Week 6; Intended Concept Research

After this weeks Tutorial, and we all went away and did our own research, I first looked through Google, the locations of various 'Live Gigs in and around the Brisbane CBD'

The image below shows locations of places around the Brisbane CBD that offer live music and various gigs including Comedy and other Theatrical events;

The Orange Pins show the locations of Bars that requarly offer music performances; E.g. The HiFi & Tivoli Hotel

The Orange Circles show other locations of Bars that are so well publicized mainstream; along with reviews regarding the locations; E.g. Tempo Resaurant & Pink Piano.

This gave me a rough idea or where many live gigs are held in Brisbane and their locations associated to each other. As well as having this generalization I looked at a number of websites that offered information regarding up and coming music gigs and other forms of entertainment. Below are the links to 3 websites I looked into in particular; 

http://www.ravemagazine.com.au

http://www.eventfinder.com.au
http://www.liveguide.com.au

Below is a print-screen taken from Rave Magazines homepage; on the homepage various amounts of news are shown to the viewer, some information shown includes;

Featured interviews

Gig Reviews

Album Reviews 

Tour Announcements 

Most Popular Articles

This next screenshot shows how a user (from the shown hyperlinks on the top bar) discovers up and coming gigs via searching; 

Selecting a date

Keywords (band name, artist name)

Locations

Categories (genres etc)

The image below shows a screenshot of the 'Event Finder' websites homepage;

This next image below shows a screenshot of the 'Live Guide' websites homepage;

From visiting these above websites I drew general conclusions as to what they offered, how easy it was to navigate around the site and find the information I was after and whether there were alternative entertainment options offered a long with ticket and Gig offers. 

My favourite website in terms of navigating the website and the information in which was offered to the visitor was Live Guide. From the homepage the visitor is able to easily to choose from;

Tours/Music/Arts&Theatre/Festivals/Community&Lifestyle/Bars/Pubs/Resaurants/Cafes 

These options covered a large variety of interests for an individual and what they may be after. The information was easy to obtain and navigate around. The visitor could select a gig, find the time, date and location of said selected gig as well as the ticket price - and then purchase a ticket all within a few clicks and scrolls of the mouse and a few taps on the keyboard. 

In combination with this, the website also runs their own social media pages on Facebook and Twitter. This offers users and followers the ability to share and discuss and even get excited about up coming events and festivals. 

From all this generalized research, I have been able to conclude that one of the only things this site is missing is a corresponding iPhone App to provide this information for 'on-the-go' users. 

Having all this is mind, I feel if we take this option further forward and continue to research and potentially design for this context, then we should take note of what existing websites offer already and try to work off what they are missing. However, in this case, the only thing they are missing is the one thing we want to avoid designing, an iPhone App.

Based on other points discussed above and my own personal feeling surrounding this topic, I feel it would be in our best interest as a group to move away from providing an product to express news regarding gigs and events for this project. Mainly due to the fact multiple Websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and countless Online Blogs and Forums already exist and are already successful in doing so, which in turn, would be a hard act to follow, and certainly a harder act to be original in doing so.

Week 6 - Tutorial; Concept bombs!

So back we were to familiar territory from First Year - Good ol' fashioned Concept Bombs;

At the start of the tutorial we were informed that we would be completing three Concept Bombs in the hope of getting our mindset and mentality around Project 2; Broadcasting News, and with that from our Concept Bombs, ideally, as a group we would be able to sit down and potentially chose a context or direction from what was produced by each individual. 

Below are my Concepts that I produced during the Tutorial;

Concept Bomb #1

Your design should:

Be portable

Appropriate use for the user group and activities 'on the go'

The Device inputs audio/video/text, indexes it, pumps it out

It has a GPS which allows identifying of location of the 'new/information' being transmitted

The objects functionality relies on gestural and tangible interactions for 'sensing and transmitting'

Doesn't Include GUIs 

The intention of this concept was a pen that would read your handwriting/note taking on any surface; storing it in the devices memory. As well as this the pen contained a small camera that could be used to capture a photo at a click of a button - hold it down and it would record a video (as indicated by a small red light above the camera). Audio recordings could be taken as well to ensure optimum amount of information obtainment with this device. All the stored information could be uploaded automatically through 3G/WiFi or wait to be placed onto a computer/laptop at a later date.

Concept Bomb #2

Your design should:

Help people connect to each together while doing daily life activities

Fit into peoples everyday activities

Has GPS connectivity

Be based on gestural and tangible interactions for 'sensing and transmitting'  

The purpose of this concept was for the user to have it attached to a keyring/key-chain. The 'Ball' will light up and vibrate when a message/news is received or discussed through social media by your friend list etc. The user is then able to check the news-feed if they feel they should and then reply/respond to the news accordingly. Through being synced to your friends/family and other individuals 'ball' messages and updates can be passed forward continuously.

The type of news (sports, weather, business, local, international, social) received will come with its own 'light' when initiated. This again allows users to filter what they choose to check.

 Concept Bomb #3

Your design should

Help you be 'aware' of developing news in particular areas of your interest

Help you identify hierarchy or priorities

Eliminate need to 'read' or to use screens (GUIs)

Allow you to share information

Rely on gestural interactions as you do your daily tasks (seamless user-object interactions)

This concept aims to be used in combination with an application purchased on the iPhone/Android. The 'watch' displays the corresponding tasks via colour. The watch hand will pass through the section that the current task is on over the assigned time to complete said task. Changing the order of tasks on the app will alter the priority on the watch display. 

This design will allow the user to keep ahead of their tasks and monitor the time assigned to each task.

Below are the Concept Bombs my fellow group members produced;

Joey Hoskings 

Concept Bomb #1

Concept Bomb #2

Concept Bomb #3

 

Hannah Sands 

Concept Bomb #1

Concept Bomb #2

Concept Bomb #3

Steve Spooner

Concept Bomb #1

 
Concept Bomb #2

Concept Bomb #3

 

After the concepts bombs - we each pinned them up on the wall and the groups went around and marked which of the 3 concepts they believed were the best/had the most potential.Then, as a group, we sat together once more and put forward our ideas to each other and discussed the potential each design had and the relationship it offered to the user between 'Broadcasting News' and the user/their friends and loved ones. 

We then looked further ahead to whether we could use our designs for Project 2, and as a group we decided that out of the 12 concepts, none of them were best suited for the Project Brief. 

Due to these decisions we then started from scratch on some brainstorming about 'NEWS' and how we interpreted it individually. Below is an image taken of the results of our brainstorming session;

From this as a group we decided that a potential direction we could further explore would the notifications surrounding Gigs and Music Festivals or other forms of entertainment that an individual might chose out of preference and advertisement/word of mouth. 

So with that in mind, we went away as a group and did some further research into this path to see whether or not a concept idea can be derived successfully from this.

Week 5 Tutorial & Presentations

Well today was the day. We produced our product after some difficulty regarding the programming and use of hardware with the Arduino board. And although we were not able to demonstrate in class our full intention of the water being shot from a pump, we were able to demonstrate the intended concept of the product and show the system breakdown using the proximity sensors and a spinning pencil.

Amazing. That's really the only word I can think of first off to express what was seen today in class. Some of the concepts were unreal, highly practical, entertaining, and definitely potentially applicable in the near future should the world see it fit.

Going around the classroom and experiencing the other groups concepts, seeing their intended context, and then seeing what they produced was inspiring, there were some awesome results. Especially when you consider all this work and result is the result of 2 weeks work essentially. It really reinforces the power, possibilities and potential the Arduino has, especially when it comes to prototyping. I mean, it really did its intended job - as expressed of the three designers, Massimo Banzi, that it was just intended to speed up prototyping with products for designers, and it certainly does that. 

Below I've posted a number of images and videos showing some of my favoured concepts from today. In no particular order. Apologies if your concept did not feature - do not take it personal as I have not intended any insult. These are just merely the ones I would interact with the most or found their context/concept intriguing. 

This design shows a product intended for the tempering of chocolate; a very delicate process. It reads the temperature at 3 different degrees, 42, 29, 33 (if my memory serves correctly), each time warning the user so they are able to follow the appropriate steps.

This concept was intended for group work amongst designers. Must like a 'speaking stick' it allows the user to express their idea in under 30 seconds, in a form of brainstorming. It vibrates and blinks to indicate when time is running out.

This image shows what was an Advertising concept. The flashing LEDs got more frequent in presence and intensity when more people were around the board - allowing businesses to advertised at opportune times and in an attention grabbing way.

This concept was for a childs sleeping cot, it would hang above the bed, and start to play music and move when the child was active, as the child fell asleep, the motion slowed and volume decreased.

This concept turned waiting for the lights to change (for pedestrians) into a game. The individual hit the cushion to speed up the change of lights, competing with the other points of the road.

Below is a number of videos taken while walking around the class; demonstrating some of the products discussed below the images, and others not pictured.

This particular video shows an example of the last images shown Above.

 

This next video, like the one above, uses the concept of turning something into a game to create interaction; more specifically this particular concept surrounds Trolleys and returning them to the appropriate area after use. The sensors detect when a trolley has been returned and in relation to the receiver works out accuracy, posting a score above the area on a designated board.

Unfortunately the video orientation is incorrect, so to view, you might want to do a few neck exercises to limber up. Apologies.

This next video demonstrates another product that uses proximity sensors for Sound technicians so they are aware when someone enters the room. A light flashes a warning, as well as a Fan on their monitors also starts spinning to indicate someone present

This final video shows our design. With the proximity sensor wired up to a spinning motor it simulates what the water pump would do in the same situation. As the hand is drawn upwards, the speed increased (jet of water shooting upwards). Due to the Arduino board not actually being able to function with a water pump like in our given scenario we compensated with this demonstration in the hope people would get the intention behind our design.

(again, apologies for the orientation of the video - but hopefully the neck limbering up you did earlier is still in effect to view this video)

Below are some images showing the process of working with the Arduino board

Shows the Arduino board hooked up the the laptop and working

Shows the Arduino board working with an attached fan - testing various components worked.

All in all I'm happy with the end result of today, I feel our misunderstanding of the CRA sheet when talking about 'Mock ups' may have produced some unnecessary stress, but that's life. Joey, Steve and Hannah are great group members to work with. And I'm very greatful for all the individual effort put into this project, and I will acknowledge that Joey and Steve deserve extra credit for their work with the Arduino board. Thanks guys <3.

So in summary, given more power to work with and extra circuits to attach to the Arduino board, our concept is very doable - and to be honest, if it was done, it would be freaking awesome. :D

Thanks everyone,
Charlie

Preparation for Week 5 Continued

Below are the slides we used to produce our presentation. Joey can take credit for the final layout and design of this presentation. We're all pretty happy with the end result. :)

Preparation for Week 5

Steve and Joey have been awesome, they've been working on the Arduino board together now over the weekend and for the last few days. Unfortunately I work all weekend - in Hospitality which has me working days 5pm-6am. So I will admit I've been rather useless in contributing to the Arduino side of things. However I have full faith they'll be fine on their own and get over some of the issues they've uncovered, I have done some research to help some of those issues, but by the time I found results, they had already fixed it and moved on.

Their blogs will indicate said issues that were uncovered and the ways they go around them, so massive kudos and I take my hats off to them for their efforts.

So instead, to contribute, I've been writing up the groups collaborative document on Google Docs (which is currently incomplete due to not having done the presentation yet and still finalizing the Arduino board stuff), so it now just contains the write up of our first 3 workshops/tutorials as a group (which consists of snippets from all of our blogs and the influence of all our group work).

I've also been helping with the presentation - although it's only meant to be a few slides long - I've been searching for images that could help get our intended context and the possible atmosphere our device would help create in said context (a DJ live set).

So below are a number of images I found that I feel best express those intentions; 

Using the above images and other images discovered by Hannah we will look to narrow the selection down to the few we believe will best express our intended context for our product, and the intended atmosphere our product will produce.

More Arduino Inspiration...

One of the Designers of the Arduino board does a TED talk about the initiative and reason behind their design and shows some of the products/devices that have been produced and prototyped using the Arduino. 

Inspiring and amazing stuff to say the least - humans really are incredible with the way we can create and develop things.

Below is another cool video that was brought to my attention, I'm not sure if it uses an Arduino board or not (I don't speak Italian and it isn't mentioned in the notes). But an awesome concept and an amazing video nonetheless. Thanks Facebook Group @ Industrial Design Online Collaboration Group. ;)

 

The first video is what I'd consider as the trailer to the concept. :)

The second of the video gives more of an insight as to where the concept inspiration came from and how he designed it (again, I assume as I don't speak Italian).

 

Audrino Related Videos - Discovered Inspiration

Ahead of next weeks presentation, we have been looking at current devices made using the Arduino board that may be similar or relate to our intended design. On the basis we hope to get a better understanding on how to go about replicating them and incorporating certain aspects into our intended concept.

Below are a number of videos we have posted in our Facebook Group to show what we have found on the internet. Being as Steve has tackled this task head on with the determination to get his water pump working in conjunction with the Arduino, some of these videos are especially relevant. Good luck Steve! ;)

 

 This Video above uses a water pump to extract water from an area and transport it elsewhere.

Essentially the opposite of what we intend, but still interesting and clever nonetheless.

 

 This video is slightly closer to our intended concept as it is spurting water out from a tube.

However, it is not doing it anywhere near the intensity we intend or want.

Not entirely relevant in terms on hardware/software similarities to our concept.

But a cool video produced from students much like ourselves nonetheless.

This Link will take you to a page with a couple more videos that once again is by a group of students who have used an Arduino board to create a water pump that moves water from one location to another by sucking the water up through a pipe system. 

Again this isn't exactly what we intend to do with out concept, but much like the other videos, it provides good influence and insight to what might be possible if we get the construction of our concept correct and working.

Enjoy. :)

Week 4 Tutorial

During Week 4s tutorial and workshop we looked further into our intended concept (blind/light sensor) and the context of the design (home living). 

Once again we discussed as a group the potential our concept circuit had and where it could take us in terms of furthering its design as well as actually building a conceptual prototype. We talked to one of the tutors; Carolyn and she helped us approach the design from a different mentality/angle. 

Back to our source of wise words of wisdom we were. Thank-you Carolyn. :)

Instead of designing a concept in application to the real world etc, we should look to just designing a circuit under the CRA. So this is what we did, we scrapped the idea of a concept and a context and rather looked at the intended backbone of the project - the circuit containing the Arduino board and the various devices/pieces we had obtained through our deconstruction. 

In order to be productive about this we once again collect our own individual thoughts and put pen to paper for a little over 45minutes. The ideas we had come up with in that time were then laid out in front of all group members and open to interpretation/discussion from the various members. 

So with our deconstructed parts in mind, plus some (listed below), we discussed some of the ideas we had come up with; 

- Proximity Sensor

- Pressure Sensor

- Water Pump

- Speakers

- Wires

- Power sources

- Lights/Light sources

- Switches

- Fans/spinners

A couple of the first few ideas looked at utilizing the pressure sensors and the lights and applying developing a circuit where when pressure was applied; depending on the extent of that pressure, a light would get brighter or dimmer (off when no pressure is applied. So using this idea we built the context of a security system to a house - if an individual is pressing/leaning against a door or a window - the lights within the room, or a separate light attached to the area will light up warning or waking individuals within the home. One downfall; cats and other mammals could trigger multiple false alarms.

Another idea was a circuit that used fans and proximity sensors. When something was within the proximity of said sensor, then the fan would begin its rotations, the closer the object was the faster the fan spun. Once again this could be applied to the context of a room in which a large ceiling fan acts as the cooler for the space. When someone enters the room, the fan begins to spin thus cooling the space and that individual while they were in it. When they left, the fan would stop - conserving energy. This idea however had the flaw of not being able to control the rotation speed while in the room without moving closer to or further from the sensor - which could prove to be quite irritating.

Many other ideas were thrown around the room and discussed openly, but we kept hitting the same wall with the majority - they were too simplistic...

Then like a brain snap (of the good kind) Hannah thought of DJs and playing music with their hand rather than buttons - using motion as a tool to create commands that normally would require a hardware (buttons) to do that exact command. We ran with this idea for a little while and looked at variations including my suggestion of a playing system, like an iPod docking station etc in which once the iPod was placed on the product, the user could control the device and its Play/Pause/Stop/Forward/Previous commands using their hands from anywhere in the room - as long as these actions were all aimed at the one (or multiple) sensors.

Then, as a group, we jumped back to the DJ idea, and thought of utilizing other features experienced at shows/festivals or sets; one of them being the atmosphere. From here we thought that maybe controlling the music wasn't the primary context - but what if controlling their surrounding space with light shows or other extravagant features was the primary context...

And so we decided; using a proximity sensor, a motor, wires, power source, lights and speakers, maybe we could create a light show or pre-sound show for the DJ in which the could stand on stage, use their hands in relation to multiple proximity sensors, and put on this crazy show for the audience before/during/after their show was played/playing. 

We toyed with this idea for another half hour or so before  Steve mentioned an old water pump he had and home, and possibly incorporating that somehow. I imediately thought of fountains in public spaces, notibly Melbourne, where during summer children are allowed to play in these spaces and their position in the area or sometimes time, triggers the path and projection of the water (examples shown below):

 From these ideas and notions, we kept the scenario of a DJ controlling a pre show show, but included the incorporation of water shooting up at his control.

So essentially the DJ would come on stage, potentially the crowd haven't noticed their presence (aside from a select few up front). He/She then turns on the device (our device) and begins to warm up their hands and run the routine through their heads. They step out behind their DJ booth, and look out over the crowd, more people begin to notice their presence and begin to pay attention...

Suddenly they lift their arms up, out, left, right down, at different heights and speed, all the while keeping in line with the product (which consists of a strip of multiple proximity sensors). This product is hooked up to multiple water pumps, all aligned to their corresponding sensor. When they lift their hands above the sensors - a reading is taken and tranfered to the appropriate water pump - BOOM - a jet of water is shot upwards at the intensity and to the height the DJ has indicated. All the while multiple LEDs are placed underneath the water pumps, consisting of different colours and strengths; which are in turn engaged when the water pump is; giving the jet of water the illusion of the LEDs colour and intensity.

This would create a multiple sensory experience for the crowd and DJ, keeping everyone entertained, pumped up and in a pleasant mood, ready for the set to come.

Joey has the software installed on her laptop and has the Arduino board synced rather nicely. Steve takes the Arduino board with the intention to hook it up to his water pump and home and try to get the device working to our intended aspirations. 

The tutorial is over and as a group we will keep in contact with each other over the development of our project and aid each other when needed and where necessary.

If this works, our product will be awesome - we will definitely make a splash in the class demonstration next week. ;)