Week six workshop 'Cold Turkey'

Week six workshop 'Cold Turkey'

Lourens Adrian Botha
N6326374

"sensing the news".:
In this week’s studio we took it all they back to initial concept brainstorming in regards to this semesters project. We did three concept bombs based off provided design briefs each with unique attributes. Breaking each into –(scenario, object and interaction). This was very helpful in opening our minds to all sorts of project possibilities for the final interactive design solution.

 
Concept bombs:

This is one of my three concept bombs, the design brief stated to help communicate users with family and friends whilst inside their home. The design must be incorporated into an everyday item to tie the users together. My design focused on what the possibility could be if you where sitting in your living room watching TV and wanted to interact with someone whilst watching a program. The design showed interaction with the users communicating and discussing on information in front of them (TV,movie ect).

Observation of the Concept Bombs:

As a group we walked around the class and observed the other students work, a mark was given as to which design we believed was the best of the three. The activity was very engaging and it was great to see what others had come up with in regards to the brief we were given.

Our selected Design Direction:

The “tell tail”….. a wearable device shaped like an animal’s tail is our group members ‘Kui’ concept. It is a wearable small tail like device that the user programs to sense specific nearby objects through (wagging) movement. The mechanic movement changes depending how far the user gets. The tail starts to wag faster and more violently indicating that the source is getting closer.

As a group we discussed the device and how its input could change and be a possible adjustable element depending on the users need.  Kui is also a very devoted pc gamer and connected to this large community of fellow gamers.  This lead us to discuss where this very specific user group of computer gamers could use this device a way of connecting gamers in the real world. As well as this the environment and habitual trends indicate that gaming users would benefit from this device as it could communicate information such as emails, facebook ect in a fun and interactive method. For example, the user wants to know if there is any game stores nearby. The device will pick up any registered shops in the area, the tail wags as the user walks closer to a store. The concept somewhat adopts biomimcry, as the tail can be adopted to mimic the way an animal displays emotions, power status and tools for balance etc. through different motions from the tail. A camera is located at the end of the device for the user to take photos of anything that interests them.

Throughout the rest of the class, the group considered the vital elements of the design concept. There is ideas of different modifications that can be utilised to suit the user's preferences, it was good input but the final direction the design takes is uncertain. The group decided that research on the user's habits and lifestyle is needed to clarify on the specific actions we need to take on steering our project towards success.