Inspiration/Idea Generation

I have found on the website http://inventorspot.com a clever design that designer Yan Lu has created. It is called "Poor Little Fish Basin" and plays on human emotions in order to encourage them to save water. As you use the water from the tap, the water in the fish bowl goes down. Making you stop wasting the water before the poor little fish dies!
I like the way this uses human emotion to encourage saving energy and think it is really effective. It will be interesting to play with this human emotion in a digital way. I also think children are easily manipulated through human emotion, so this could be interesting to investigate.


Here is a link to the article : http://inventorspot.com/articles/conserve_water_or_fish_gets_it

Project 2 Initial Research

In class we did some research together to look into the way energy is used in New Zealand, recommended ways to save energy, websites that encourage stat sharing and current energy monitoring devices available.

Current Monitoring Devices:

- Most successful ones are prompt, convenient on feedback and display

- They aim to change household behaviours

- One example changes glow depending on how much energy you are using

- They renew household energy

Recommended Ways To Save Energy:

Household

- energy efficient lightbulbs and showerheads

- turn off all standby appliances

- don't use the dryer

Transport

- Bio fuel and engine size

- spending more on technology can save in the long run

- driving smoothly

- public transport - the train was found to be the most energy efficient

- public bikes

- solar technologies

Stat Comparing Websites:

- Nike +, map my run, mathletics, google flu trends, pricespy, international markets, metservice

- Mostly automated, non human recording, competitive, stats produced through games, companies add stats, all show stats and data clearly

Facts about NZ Energy Consumption:

Electricity/Heat in New Zealand in 2008   Electricity Heat   Unit: GWh Unit: TJ Production from:     - coal 4820 0 - oil 132 0 - gas 10649 0 - biomass 555 0 - waste 0 0 - nuclear 0 0 - hydro* 22312   - geothermal 4200 0 - solar PV 0   - solar thermal 0 0 - wind 1057 0 - tide 0 0 - other sources 50 1200 Total Production 43775 1200 Imports 0 0 Exports 0 0 Domestic Supply 43775 1200 Statistical Differences 0 0 Transformation** 0 Electricity Plants 0 1200 Heat Plants*** 0 0 Energy Industry Own Use**** 2120 0 Losses 3254 0 Final Consumption 38401 0 Industry 14217 0 Transport 534 0 Residential 12432 0 Commercial and Public Services 8731 0 Agriculture / Forestry 1754 0 Fishing 129 0 Other Non-Specified 604 0

Final Photos

Exhibition Description

Chapman Holly

I Spy With My Little Eye

“I Spy With My Little Eye” is an interactive object that excites and manipulates the sense of sight. With inspiration from kaleidoscopes, telescopes and Viewmasters, I have designed an object that viewers look through, and the way they see the world around them is warped, distorted and manipulated through several different filters. I investigated a number of ways to manipulate the sight and incorporated the most successful into my object. The design is interactive, allowing the user to change the filters as they wish and experiment for themselves, as they experience the familiar world around them through their own eyes but in different ways to what they see everyday. My object is designed to be easy to interact with, aesthetically pleasing and intrigue the user through an exciting sight experience. The world around us has never looked so exciting!

Instruction

Remove any of the three larger cylindrical tubes from the slots in the box and look through them, taking notice of all details and rotating the cylinder as well as moving where you look. These have each been designed in a different way to manipulate the way you can see the world around you. Now take any of the three smaller cylinders or “lids” and slide this on top of the larger one and look through it. This allows you to combine filters and manipulate what you are viewing even further. Experiment with the other lids, and next do the same with the other cylinders, trying all the combinations of filters, each manipulating your sight in a different way from the next as you view the world around you.

Final Construction

I have chosen to use basic materials for the construction of the object. I have thick black card for the cylinders and "lids" as it is easy to manipulate into the circular shapes. Inside each cylinder is the "filters" that manipulate the views vision, as you can see in the images. The lids are designed to fit overtop of the cylindrical tubes so you can have the option to look through two at a time and these are interchangeable. I have also made a stand to display the objects together in, and allowing all the separate pieces to come together to form a single interactive object!

Inspiration

With my new idea for how to construct my object, I have some new inspiration. The cylindrical tubes I am going to construct remind me of telescopes and kalidescopes. I think the cylindrical idea for my object relates better to the use of the eye and vision in my object, as most objects that you can look though (eg telescope and kalidescope) are shaped this way.

Brainstorming (again!)

After feedback I began to brainstorm new ideas of ways to present my object. I have looked at several ways of keeping the filters individual from each other, and ways to make them interchangeable with each other, creating a more interactive and exciting experience for the user.


After doing some more tests I found that not all of the filters work with each other, for example the kalidescope and the liquid viewing are hard to look though together and found that they are more effective on their own or combined with some of the other filters. This has pushed me more towards my idea of the tubes and the lids (far left on brainstorm above). My three main tubes will be the kalidescope, the liquid and the long tube (selected view). The lids will be the red cellophane, the magnification glass and the pinprick hole. These are the lids because when used in combination with the other main three, all of them worked somewhat successfully. This also makes it easier aesthetically when I am building this object, as it allows all the lids and all the longer tubes to be made to the same size.

Feedback

Last Friday we swapped tutors and I was able to get some feedback from another tutor (Helen) about my mock up designs and the box idea. She liked all of the different filters I have created and experimented with although she felt that looking inside a box at a single object/pattern/texture, was not as interesting as looking at the outside world. I took this into consideration and am working on new ways and aesthetics to present these visions. She also suggested I combine some together, which I agree could be interesting. So it was back to the sketch pad for me, as I brainstorm new ways of presenting my ideas!

Construction and Tests

I constructed a smaller box to go on the inside of the larger box, suspended somehow inside. Each side of the box has a different pattern/texture/surface that relates or is interesting through the filter on that side. Above were the patterns and textures I trialed. 

This one was for the red cellophane. It was interesting how the red "disappeared" or blended into the background, changing the look of the pattern quite dramatically when viewed through the red cellophane

This one was viewed at the end of the kaleidoscope filter. Similar to what you see through a kaleidoscope normally, it was multiplied and flipped more, making it a very interesting yet confusing pattern.

Thin black and white vertical stripes were viewed through the liquid. The straight lines were warped, but only when held in certain positions, and this may be due to the shape of the container the liquid was in. It was also nice seeing the water line through the viewing hole, as the liquid line pulled down the image and warped it, yet you were able to see the straight lines at the top.

This hazy pattern was viewed through the pinhole viewer. The filter makes everything hazy so it was interesting to see something even hazier through this.

This was viewed through the tube. The tube was focused on the centre of this pattern, the most interesting view and therefore showed a selected view of the pattern.

This text was viewed through the magnification filter. Text has always been interesting through lenses, but it was important for the words to not be real words so the viewer did not get distracted and start reading the text. I trialed jumbled letters that did not make sense in a times font. 

Construction

I have begun to construct a mock-up box to take to class and receive feedback on. This is also a trial to see if all the chosen materials will be successful and if any changes are needed to be made. I worked in the workshop at Te-Aro and also at home.

More Inspiration

I have also gained some inspiration from the toy, "view finders". Having used them as a child, I encountered endless hours of fun and excitement from these basic toys. These inspired me also for this project as with these an exciting experience is created through the sense of sight, and there is the same element of surprise and excitement when using these toys, when flicking them and seeing the different slides, as I wish to create through my interactive object and experience.

Plans

I have planned how to make my box and what materials I will be using to make the exterior and what is contained on the inside.
I made up some prototypes for possible boxes and found that a middle sized one that was able to be held easily in two hands was the most applicable.
Now all i need to do is begin the process of trying out the proposed materials for the box and see if they are all working the way I wish them too.

Development

I have been continuing to develop my ideas in the studio sessions. Brainstorming how to make my object intuitive to the user has been a main focus, as well as the aesthetics and materials I will use to make it. Deciding what material to use for the outer of the box will be an issue, with it needing to be light inside in order to see the object clearly, (I had initially imagined a nice wooden box!)
I am now in the final stages of doing tests on the effects I will be using on the eye holes, and have several options to choose from.
I am beginning to think about the object inside, with thoughts of it maybe be very abstract so the viewer does not recognise it at all or guess what it is.
I have begun some simple investigation into what kinds of material-textures-patterns-colours look interesting under the different manipulations and some notes have been taken.
Evidence of my research, thinking and development in scans of examples of pages from my workbook (right)

I also have results from testing in class. When sharing our ideas in the studio group, I tested my visual ideas and manipulations with my peers and received some feedback and suggestions. At this stage the magnification glass was the most popular and I was also encouraged to experiment and push my ideas with the coloured cellophane.

Inspiration

I have gained inspiration for my interactive object through the way we look at things, and especially the way we look through things. We use our sight everyday, and isn't something we generally think about, but what would happen if we could manipulate the way we saw things?... This is what I am investigating through a user experience with my object.








Also we look through things everyday, unaware of what we might see on the other side. These images of looking through keyholes inspired me, we look through them often seeing what we expect to on the other side. So how can i manipulate this idea of looking through something and seeing the unexpected? This will create a unique user experience through sight for my users.