Video, Boards & Presentation

Video, Boards & Presentation

Final Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGGwKKIOqlU&feature=youtu.be

Week 14 - Video production & Model Resolution

Week 14 - Video production & Model Resolution

This week i started story boarding the video, and working out all the different elements i would need to get it done. I also completed the renders & logo Design. 

Week 13 - The Video

Week 13 - The Video

Overview

This week, we all continued with our individual work, with some collaboration at group meetings and via facebook. At this point in the assignment, Michael has assumed the role of the co-ordinator of the assignment. My role, is to take care of the visuals for the assignment ( the video, boards and renders )

The video 

This week, i researched similar videos in order to get inspiration and ideas as to what form the video would take.. The goal of the video is to communicate the emotive aspects of the design in a way which the audience will be able to both understand, and also relate to the project. 

Week 12 - Individual Work

Week 12 - Individual Work

Overview

After the last week, we decided that a lot of the work needed to be done individually, or at home. My role, was to focus on the scenario, and how this object would fit in with the lives of our users. Michael, was focusing on the programming, and also started helping Niall with resolving the form, and some of the detailing aspects.

Scenarios 

I started to look at the different scenarios in which our object could have a profound effect. 

Some of the possible scenarios that where outlined were; 

Armed forces

A Soldier is leaving for war. He is leaving behind his family, and is going to miss them dearly. He can use our device to communicate with his friends and family back home. 

Prison

A prisoner is in jail for a long period of time. This object could be used for them to communicate with loved ones, in a safe and deeply emotional way. 

Long nights at Work

A user is working back late at night, and their partner is missing them. our device is used to help both people in this situation. 

Boarding School

Our concept could be used for children who are away at boarding school. They would be able to communicate with there family when and how they wanted. 

Reflection

After going through these scenarios, and discussing with tutors, we decided to go back to our original target user group - which was emergency services and the armed forces. They are an interesting target user, and represent many varied challenges for us to address. 

Michael was able to continue with his research into the parts needed for the model without this part of the assignment completed, however by next week it is important that i have this done so that the model can be tailored to suit the specific context. 

Week 11 - Concept Resolution 2

Week 11 - Delegation and Concept resolution

Overview

Before class this week, a message was put out on facebook which outlined a few goals that we needed to achieve in this upcoming session in class. Key to this, was resolving a few key issues regarding the concept, and locking them in. I identified that in our group think sessions, we were trying to solve 5-6 issues simultaneously. It wasnt getting us anywhere, and we were starting to go in circles. This week there was a little more structure to our session. We tackled each issue one at a time - and in an order which made a little more sense.

Design Process + Concept Development

The first thing was giving everyone an oppurtunity to do a 2 minute 'pitch'. Basically summarising there ideas, and getting everyone on the same page. It was quite successful, and from this we could get an idea as to what area each team member was interested in. After this, we started finalising the inputs/outputs - and chose the most appropiate. What we came down to was;

summary of 2 minute pitch ( mine blank - as i was recording ) 

INPUT
Heartbeat
Voice Message
Warmth from Hand

OUTPUT ( in order )
Vibration
Audio Message
Light

We wanted to keep the concept elegant, clean and simple - whilst facilitating the most meaningful, and emotive experiences to our users. We definately felt like we achieved this - and everyone was quite bouyed by the level that our design has gotten too.

Going Forward

Before this week, i saw a need for us to be a little more structured in our approach to this assignment. As from now on in, we are all going to be doing alot of work individually, i thought it was important to form a design schedule which outlines key tasks and deadlines. We have also distributed work to each person in areas that they are the strongest. And weekly, we will all set goals to achieve before we meet again in class.

Myself
Form a structure for the project + plan it out so that key dates and milestones are recognised.
Also focus on the video element & scenarios around the concept.
by next week, i am going to formulate a project timeline, outline 5-6 scenarios which our product will be used in, and start planning how to represent this in an emotive video.

Niall
Niall has some great visualisation and problem solving skills, so he has taken up some of the responsibility of solving some of the more 'pure' industrial design.
by next week, niall is going to aim to have the form resolved, or at least a few variations of the form. He will also start piecing together a few manufacturing thoughts, such as materials, cost, etc.

Teresa 
Teresa is going to basically collate the work as it is completed, and add it into a report. It will also be Teresas role to pick up on any inconsistances amungst all our work, and help everyone resolve those issues.  by next week, Teresa is going to formulate the basis for the report. Including key headings, and identify all the areas which we will need to report on. 


Michael
From the earlier project, we identified that Michael had fantastic skills and knowledge of electical components & engineering. He natrually is going to be given the sole task of realising what will be quite a complex prototype model. We feel that a working protoype that correctly expresses the experiences we intend to create is vital to this project.
 by next week, Michael is going to put together a schematic which outlines the way in which the protoype will work. he will also do some basic costing, and work with niall to replicate the intended form as closely as possible.

Week 10 - Concept Resolution

Week 10This week, we have moved ahead with our concept pitch from last week. Our group has had some trouble being able to meet as regularly as we would like. So in order to keep work moving ahead, we have started posting alot of working on facebook. So far this is pretty successful, as it allows ideas to be generated and critised quicker than waiting another week to meet in class.

Our Concept Development
 This week, i have tryed to look into adding more meaning, and value into our concept. At present, we have established that it is designed to be a 'precious object' which users who are geographically seperated can send and receive messages.

"neck worn device - dean johnson"

I have been looking into deepening that connection through the transmission of something else other than messages. One idea, was vital signs ( such as a heartbeat ). I have been researching some of the spiritual practices which cultural & religious groups. Some interesting practices have got me interested in the idea of replicating a deeper spiritual connection through the sending and recieveing of a heartbeat.

The traditional hindu practice of tantra is often mis-concieved. it actually originates in a meditative practice in which a user connects to spirits internally through deep focus on there breathing, and heartbeat.

Nialls idea for a head matt

Niall looked into a different direction. Once comment which was made after our presentation was that we need to consider the more extreme user groups. For example, used in a war scenario - a user my not have use of arms, hands, sight or hearing. Micheal has been looking into the tangible interactio part. He is looking at what interactions are most appropiate for the design in order for it to fulfil its intention.

I think its good the different directions we are all naturally taking with our brainstorm. We are however aware that the design needs to be finalised soon. We are aiming to finalise the design by next tuesday so we can then go onto the prototyping stage.

I have already considered the roles we will take moving forward. Since Michael has great electrical engineering skills, i think it would be great if he solely focuses on the electronic component of our protoype ( with some help from others ). I am going to look at the non-electronic component of the design with Niall.

Further to that, we also need to look at the presentation component, and the report.

Overall a successful week, where the breadth of our ideation certainly grew.

Week 4 - The Coming Together

Week 4 

This week was dedicated to getting the project finished. I spent some time with Micheal helping with some of the connections. The most important part was making sure that all the connections worked, and that we would have some form of input. 

I also took care of the diffuser. We originally were going to paint a green line, on a black background, but the black paint didn't look right. So we ended up painting the acrylic panels green, and placing them in front of the rig.   

Micheals House - Stripping Wires

one half completed

The main control board. 

Here is the finished project. Personally im very happy with the outcome. It probably didnt finish the way we originally anticipated - however thats often the case, and i think its effective all the time. There were issues getting the coding to work fully, but this is understandable given the short timeframe, and rather steep learning curve. 

Week 3 - Soldering, Soldering, and more Soldering

Week 3 

Thoughts
This week we really focused on achieving our concept. The concept for our interaction piece was to create an 'interactive wall'. We were looking at the idea of 'presence' being an input. What we wanted to do was create an installation that would almost be humanised. We wanted to piece to react to a user in a way which almost personifies the installation, and try and create an emotive connection between the design and the users.

We also wanted to provoke joy, happiness, curiousity and possibly even empathy. By walking further away from the installation, its heart rate is going to react by slowing down, or maybe going slower. Almost begging the user to come back "please i will die if you dont stay next to me!"

Our outputs are visual ( led lights ) which will react based on the input. The lights will be able to change intensity, cycle speed and maybe colour depending on the interaction with the user. There is also a audible output, which will sync with the lights. These multiple outputs will give the user a wide range of stimuli which should add to the overall experience.

This installation could be scaled up and put into almost any public space. It could be a gauge that there are too many people ( or not enough ) in a certain area.. This could be interesting in an airport, hospitality space to name a few. It could also pick up sound, so could have interesting applications in a bar or club, sporting venue to name a few. 

Once we came up with our concept, we needed to implement it. The first thing was creating the light panel. Myself and micheal got a few refreshments, the keys to a mechanical workshop and worked late into the night soldering led lights together. Overall there were 96 lights, each earthed by the time we left at 2am.

We then met up in the J block workshop to contuinue putting together the cicuit. Some initial coding by micheal meant we were able to get a quick test done, which showed signs that the concept was going to work. There still needs to be some work done with coding, but for the time being it was enough of a boost for us to beleive that we might be able to do this thing!
In regards to research, i have made contact with a school, and an aged care facility in order to see whether we are going to be able to conduct some form of research.

Reflection
I learnt a lot this week, mainly technical skills. My soldering technique has definitely improved also! This week, i also made contact with a High School, who said that we would be able to conduct some research there. We are still looking at some form of non-questionnaire style research. I do see also how this could be important for me as a Designer. Everything which is designed essentially breaks down into input, and output. This sort of assignment helps us to design in a way that facilitates an interaction - not design one. 

Week 2 - Workshop & Research

Week 2 - Workshop & Research

My Thoughts

During this week, i have started thinking a lot more about the objects around me as i am interacting with them. I have found myself trying to define how it is i am interacting with an object, what sort of sensory feedback i am receiving - and how i value that process. This week has also helped me break down interactions around me to really simple ideas. Such as a traffic light, which essentially is the input of a timer ( or the presence of a vehicle ) which then gives a simple light output.

 

Workshop Activity

This week we brought in objects from home that we wanted to destroy. Our group had a microphone, an early childs learning centre, a toaster and a night light. Once we destroyed these objects, we were left with some interesting pieces which we tried to intergrate into a simple interactive experiement.

The kids learning centre yielded the most interesting components; A small Speaker & a simple yet very cool keypad.

The microphone didnt have to many useful components. We did however salvage a dial from the toaster, and a UV Sensor from the Night Light.

With these components, we decided to try and put together 2 projects.

1) Using arduino, have the dial as an input, to produce sound via the speaker.
2) Keep the speaker, but intergrate a UV sensor, which will trigger the speaker.

We were successful ( see video above ).

Thoughts on Research Aspect of Assignment

Another area we need to look into is the research part of the assignment. Our objective is to study, observe and better understand our 'extreme' user groups. It could be said that access to news, and information is a universal right. Therefore it is important that these groups are considered.

We want to find out about the rituals, routines, thinking patterns and behavior of these groups. We are looking at young children ( which could be said are one of the most important groups, as they are our future users ) the elderly, and less pyhsically & mentally abled people.

My first thought was a sort of interview process. But after considering this, i am concerned that i won't be able to get real, deep and interesting information using this technique. Our participants may feel like they are being 'tested' and try and give the right answers.

i am developing 2 processes. One is an informal 'game'. Whereby i will engage 4 or 5 users in a more comfortable, and familiar setting. We will give them placecards with news stories, and ask that they place them into groups, which make sense to them. Once they have done this; we will ask them to name each group.

What i hope to achieve with this process is to mind map our extreme user groups. This will be interesting to see how they process and catoregise information. After this process, we also want to gain an insight into how they access news and media. One idea might be to ask them to pick a placecard which has a story they are familiar with, and that they heard recently. Ask them to give there idea on what the story is about ( and maybe there opinions to get them relaxed and talking )

After this, find out where, how and when they were exposed to this news. Hopefully this will help flesh out there typical sources of news. It is also beneficial because a story that they know about, means that when they were exposed to it, that the information has obviously 'set in'.

So this is the angle i want to take for research, but for now we are focusing back onto the project at hand. More exciting times to come!

Week 1 - Introduction to Interaction Design

Week 1  

My Thoughts

Since beginning Industrial Design Studies, i always was interested in the notion of 'creating' or designing interactions between users, and artifacts. How do you design an experience? I have since learnt that its impossible to 'design an experience'. There are far too many variables which our out of our hands as designers. The context, the users mood, environmental conditions ( such as noise, light, etc ). It will never be possible to control all of these variables, so all we can aspire to do is create an object which will faciliate an intended experience as purely and holistically as possible.

From working with the Danish Company Bang & Olufsen in the past, i was exposed to their design philosophy which is heavily influenced by Interaction Design. Their

products always facilitate beautiful and surprising interactions, which add immensely to the products value.

One example, the Beosound 9000 engages the user on many levels. Firstly, the user is given visual interaction with the cover art of the CDs, giving them inspiration to play a cd in the first place. After that, 6 buttons on the underside of the player relate to the corrosponding CD. You then press to chose the CD you want -the cd reader glides across at  speed of 4m/s to pick up, and play your selected CD. The designer, David Lewis said that he wanted to represent the metaphor of a Audiophile going to there record collection and picking up an album based on cover art, then playing it on a record player. 

The consumption of music presents a great oppurtunity for the application of Interaction Design Principles. In an age where the delivery of music is becoming less tangible, less emotive, and less valued, a product such as the one above is a prime example of how interaction design can help reconnect users with experiences that they value. 

Here are some other examples of interesting applications of Interaction Design.   

Group Activity - Intro to Interaction Design

Our task this week was to form groups and start draft prototyping a simple Interaction Design Concept. Our group consisted of Michael Bye, Niall, Teresa and Myself. We began by thinking about different types of inputs and outputs which contribute to an interaction. These included push, pull, touch, swipe etc. It was a good exercise in order for us to broaden our horizons and ideas about what constitutes an interaction.

We then used this to devise a fantasy product which encorporated these inputs and outputs. The idea to be a product which facilitates the communication of information between friends, boyfriend/girlfriend or family.

We came up with an idea of a product which communicates stress levels to other members of your family. The product would be a small, golf ball shaped object that may be attached to keys, wallet etc. The idea being that throughout the day, a user can squeeze this ball in order to communicate that they are stressed to another member of there family. The recipient would see that there ball is lighting up from green to red ( dependant on pressure ) and realise that the other holder of the product was stressed, and maybe needed a phone call, or to catch up.

Group Activity - Reflection

It was a fairly simple activity, and most of the time was spent just getting our team together and discussing the approach to the assignment. The concept we developed could have been developed more, and given more depth. But it was a good day which gave us some foundations for the rest of the semester.