1. Small-medium different coloured bead images could be placed above/ below the canvas. The images should be clickable so that which ever colour bead is double-clicked, that same colour will be added on the canvas. This method would be most pleasurable to touch-screen devices as it relies on tapping the images. For non-touch screen devices, the mouse will be used to select the desired colour.
A single click or tap on the bead can be used to remove the bead off the canvas.
2. The way I plan on doing it, is by assign a number (1-9) to each of the nine colours that can be used. The user will basically punch in which ever number is allocated to a colour and that coloured bead will be added.
I am hoping that I will be able to use a cursor so that a person may "backspace" on their pc's or add a delete button. The delete/backspace function will delete the bead before the cursor. The cursor will be able to move around the canvas so that any bead can be deleted without deleting the whole line (Just like a normal type pad).
-The methods can come with a reflection function that will allow for a symmetrical zulu love letter. The user can decide if they wish to have the reflector placed vertically/ horizontally or diagonally in the mid-section of the canvas.
-The reflector will basically work by adding the same colour bead added by the user on the other side of the reflector. So for example, if we have a 10x10 grid and the reflector is placed horizontally (across the x-axis) then the reflection of grid position(0, 0) will be grid position(0, 10). Alternatively, if the reflector is placed vertically (across the y-axis) then the reflection of grid position(0, 0) will be grid position(10, 0), etc. And if the user wishes, two reflectors can be added to reflect beads over both axis. Like the picture below.
The optional reflection function will make creating the zulu love letter easier as half or 3/4 of the work is already done for the user.
The next step would be saving the completed zulu love letter. On method on how that can happen is by setting the canvas to save the grouped png beads as single jpg (or which ever desired format) images. On mobiles, the image can be saved on an external (memory card) and on the other devices, it could be saved on the disk drive. From there, the user can share (BBM, whatsApp, tumblr, etc), email and even edit the image.
On a more advanced level, it would be cool if there were a sound element that could plot down beads according to the users instructions. Each colours could be matched to a specific phrase such as yellow being tied down to a phrase such as "you left me in poverty", to represent just that. "So much poverty" could add more yellow beads to the design and a phrase such as "i'm richer now" could remove all yellow beads. The amount of a specific colour will be determined by how much the user emphasizes the key words (poor, rich) and through quantitative words such as "much" or "less".
Links: Zulu Love Letter site Blog
Great post and ideas! I like that you are considering using numbers on the keypad as an input method as this is a capability of all mobile phones. Using javascript and access keys makes this a possibility. I am hoping we will have time to consider implementing this. Your reflector idea is fantastic! Zulu love letters are symmetrical and like you said it will significantly reduce the user's work. I also like your idea of using voice recognition as input for this application.
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