Critique:

This week we worked further on ideation with a stricter focus on the themes extracted from the theming exercise we completed last week. We also received our project inspiration grades and critiques. I received a pass which I am obviously pleased with. My critique from Lorna was: "I can imagine this being used proactively as well as reactively (mindfulness and meditation). Sound could be an addition to explore". This gave me some food for thought about how I could develop the idea to increase the situations in which it could be used. As in my pitch, the interactive stress ball was intended to be predominantly used when the user it prompted. This could be altered so that it can be proactively used as well when the user recognises that they are stressed and wants to calm down. The other comment mentioned the exploration of incorporating sound into the concept. In my presentation I did include that there would be sound emitted from the ball when it starts pulsing although I didn’t go into much detail about this. I intended this sound to be similar to the soundtracks used in meditation and mindfulness tracks to assist with the goal of relieving stress.

UQ Innovate Induction:

At the start of the week, I completed the UQ Innovate induction. This was good for me as I now know the equipment available to us for the semester and can better understand what my capabilities and limitations are for constructing the project. First we went through the hand tools and learnt how to operate the bandsaw, drill, sander, bead blaster etc. We also were shown the paint shed which will come in handy as I am sure I will have to paint some element of my project. Finally, we completed the laser cutting induction and learnt how to upload the files and print on various programs such as CAD, Illustrator and Carell draw. We discussed some of the safety concerns such as what to do if a fire breaks out and which materials to use.

Reflection:

So far I have actually found it quite hard to come up with concepts that use novel forms of interaction. The studio activities have definitely helped me in broadening my ideas of potential phys comp concepts. I also gained a lot of help looking through some of the concepts posted to the #inspiration channel on slack. I had a lot of fun looking into sci-fi technologies that made appearances in TV shows and movies.

I will continue trying to find sources of inspiration to aid in the ideation process over the next couple of weeks.