
(2) An angry bird app that knows how to render AngryBirdML on the screen, both graphically and with a physics model (e.g. so that if the wood and glass are unsupported they will fall to the ground and break). The app facilitates user exploration (panning, pinch zoom) and interaction (pull back and launch birds) with  the scenario. 

How is this really different than an SVG User Agent? I think the difference is that there is a stronger contract between developers of the user agent and the scenarios, such that the scenario developer doesn't throw the UA curve balls, like trying to build a text edit field out of wood and pigs. :)

THAT ALL SAID, I think the constructive thing to do is to consider the Americans Airlines app and figure out which SCs in UAAG should realistically apply and aren't already covered by WCAG2 already...then we could identify these in separate conformance profile or note.

Cheers,
Jan

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Simon Harper [mailto:simon.harper@manchester.ac.uk]
> Sent: June-20-13 3:40 AM
> To: WWW UAWG
> Subject: American Airlines - Angy Birds
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> So after the CG meeting yesterday - for which I had a none functioning mic - I
> was thinking more about our American Airlines - Angry Birds example. In that
> we think AA App is a UA while AB Game isn't. In reality, I think AB Game is an
> app but not a user agent. Now why is this? Well a UA is created from two
> words:
> 
> A *user* of a system <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System> is a person who
> interacts with the system, to enable its operation
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation>, or to utilize its function.
> 
> 
> An *Agent* is one who acts for, or in the place of, another, by authority from
> him; one entrusted with the business of another.
> 
> In this case, it seems clear that the AA App is acting for a user, or in the place
> of a user, by the users' authority. A user entrusts AA App with their business.
> 
> The AB Game on the other hand does not posses these traits of being an
> agent of the user.
> 
> I think we are having this problem due to the imprecise nature of the
> definition of application software -
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software
> 
> It seems to me that we are also thinking about Apps outside of our
> definitions. So first of all is AA an UA - yes / is AB a UA - no (according to the
> definitions above). Next, how does AA manifest - is it a WebApp - yes as the
> UI is created by a UA rendering of HTML which facilitates interactivity. Is it a
> mobile UA - will at this point I don't know as I'm unsure as to the technology
> used in this case.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> --
> Si.
> 
> PS I check my email at 08:00 and 17:00 GMT. If you require a faster response
> please include the word 'fast' in the subject line.
> 
> =======================
> Simon Harper
> My Business Card   - http://simon.harper.name/about/card/
> Schedule a Meeting - http://doodle.com/simon.harper.name
> 
> University of Manchester (UK)
> Web Ergonomics Lab - Information Management Group
> http://wel.cs.manchester.ac.uk
>

Received on Thursday, 20 June 2013 13:38:10 UTC