interaction design 1 - med m/512 - fall 2007
Philip van Allen - v a n a l l e n @ a r t c e n t e r . e d u
room 227, thursday 3:30pm-6:30pm
all materials on this web site © copyright 2007, Philip van Allen
 
week 08 - Final Project Assignment

Final Project : 

This is not a Knob

Final Project - Create an information system - Presentation week 13

This project explores the integration of the physical environment with the media environment through the limited palette of one physical sensor and one media effector. Using the concept of information exploration, create a dynamic system where the audience creates an evocotive experience by manipulating a single knob and observing a video display or listening to audio (only one medium is allowed). By interacting, the user should explore a specific information space.

  • you can make this project solo, or form a team of 2 people, ideally where one person has a background in physical design (industrial, product, environmental, etc.), and the other person has a background in media design (graphics, video, interactive, etc.).
  • any kind of media can be displayed/played back (text, video, voices, music, found sounds, etc.), but you must limit it to only visual OR audio, not both.
  • the knob should have a physical attachment made to it, turning it into a physical interface that has an implied affordance to the user (like a round doorknob implies turning). in other words, you need to build the knob into something and can't use the knob as-is.
  • there may not be any screen interface such as menus, pull-downs, etc.
  • choose a specific topic or set of information as your domain

In developing your design, consider the following:

  • how will the content will be cut up, newly created, reorganized, re-written, altered, de-constructed into interactive content - how long, what form, what mediums, etc. One way to consider your project is as a kind of information remixer, where the user is a DJ.

  • how will the content will be combined at play time

  • what is the affordance provided to the audience for manipulating the experience

  • what are the relationship(s) between the designer/author and the audience - Tour guide, facilitator, provocateur, librarian, boss, co-worker, museum docent, dictator, servant, etc.

  • consider designing the project to run continuously rather than waiting for the user's actions. for example, the user could intervene at anytime to alter the presentation, but the display changes on its own otherwise.

  • remember that the sensor data can be interpreted in more than one way at a time, so multiple, different things can happen in response to the single knob sensor data stream

  • what is the arc of the user experience? Is there an introduction? Is there a summary? How long does the experience last? What control does the user have over the arc? Typically, good communication (especially knowlege vs. data) is created with change and tempo in this medium. So you should consider making your project have different levels of stillness/action, simplicity/complexity, order/chaos, etc., and with this, explicitly design the system so that this variation expresses or causes a range of responses.

    Think of how a pop song works, there are different sections, intro, verse, chorus, break, and ending, all of which create a motion to the experience that creates interest and thoughfulness. If a typical pop song was the same the entire way through, it would be very boring. The same is true with your projects. Create a degree of change that the user participates in creating.

  • what are the benefits of the interactions in the work? I.e. what does the audience get out of interacting, and how is this better or different from traditional media?

pictures of a few of the summer '03 IOS emotion projects
pictures of the spring '04 IOS emotion projects
summer '06 projects Interactive Swing This is Not A Knob
summer '07 knob projects

 

Preparation projects

  • create a simple NET Connect Interface application that uses the supplied knob and AnalogInput widget. Process the sensor information coming from the knob to do the following:
    1. using the ClipControl widget and the min and max features of the AnalogInput, make a rectangle scale from 1 to 250 pixels wide (keep the height constant)
    2. using the ClipControl widget and the min, max and invert features of the AnalogInput, make a circle scale (both x and y dimensions) from 250 to 500 pixles in diameter with 250 as the size when the knob it at its maximum, and 500 as the size when the knob is at its minimum. in addition, use another ClipControl widget to change the same circle's y coordinate position.
    3. using the ClipControl widget and the cieling and floor features of the AnalogInput, make a square move across the screen, but only respond to the middle third of the knob range. I.e. the square should not move in the lower third range of the knob, it should move in the middle third, and not move in the upper third range of the knob.

  • buy these tools (may be shared between team members)

    The student will need basic electronics tools to build their projects. These can be obtained from Radio Shack or any other electronics supplier.

    Basic Tool Set (with Radio Shack part numbers & prices):



  • readings:

summer '03 - photos, spring '04 photos, summer '04 photos, corporate delicti, summer '06

 
     

all materials on this web site © copyright 2007, Philip van Allen

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