Tuesday

In the meeting after the studio, my team mate and I decided that we are going to work on the project individually and focus on separate concepts. He is going to continue work on hand gestures and I will work on facial expressions and body language. We talked about how these separate concepts would work together and how it would still relate to the domain and problem space.

My Concept

For body language, I researched on different cartoon characters that are very expressive. I noticed a few recurring themes with these characters: Eyebrows, ears/antenna, body posture and glow/fire.

I also found a video that shows the eyebrows on a robot

With the feedback from the critiques and these cartoon characters as inspiration, I drew a few sketches for my concept.

Wednesday

In this workshop, we talked to the tutors about our concept. I showed my sketches and expressed that I was worried that my concept would be too cute to make people maintain a distance. However, they said it can be cute and scary at the same time and gave suggestions on how to do that. For example, scaring people when they least expect it or making the form be something that people normally avoid such as spiders.

Plan

• Choose a design from my sketches (Do testing to get feedback and opinions)
• Decide on a scare/shock tactic when people get too close. Ideas:
• Scary: Something like the Fiesty Pets toy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQmnRWgjZc
• Shock: Jack in the box method, use springs, throw something towards people, spray water.
• Look at professional papers on the topic to do some background research.
• Complete proposal

A social robot that consists of a knife, app and "scanner" for use in the kitchen, to improve your cooking skills. An increasing amount of people have trouble learning to cook the later it is that they start[1], and this idea intends to be an intervention into that space.

Select your recipe, then simply go through it step-by-step until the meal is complete. As you progress through cutting things apart to use for cooking, an LED indicator on the knife, and the "face" (and speaker) on the scanner indicate if you're "doing it right".

The scanner and knife sensors record your actions. Afterward, you review what you've done against what was expected of you, on your smartphone. This pushes the cook to consider what they can improve on the next time they work on the same meal.

This concept focuses only on the aspect of cooking using the knife correctly (for now), and because there's a variety of ingredients one might cut, it wont be a single use tool, unlike the initial concept.

Project Inspiration

When previously volunteering at a homeless shelter, a common issue is that older volunteers need to teach new ones how to cook. This led me to the thought - surely there's apps and tools already developed to do just this?

Cooking Mama is a game game that teaches one how to cook. However, it only teaches the steps to take, and doesn't improve your physical dexterity and safety awareness with cooking tools.

Previously I stated the idea of "smart cooking tools doing everything for you" being something I wanted to avoid, I've found an example of one here. Sure, the Kuvings blender makes it extremely easy to cook and disassemble materials... but there's no room to make a mistake or chances to fail... it just feels like the blender replaces you.

At the same time, Peeqo inspired the scanner, with the idea of a small device that watches you and has reactions that can change how you act... it sasses you essentially.

With Rekaptured, the idea is that you go on cooking as you always have, and there's additions to your process that don't overwhelm you - and the opportunity for you to mess up your meal. You're collaborating with the tool to complete a somewhat complex task.

Initially the concept revolved around the knife talking to you. But cooking environments can be loud and chaotic, it was important that feedback had both a visual and audio indicator (angry and happy tones on scanner), and, that if there was talking, it could be ignored while cooking.

Feedback also needed to be able to be revisited later. In this case, if a mistake is made, the scanner and knife react, so the cook knows to check the app later to see what went wrong, and can reflect.

[1] (Background reading on learning to cook)

F. Lavelle et al, “Learning cooking skills at different ages: a cross-sectional study,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 13, no. 1, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-016-0446-y

I've gone through the feedback (both Peer & Staff) and it gave me more perspective on features that could extend the concept and problems that it might face. For example, there is already technology that exists to show trying clothes on and standing in front of a mirror isn't very physically interactive. Maybe a way to improve this aspect would be to "humanise" the wardrobe so that the interaction isn't passive?

Another interesting point of view was that suggesting outfits might actually constrict creativity. Some people find joy in trying on outfits themselves and experimenting with that, so offering it as an option rather than a default might be more helpful if the concept was targeting a larger audience.

I think the core focus of the concept lies in its roots of slow fashion and sustainability. I didn't get to elaborate on how the wardrobe would count the number of times an item is worn in my pitch and I think this made my peers doubt whether the concept had a variety of novel interactions. Maybe voice and facial expressions would be better input to teach the wardrobe how the user feels about specific outfits or styles of clothing. If the wardrobe learns what materials and colours the user likes (using surveying and statistics) then it would be able to take that into consideration when reevaluating the user's wardrobe and suggesting which items could be donated and which items the user might want to wear after a while. I'm envisioning a situation of hangers having weight/motion sensors or the user's clothes having unique tags on them. Perhaps in a prototype it would just be barcodes or QR codes.

I think there is a lot of existing technology that would be able to prototype this concept really well since the sensor part of it could borrow tech from large scale department stores that have to keep track of inventory, but it still has a lot of potential to explore the unknown.

Hopefully in the world cafe activity tomorrow I can flesh out some more improvements not just on my own concept but on all the other ideas.

Project Inspirations Ideas

I had a few different ideas for my project inspiration presentation and these are the ones that did not make the final cut.

Shoes

p.s. I used the third idea (bottom right) as my final project inspiration.

I was browsing through the internet to see whether any of my ideas already existed when I found a shoe that is similar to my first idea.

GPS Shoe

The shoe has LEDs in the toes of the shoes. The LED lights on the left shoe point the wearer to their destination and the right shoe shows the distance.

https://weburbanist.com/2012/09/27/no-need-for-directions-with-gps-shoes-to-guide-you/

Social

For these ideas, I designed them with introverts in mind. Some introverts have trouble communicating with other people and some of them want alone time and a personal space for themselves.

A knife that is a social robot. Use it wrong, and you'll be chastised - becoming a Kitchen Kriminal, if you will, because you're breaking knife safety rules. The intent, the knife engages in a brief conversation with you depending on how you used it wrong.

An increasing amount of people have trouble learning to cook as the later it is that they start[1], and I believe one of the many opportunities to address this starts with the simple act of handling a kitchen knife safely.

From experience, there's at least three interactions are at the heart of using a knife safely - proper grip, a safe angle so the edge does not chip, and appropriate force to smoothly get through ingredients and reduce dulling.

To a lesser extent, a response to the topic of Human Technology Symbiosis from Week 1. A significant amount of smart technology simply expects to be let into your home, where it sits idly the whole time, until you tap a button to activate it.

I wanted this smart tool to be more engaging than that, even if it only has humourous retorts to you misusing it... It's a companion rather than a substitute. "You" are using the smart tool to get a task done, and it helps you do that, rather than taking "you" out of the process entirely save for hitting a button.

Project Inspiration

Modified from an idea in response to the prompt "design to enlighten in the kitchen using x with the property of disgust".

Additionally inspired by the idea of how in horror movies, the antagonist may be compelled by their tool of choice to chase down unsuspecting individuals. I didn't have a specific film franchise in mind... just the idea of it being very creepy to have a sharp object that talks.

References

[1] (Background reading on learning to cook)

F. Lavelle et al, “Learning cooking skills at different ages: a cross-sectional study,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 13, no. 1, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-016-0446-y

Live Social Feed

Poster

Inspiration

Context

My concept is called Live Social Feed

My idea was inspired by the GOMA light wall and the Westfield Garden City Projectors on the side of the shopping mall. In this concept, the user/s will take photos of a given set location and they will post that online, out of all the photos that are taken by everyone on that location, some of the best photos will be displayed against a nearby building.

The software will keep refreshing and updating the current photos every 30-40 seconds. If no posts are made it will rotate from previous posts. This system can take inputs from many different social media platforms ie. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter.

This is a great way to provide exposure to local creators and help them grow. Also provide the general public with a new public platform to experience local art and talents, or even share their own.

Problem

The Problem this concept is addressing is the lack of exposure local artists have, and the lack of a platform that can a decent amount of exposure.

Target Audience

This concept is aimed towards local artists. Whilst still focusing on the general public, however, this system will cater to the artists more.

Idea Explanation

Concept - SMART BEDROOM

Utilising the most recent AI and heat-mapping technology, it will allow the SMART BEDROOM to map emotions in the body.

The bedroom will respond to the human’s emotion accordingly. Responses by the AI incorporate all 5 senses to help better the emotion/situation.

CONTEXT OF USE: Retirement Home - BEDROOM

Motivation

In today’s society, there is a constant battle to help those who are battling with mental health, and in particular the emotions of the elderly and children. In today’s society, there is a contestant emphasis on ensuring the quality of life and healthy personal well-begin.

Emotions originate in the brain but can manifest as physical feelings throughout the body. Given the demographic, accessibility and university access is a major factor to consider. As a result, this does not require conscious human interaction, rather the AI will detect and action accordingly.

Affective computing is an essential part of current HCI. This technology allows for automated human affective behaviour recognition. This type of recognition is provided by means of the capture and analysis of implicit information about the user, such as vocal and facial changes, alterations of body movements and gestures, and so on. Recognition of affective behaviour is a part of effective interaction where a computer approaches the emotion, mood, attitude and personal preferences of the person. Adding the ability of emotional intelligence to computers makes them more coherent to the humans who interact with them. Light and colour are omnipresent environmental factors which influence the human being.

Light and colour are ubiquitous environmental factors which have an influence on the human being. Hence, light and colour issues have to be considered especially significant in HCI and fundamental in affective computing. Affective computing aims to integrate issues dealing with emotions and computers.

Inspiration

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OSCAR

OSCAR is a three part bin that tracks the amount and kind of waste produced by each person in a household. Giving people a way to see how much they throw away can help highlight unnecessary waste and make them think about finding a more sustainable alternative to things they buy.

How it works

OSCAR can be setup to have profiles for everyone who lives in a household. A display on the front of OSCAR shows the current amount of waste produced by each person from the start of the week. At the end of the week when the bin needs to be emptied, OSCAR will decide who must empty it based on the amount of waste produced that week. When someone uses OSCAR the items they have thrown away will be checked by OSCAR to see if they have placed it in the correct bin. If the wrong bin has been used, OSCAR will make a horrendous retching sound and throw the waste back out of the bin.

Inspiration

I came up with the initial idea for OSCAR during the brainstorming session with the playing cards, which gave me the sentence ‘Design to train in a kitchen using sound with the quality playfully’, the idea was then further developed within the group at my table. The other inspiration for OSCAR was Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.

A3 Poster

Poster

Immersive Art Gallery

Immersive art gallery provides a new tend for visitors to understand the charm of paintings easily and create deeper memories about arts. IAG can enhance the experiences of enjoying paintings and improve the interaction between artists and visitors.

Inspiration:

My concept is inspired by a chinese animated movie, Nezha, the devil is coming. There is a magical painting created by the director of this movie which can allow roles to enter the world of the painting and live in it. Therefore, I came up with my idea from this painting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyYA9OLU1bY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac_WxA47CN8 this clip does not have english subtitle, but this moive clips shows the magical painting in tis moive.

Interactions:

Visitors should wear the sensing glasses in the front of the painting to enter the world of the painting. The glasses can trigger humans' senses, such as touching, watching, smelling, and hearing. Visitors can even enter the painting with friends to interact with the world of painting together.

Poster

The poster can be found here Secret Handshake Lock

Inspiriation

Smart Locks

Article Article

Smart locks are becoming ever more common, but are they safe? I've read some articles on their safety and where they are most vulnerable. What these articles agree on is that it depends on the user and how much care they take with their technology. The quote from one of the articles that had the most impact was the following from MIT professor Stuart Madnick “You may buy a stronger lock for your door, but if you still leave the key under the mat, are you really any more secure?” in other words, your home is as safe as the user makes it.

Cyberpunk 2077

The dystopian game Cyberpunk 2077 has granted som inspiration, here there are many technologies we, as of yet, lack. Some of the most prominent technologies are mechanical arms in the media that has been presented to the public thus far. In addition, a big part of Cyberpunk is hacking into different security systems, something this idea also addresses.

Secret Handshake Lock

The issue is that people treat their everyday home security with little care, thinking that their technology will keep them safe. This may not be the case, especially when people install different apps left and right not thinking what these apps may do to their home safety. The Secret Handshake Lock intentionally shows an obvious case of bad home security to understand that the handshake between your device and your door can be as secure as a handshake performed publicly for everyone to see. The hand itself can be programmed to know several handshakes that allow any user that knows the handshake to enter through the door.

The playful nature in this idea lies in the novelty and obvious ridiculousness of the concept and the novelty of creating especially fun or overcomplicated handshakes as a key for your door.

The Smart Wardrobe

A wardrobe that keeps a record of how many clothes a user has and how many times each item is worn. It profiles each item with the composition of the material and an estimate of how many wash cycles it can endure. The mirror has an AR feature for users to see what they look like in different outfits before grabbing them out of the wardrobe which can save time. It can suggest outfits based on the time of day, activity and dress code. The wardrobe will help users to appreciate all the clothing that they own and alerts users if an item has not been worn in a long time to prompt them to either donate the clothing or sell it to someone else. The main goal of the wardrobe is to encourage the users to embrace slow fashion and work towards a circular economy. If users intend to throw clothes away, the wardrobe can educate them on the length of time it takes for their clothes to break down and users will move away from synthetic fabrics to more durable and sustainable fashion.

My inspiration for this wardrobe came from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Kondo & Hirano, 2014), the Slow Fashion movement (Jung & Jin, 2014), and the Low Impact/Zero Waste Movement (Cleanlink, 2019). For the mirror AR example in my poster I used the Lily Story app on Android. There are already mobile applications out there that keep a log of different outfits, but it would be fascinating to explore this space with an environmental approach.

References

Franco-García ML., Carpio-Aguilar J.C., Bressers H. (2019) Towards Zero Waste, Circular Economy Boost: Waste to Resources. In: Franco-García ML., Carpio-Aguilar J., Bressers H. (eds) Towards Zero Waste. Greening of Industry Networks Studies, vol 6. Springer, Cham

Jung, S., & Jin, B. (2014). A theoretical investigation of slow fashion: Sustainable future of the apparel industry. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 38(5), 510-519.

Kondō, M., & Hirano, C. (2014). The life-changing magic of tidying up: The Japanese art of decluttering and organizing (First American edition.). Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.

Štefko, R., & Steffek, V. (2018). Key Issues in Slow Fashion: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives. Sustainability, 10(7), 2270.

Berggren, M. (2019, September 6). Fast Fashion Vs Slow Fashion – Difference & Advantages.

Retrieved from https://wearandsmile.com/blog/fast-fashion-vs-slow-fashion/

Cleanlink. (2019, November 23). Entertainment Company Sets Zero Waste Goals.

Retrieved from https://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/Entertainment-Company-Sets-Zero-Waste-Goals--23231

N.d. (2020) Ultimate 48 in. W - 96 in. W White Wood Closet System.

Retrieved from https://www.homedepot.com/p/Closet-Evolution-Ultimate-48-in-W-96-in-W-White-Wood-Closet-System-WH19/311040600