This week we presented our project inspiration concepts. I did some preliminary sketches when coming up with and developing my idea. This initial design was inspired by the resources I linked in my project inspiration post. I did not make many changes from this design as I liked it and could not see any issues. The initial idea did however have more focus on the light element, with the ball intending to project light around the room creating images on the walls and ceilings. While I think this would be cool, there isn't much justification for it and there is already a lot of sensory aspects:

Throughout the week we watched the rest of the presentations and critiqued each one based on the idea and the presentation. There were many projects which I thought were great ideas and hot the brief, however there were also some that missed elements of the brief. I will think further about some of the ideas I liked and how I can build upon these interactions modes and themes:

After presentations wrapped up on Wednesday, we did some exercises to determine overarching themes that were evident through the ideas generated.

We began by writing ideas that fell under certain themes and stuck these on butchers paper. This provided an overall view of the main reoccurring themes.

After this process, main themes were derived from the listed themes and written on the board. We then wrote ideas under the theme it best matched.

We then has to place the posters under the theme they were in on the board. My concept fit under the theme "stress relief through physical movement":

This activity uncovered the prominent themes among the generated concepts and will be used for further ideation. Over the next week I plan to do some brainstorming into the themes and potential concepts that could be developed from them.

Area Induction:

This week I also completed the area induction. We went through the safety information, rules and how to use various pieces of equipment. I have signed on for the Innovate induction next Monday but am yet to find a soldering induction that I am free for. I hope to complete this next week as well. The area induction helped me a lot as I was initially unsure as to the limits of what I could produce with the provided resources. Now that I know what materials and services are available to me, I can better understand what I will be able to create, and enter the ideation phase with a bit more clarity on this matter.

Reflection:

The work done this week was really engaging and provided me with a wide range of diverse themes that I could potentially focus on. Whilst the determination of certain specific themes may be 'constraining' the possibility of concepts, I actually feel that it has helped me a lot to brainstorm for concept idea or interaction forms when I have a defined theme. Over the weekend, I will revisit the photos I took and look into what themes excite me the most, apart from the ones that my interactive stress ball fell into.