Wizard-of-Oz Prototype

A research and design method where a human operator secretly simulates the behaviour of an interactive system that has not yet been built, allowing participants to experience and evaluate the concept as if the technology were fully functional. Widely used in accessibility and HCI research, this approach enables testing of complex assistive technologies—such as context-aware sound masking or intelligent interfaces—before investing in full technical implementation, while gathering authentic user feedback on the interaction experience.