Simplify Frequency / Amplitude terminology?

[r-oung]

• Help Menu: Re-label Control -> Command (⌘) for Mac
• My girlfriend and work colleague thinks the labels aren't very intuitive, e.g. Amplitude and Frequency aren't obvious unless I go through a detailed explanation. Consider using different terminology and minimize techno-babble.
  • Represent Frequency as BPS (beats per second)?
  • Represent Amplitude as speed?
• Spin, Drive Straight, Custom moves
  • Re-label Velocity -> Speed; velocity has a directional component, but this is just modifies speed

[philippReist]

• CMD The help menu text should be generated by a install/deployment step, where the version and build numbers, and customizations as the Command for Mac can be implemented.
• Frequency and Amplitude - I chose those terms specifically as a way for children to learn about them in a hands-on way. After all, the goal is to get them in contact with technology and STEM in general. Will ask the educational expert on the mint&pepper team about it, though.
• Vel -> Speed - Good point. I did not know about this specific difference in terminology speed/velocity!

[tiemes]

Frequency and Amplitude: I'd probably use easy and more understandable terms like speed and beats per second and then add a tooltip explaning in two senteces how this is acchieved. This way, kids could easily use the GUI and read the explanation once they're comfortable with the basics.

Vel -> Speed: more correct and even nicer :)

[philippReist]

Ok, so what should we use then?

• Frequency: Beats per second is not correct, as the time unit for the motions is really just beats. I am not sure if 1/beat would clarify things. What about leaving frequency in and adding a tooltip that says "How often to repeat per beat" or something along those lines.
• Amplitude: Just replace by Size? Or, again, leave amplitude and have tooltip that says: "How big the motion is"?

[r-oung]

Frequency: Beats per second is not correct, as the time unit for the motions is really just beats. I am not sure if 1/beat would clarify things. What about leaving frequency in and adding a tooltip that says "How often to repeat per beat" or something along those lines.

I'm not an expert in dance/choreography, but based on my reading I believe the correct terminology is Timing (http://www.rounddancing.net/dance/articles/timing.html) and the unit of measure is counts per beat (https://dancebirmingham.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/the-complete-beginners-guide-to-counting-for-ballroom-dance/). I don't think we should try to re-engineer dance :-)

Amplitude: Just replace by Size? Or, again, leave amplitude and have tooltip that says: "How big the motion is"?

What does amplitude physically map to? I assume it's speed or angle?

[philippReist]

What does amplitude physically map to? I assume it's speed or angle?

Yes, it is linear speed for fwd/bwd and angular speed for twist. So I think just labeling it speed would be fine then.

the correct terminology is Timing

Without knowing the dance technical term or reading the links, I would interpret timing as how well my steps are synched to the beats (as in your timing is off means you step later/sooner than the beat). So I think it might not be clear. But counts per beat is clear, I think. @tiemes maybe you can clarify with Marine?

[tiemes]

Marine meint: Amplitude und Frequency bebehalten, aber als tooltip folgendes:

Amplitude: How far to the left/right will your dancebot turn. Freq: How many times wil your dancebot turn within the timing of one beat.

[philippReist]

Sounds good - I like that we will keep the technical terms! Will add the tooltips! For consistency, I will add tooltips to all slider / selector labels.

Philipp