Computerized longarm quilting machines are used by professional quilters and serious hobbyists to stitch together a quilt cover, batting, and backing to finish a quilt. These machines greatly reduce the time and effort involved, support the creation of elaborate and beautiful stitch patterns, and provide greater control of stitch length, density, and placement.
Gammill asked Daedalus to design the next-generation user interface for the Vision 2.0, which was transitioning from a dedicated, internal processor and LCD to a machine-mounted Android tablet. Our interaction designers and software engineers worked with Gammill quilters and engineers to create and implement a revolutionary interface that closely modeled how longarm quilters work. The interface supports quilters in quickly transitioning between operating styles, including Constant Speed, Regulated, Baste, and Coast-Regulated, and supports efficient adjustment of settings for the active operating style. The interface tracks stitches and quilting time and quickly alerts quilters to problems, like thread breakage and low bobbin levels. To support and cradle the tablet, our mechanical engineers designed a machine mount that firmly and securely holds the tablet while still allowing quilters to easily pivot the tablet into view from wherever they are actively stitching.