The Scrapyard Challenge was an overall fun and educational experience.

My team, consisting of Rachel, Juan and Firm, had an XBOX and a printer/scanner to work with. We had originally wanted to build a DJ turntable set, but it ended up being something entirely different.

The process

The first step in our process was that Rachel and Juan focused on taking the XBOX apart, while Firm and I took the printer/scanner apart.

Then Rachel and I worked on figuring out the function of our product using the printer. We wanted the slider from the printer to sound like turntable scratching, but it became something entirely different. Now the function was that every time a user slid the printer bar across the printer, and pressed down a “key,” a note would play – almost like a sliding piano. We laid down the foundation for our product to work. We then configured all the wires and added some “decoration” to appease Rachel.

Meanwhile, Juan worked on the “beat” of the turntable.

And Firm worked on another slider using the scanner part of the printer/scanner.

Rachel and I tested our aspect of our group’s project.

Unfortunately, it did not work. The wires were configured properly, however, the wires were splayed causing the sensor points to be weakened.

We then rewired our product using different wires.

And it worked! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a video of our final product in action because the pizza came. But here is a video of our “jam session.”

Scrapyard Challenge jam session

As for Juan and Firm’s aspect of our product, Juan’s functioned properly but we didn’t have time to put our projects together, and Firm’s slider did not work. So in the end, instead of creating one coherent DJ set, it ended up being three different projects.

Final thoughts

Although our product didn’t turn out exactly as we had hoped, I had so much fun at the Scrapyard Challenge. I definitely learned a lot from this experience. When I first stepped foot in the building that Sunday morning, I had no idea what to expect. And I had no idea how to make some of the cool stuff other people had made in the past. I had no prior experience in this field at all. But by the end of the challenge, I gained a solid understanding of basic circuit principles. Now that I have that basic understanding, I’ve been thinking about other ways I can apply my newfound knowledge.

Mashups: The new breed of Web app
This article gives me more understanding about variation of what mashup can be and some of them are what I use normally in everyday life. One of an interesting issue of intellectual property made me think of an idea called copyleft, which people share their idea and work, then let other people to develop it as you can see this culture from open source software. This idea of mixing one kind of information with another and managing them in the right context, would really turn unimportant information into something valuable you can’t never ever expect.

Calm Technologies 2.0: Visualising Social Data as an Experience in Physical Space
‘We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them’ Albert Einstein. I thought of this quote once I read this article and saw how complicated life could be since we had invented one thing to another. I don’t know if calm technology would make the world calmer or not. But one thing I’m quite sure is that the more we are tied to technology the harder we can live without it. Anyhow all examples are good demonstration for many aspects of mashup combining with hardware. For me, I’m quite impressed with Jonah’s work and it reminded me a bit of a work of an American artist’s I saw in Bangkok. He used to work for the project called ‘ We Live in Public’, which conveyed how people live together totally in pubic, as we started to see from Facebook these days, by having 24 hours broadcast of some people living in their private space.
http://www.weliveinpublicthemovie.com/

Why Things Matter
When I read this ‘Blogject’ idea, I started to think of animism, the belief that objects are spiritual beings, but in this sense Blogject is more likely to be in sci-fi version. For this blogject idea, I can’t imagine how people would treat things differently and looked at them differently in the future, a tree might not be just a tree anymore. In the example that they put sensors into pigeon, doubt me about how people would integrate themselves with machine in the future for example a glass might be able to detect how people blink their eyes and give important information about social health statistic or even a shirt that detects pulse to know heartbeat rate of people in each country. In the beginning of industrial revolution, human treated nature and things as objects, just objects. Hence they didn’t care how they used them and had no feeling of what would happen to them. This 21st century people started to look back to what they did to nature and tried to find the balance point.I guess blogject might be one of a good example.

Grey Album from Danger Mouse
Mashup really interested me for last few years. I guess this culture got to be popular from Hiphop DJ sampling culture in 70’s when they used some part of different records to mix together as background music for their rapping. Some people said that Pop music since year 2000 are more likely to be kind of mix and match from retro elements eg. Amy Winehouse used elements of 60’s. Masup music could be the character of this decade, while music business is getting locked in and artists can’t purely invent the new sound or new element from beginning, because artists in the generation before have created and experimented with many things already. Another reason for this culture of mashup music is due to the development of music studio technology that is cheap and available for everyone to make their own music in their bedroom not in an expensive studio as many years ago.

“Interaction Relabelling and Extreme Characters: Methods for Exploring Aesthetic Interactions”
by Gaver, Djajadiningrat, Frens

I think this is an interesting counter position to what Donald Norman presents in his argument of how important it is to create devices that are clear, concise and not cluttered and overwhelming for users. Still though, I don’t know if I buy that basically, user-ability amounts to a beautiful “interface”, and thus, the product has good user-ability, and I think that’s where it loses me. Beauty, or basically what amounts to a good looking design is simply superficiality and isn’t rooted in efficiency. A site can be visually appealing to any one person and still be hard to manage for most. I think when we think of designing things, it has to be more than an intricate or visually appealing interface. The user should be able to navigate around it even if they don’t use the interface for a month, for two months, or perhaps even more.

“Hertzian Tales”
by Anthony Dunne (excerpt)

I actually think Anthony makes a good point about electronic art as a field being way too focused on the fact that it’s a technology based medium that it sort of disregards the uniqueness of working with physical mediums instead of incorporating the quirks of these different medias into how artists work. I think, as someone who comes from a background where I’ve worn hats in several fields, I’ve always felt incredibly misplaced, and I don’t mean to make this about me, but I think right now, we’re at a point where there’s a sort of resentment from traditional artists to adapt to working on computers, and there’s a resentment from digital artists to use traditional media. We’re focusing way too much on petty differences and not embracing these different mediums for how one actually supports the other.

“The Design of Everyday Things”
by Donald Norman

I think this is an important reading, and one that I would try to take into consideration when I embark on a project. In this reading, Donald Norman goes into what makes a well designed product that people can use everyday work, and the key is visibility. If users have a hard time understanding where to start and how to use something, they simply won’t use it. One thing that comes to mind when I think of this scenario is the Sims. If the Sims have a hard time moving around, they simply stand in place and shrug their shoulders while shaking their head. Humorously, and perhaps demeaningly enough, People aren’t that much different.

“Why We Need Things”
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This was an okay reading, and I think Mihaly is onto an interesting problem, one that I’ve thought of, but I think he skims the surface here. Mihaly ignores the fallacy of our consumerist culture and classism and how this plays into the growing hoarding problem that’s becoming common place in our society and how these two problems come together. The truth is, people aren’t “dependent” on using these objects for their intended uses, and chances are, they will buy them and forget they own them. We are living in a culture where people buy these things not because they need them, but because they can. Basically, being able to cheaply own these products gives those of us without much a fund a false sense of privilege, it allows those who aspire for more to think they truly have more when that item might not have value at all, or when they can hardly even take care of the item. I don’t necessarily think it is a weird controlling relationship we have with our objects, because we don’t really have control over these objects, it’s more like they control us in that we can’t let them go. In a way, people depend on these objects to develop a false sense of class. This applies to many things, including the electronics we purchase and use today, in that they sort make us believe we’re acquiring status, which is partially tied to power, but is much more superficial.

I think all too often, people are blamed for this happening when it’s more the fault of these companies who mass produce these items for the sole purpose of consumer spending. Our society is at the whim of corporations, and in this scenario, it’s no different. I think Milhaly is right in that we sort of shape ourselves and our identity based on what we consume, we use our material belongings to make a statement about what they say about us as people. I just think this idea could have been explored and expanded on further.

“The Computer Revolution Hasn’t Happened Yet”
by Alan Kay
I thought this was a fascinating read. As designers, I wonder how our generation has lived up to the expectations of generations before us and looking at the technology that is around today and what it’s capable and incapable of, and whether or not there is room for improvement. I think that given that there are those who’ve been given the foundation and funds to be able to push these innovations forward, it leaves our generation with more to prove ourselves with.

“What do Prototypes Prototype”
by Houde and Hill

Weirdly, this is the reading I can identify with the most. I feel like this week I have stumbled upon my own issues with coming up with prototypes. In creating work, I never really planned on developing my idea further but simply presenting it as a hypothetical maybe if I were to ever build it. There was a part about this reading that struck out to me the most…“It is difficult for designers to communicate clearly about prototypes to such a broad audience….Even communication among designers re- quires effort due to differing perspectives…Limited understanding of design practice on the part of supporting orga- nizations makes it hard for designers to explain their prototypes to them.”

I can sort of feel myself nodding with this as I read it along. I realize that the hardest thing to do is to describe to someone an idea especially since because they can’t see inside your mind, so so many concepts get lost in translation. My biggest problem has always been communication, and how to hone it so that my work can be more well received.

Interaction Relabelling and Extreme Characters: Methods for Exploring Aesthetic Interactions

J.P. Djajadiningrat, W.W. Gaver, J.W. Frens

Coming from an industrial design background, it was really interesting to read this article. In the world we currently live in, mostly all the famous must-have gadgets focus entirely on a rectangular screen interacting with people through complicated software. Hardly do you see products with different shape and for and material physically interacting with human. This article talks about how interactive relabeling and designing for extreme characters may lead designers to think outside the box. When deciding on a thesis project in undergrad, it was really hard for me to decide on a topic. After long thought, I decided to create a design that focused on a somewhat extreme character in Alzheimer’s Disease patient’s caretakers. I made countless trips to different sanatoriums and used many methods such as diaries, user tracking, collaging, etc. to really grasp how the caretakers felt and how they acted towards patients of Alzheimer’s Disease. I had the opportunity to dive into a distinct user and to create a product that did not look prototypical. Because caretakers in Korea were usually old and were far from being tech geeks, it really would not have made any sense for me to create an iPad-like device that enables caretakers to manage Alzheimer’s Disease patients – the caretakers would not really find it comfortable carrying around an iPad and working with software that can be hard to understand. What I spotted was that almost every caretaker had a watch. I somewhat held an interactive relabeling myself and tried to store daily logs of patients into a watch so that caretakers could easily manage different patients. While reading the article, I really liked the product design created for the polyandrous twenty-year old. The other products for the drugs dealer and the pope were too clichéd and stereotyped therefore didn’t show much potential for development. But the “appointment fan” really made use of its aesthetics and combined it with interaction in a very purposeful way. I can see an image of a polyandrous woman luxuriously taking out her fan and blowing wind to herself while at the same time checking her schedule. Not only can this fan-appointment device be used by polyandrous woman, but I can see it also being used by other comparatively “normal” people.

What do Prototypes Prototype?

Stephanie Houde, Charles Hill

As a designer, there are many times when designers need to prototype their concepts. There are also several reasons for prototyping. Designers may prototype their conceptual “artifact” in order to see if their design really works, or to find out any other ways to solve different problems, or simply to make an effective presentation in order to persuade clients. Deciding on what the main goal of the prototype is essential during the process of prototyping as prototypes have several different outcomes. I like to think of prototypes as a communication tool towards different audiences in order to receive feedback that can improve the final outcome of the artifact. Just like people talk differently to children, teenagers, adults, old people, etc., prototypes must also be different for different types of audiences for better understanding. As an example, you would not make your prototype through touchscreens if you wanted feedback from a baby; you would make it on paper and crayons. After reading this article, it was quite clear that there are very diverse mediums such as video, paper / pencil, computer programs, pizza boxes, toy cars, etc. that can be used in order to communicate with different types of people. But it doesn’t mean the higher the technology, the higher the hierarchy of prototype. As seen in Example 9 of the article, toy cars and walkie talkies were used just for the sole purpose of the look and feel of the design. Because the “role, look and feel, and implementation” are three main factors of prototypes that need to be considered in order to achieve “integration”, I believe this is why designers like us make user scenarios, draw countless number of aesthetic sketches, and carry technological research and practice.

Project:   “Build two mashups, one in media/software, and one pairing hardware to the Internet!”

I wanted to create a project that solved a problem and were practical, showing potential for everyday use.  My two results were:

alarme: A hardware to internet mashup that tracks the amount of time you spend online. Alarme works by starting with a set of time preferences you would like to control your time on. Alarme  is for the workaholic, gamer, chronic web surfer–anyone who may get carried away online. We are all guilty sometimes and alarme will help us to monitor our online activity! Alarme also has health tips included in your “alarmed” messages that will give you tips on how computer activity affects your health. The concept behind “Alarme” came because I often find myself and my peers at the computer for hours at a time.  Ultimately this is not healthy.  I researched working condition recommendations from OSHA to gauge what are acceptable work standards and positions.  Alarme will also bring awareness to the user of time they spend on the computer.  Sometimes, people get so caught up in their work, they have no idea that hours have passed. Alarme keeps the user aware and on track!

siteBITES: A daily sampler of all of your headlines from desired websites. siteBITES is an idea created for those who want to keep up with multiple sites, but don’t want the temptation to “click away” time and get distracted by other interesting links.  siteBITES will be useful because it gives the user visual images of their favorites searches or topics. Check all your fave sites at once and get a new “sampler platter” to take a bite out of everyday!

My logic with siteBITES started because there are a few sites I personally like to check everyday.  However, I am not able to go to the without extensive clicking or searching, even if I have them bookmarked.  Sometimes, I just want to see headlines (especially for the news).  I like to check my local newspaper on Maui, but I forget to visit their site. With siteBITES, problems like this would be eliminated!  The user can look at their sites all at once and not necessarily have the chance to get distracted by anything else they may not want to see. If something on your “sampler platter” really interest you, just click the picture and get taken to the page.

Below are some previews, or you can view my complete project presentation here!

Taking it further…. I definitely like the idea of thinking of this beyond the standard form and preference setting interface. When creating these two projects, I think I defaulted to what we are used to today.  Everything starts off as a form that needs to be filled out to generate preferences.  THe challenge for me would be think outside of what we are currently doing, and how can it be done differently. Overall, I believe my project ideas and concepts were successful, but the interface could definitely use some tweaking.  By having a button for siteBITES rather than filling out forms, it would make so simple for someone to use the site.

This project was a challenge because there are so many different types of Mash Ups already out there. In the end, I pulled ideas from concepts that I liked and what I enjoy about web browsing to think of something new and I could create. This project got me thinking beyond what I would normally do, as well as how I would improve what’s already out there.

Assignment 3: Buidling two mashups (software / hardware)

Software Mashup

Concept: 

In my case back in Korea, there were many cases where our family would argue about which route to take when heading on family car trips. Because there are so many obstacles that create traffic such as weather, accidents, # of cars on road, etc. and it changes everytime, people actually have a hard time determining which route to take. I decided that I wanted to mashup up information regarding the distance from start to destination (naver map) and the live information regarding current traffic situation and # of accidents and # of cars. I wanted to use the live cameras that use electromagnetic waves to detect the number of cars passing by and to make a simple visual interface for people to understand.

How it works:

People go to the livetraffic.com site and write in their departure and arrival location. The map then calculates many diverse routes that are somewhat similar in distance travelled. What it also does is it uses current traffic information through speeding cameras and detects how many cars are actually on the road. it uses color coding (red – yellow – green) in order to show how crowded the roads are. On the left is a mini key that shows the current road condition for each route (20 colored circles). People can then click on their preferred route and can click on the cameras to see a live video playing the current traffic situation in the area.

Hardware Mashup

Concept: 

Although we have weather apps and weather channels and weather news on the internet, there are actually very many times when I forget to bring out my sunglasses or my umbrella because I don’t know the current weather. I believe the channels, apps, and sites aren’t very naturally interfaced for human purposes. I wanted to create a hardware device that everyone all around the world sees so that they can be naturally informed of the current weather. I created a wireless internet handle that receives weather information and portrays the current weather situation in a visual way.

How it works:

The handle has LEDS and a heat sensor in order to naturally display current weather. People wake up and are forced to use door handles. Once they touch or see the door handle, they will realize the current weather and can prepare the appropriate clothing, umbrella, accessory, etc.

My idea for my projects was to create software and hardware that would run on Microsoft Tag, QR Codes that connect users to business sites, info, and more. For my Website Mashups, I created a website called Tag-It, which can be viewed here. Tag It would store and keep track of sites you’ve visited and have “tagged” from your phone, and allow you to manage the sites you’ve “tagged”. Tag It works like a bookmarking site that helps users keep a history of all the sites they’ve visited through their QR Codes, and they could store and keep track of all the QR Codes they’ve visited on their account. The site would be able to organize according to media (web, video, images) which sites received the most hits and would also allow users to add these sites to their own personal collection of tags.

For my hardware, I presented a scenario where the user would use a phone to be able to print pages that can only be visited with stored QR information. The phone, with the stored tag, would be able to send code to the printer directly through a small LCD screen on a printer. The printer would pick on the bar code information through the scan and from there, would print pages according to user specification. This would allow the user to print pages that can only be visited mobile. They could also send the information directly to their printer over a computer with a modem or a printer on a wireless network. The idea behind this would be to print out brochures, maps, and other information on the go if a user wanted to be able to find out more info about a business or visit without being near their home desktop.

How I would Revise this Project –

I realize I could have gone into more depth about the role and function of QR Codes, and If I could, I would have thought more about the application and use of QR Codes in this instance. I didn’t really explore how they were used enough when I was coming up with the concepts for these drawings. I wanted originally to have the codes be read not as photos, but stored through the application. The application would keep a record of the code and of the site visited for the user.

My whole idea was that using the codes would change the way we surf on the internet. When we work on a desktop, we have the ability of scrolling, clicking, and typing more efficiently that’s hard to replicate with a smaller screen. If you can connect to a site without having to type the URL, which just being able to scan the phone over a bar code and being connected in seconds, it would make using the phone a little more efficient. But I wanted to tag it just beyond visiting a site and also being able to keep track of all the sites you’ve visited on your phone. I had the same approach with the Tag Printer, but it wasn’t communicated as well as I would have hoped. I would have emphasized this a lot more.

Click here to view my Mash Up Presentation.

Photos from the MFADT Scrapyard Challenge can be found here!

Media/software mashup: rememberwhen.com

For this mashup, I wanted to see if it was possible to evoke a feeling of nostalgia that predates when most people had access to the internet. I mashed up Wikipedia, Billboard Top 20, Flickr and YouTube to create rememberwhen.com.

The site asks what the user’s fondest memory is, and in what year it took place.

In this window you write your fondest memory. The website then aggregates all the data from Billboard Top 20 from 1989, Wikipedia, which has a cumulative database about individual years, and Flickr to try to recreate your memory. If not recreate, then at least act as a catalyst to bring memories from that time period to you.

The website then creates your personal memory video.

Memory video

You can then replay or share your memory video.

Hardware/internet mashup: Write to me

The concept of this mashup was to combine digital and analog so that every time the user receives an email from certain individuals, a robot hand would write out the email.

The user would receive a new email from a targeted individual, and once the user opens the email, the robot hand would start writing.

\”Write to me\” in action

The end product from one email would look something like this:

The robot would then continue to write emails repeatedly. The user would then have a record or collection of all their emails, like how gmail really keeps emails.

My seven in seven project can be seen here, under my personal site.