T.I.D. Exhibit Project

Assigned: Thu Oct 23
Due Dates: multiple; see below

Audience:

Choose a primary audience for this exhibit with and age group to help focus your project. Your secondary audience may be "everyone else" or a more specific audience for this assignment. Think about the visiting public of the two museums (Revolving and Discovery). Who would they tend to be? The DM is suited to ages 7-15 (any sub group will do). The RM show in which you'll be exhibiting, "Toys and Games: More than Amusement" can also have a specific age group (though the range is greater).

Objective:

This project is the central activity of the Tangible Interaction Design course. We have rescheduled the two gallery openings to give you 4+ weeks to engage in this project.

In a nutshell, in this project you will tie together the main themes of the course (tangibility, interaction, design, and computing) into an original exhibit for adults, teens, and/or children that has genuine play and educational value.

You will draw upon the knowledge and capabilities you have developed since the start of the class:

an understanding of interaction with everyday things
being able to design computer software using MIT Scratch
designing movement and play with physical objects
using the laser cutter and engraver to produce physical objects
sensing gestures, light, and sound with the Scratch/PicoBoard

In its final installation, your project should incorporate many or all of these elements. Each team is expected to create a project that incorporates

tangibility (physical things that you hold, manipulate, twist, or otherwise move around; or, motions of your body)
interaction (cause-and-effect; your gestures cause things to happen)
computing (sensory input being processed by a Scratch program)
design (the overall experience of your exhibit should be carefully thought through; fit and finish matters, this is a real exhibit)

Schedule of Deliverables:

As this is a significant, extended project, there will be a series of deliverables along the way to the final exhibit installation.

week 1 (due Thu Oct 30) background research completed; project concept proposal delivered; materials ordered
week 2 (due Thu Nov 6) initial prototype of project demonstrated (do the hardest part first); detailed schedule of deliverables presented
week 3 (due Tue Nov 18) on-going work on projects. deliverables based on your own schedule as accepted at beginning of project.
week 4 (due Tue Nov 25) “dress rehearsal” of project is demonstrated in LIL lab (Olsen 302). projects are complete, except for installation in respective museum.
week 5 projects are exhibited in Revolving Museum (December 2) and Discovery Museums (December 4).

Research:

To frame your project, you must find three or more examples of related work. You can do web searches on "tangible media," "tangible interaction design," "tangibles," "computational media," and other related terms.

Your research should inspire your own ideas. Ideally you will create something new and different from what you have seen before.

When you turn in your Project Concept Proposal (due on Oct 30), you should cite not only web URLs to the projects you are inspired by, but also formal bibliographic references to the research papers published by the creators of those projects. Your Project Concept Proposal should included quoted excerpts from those research papers, demonstrating that you have indeed read them. Please also include one or more references from Norman's Design of Everyday Things.

Here are some web sites to get you started:

The Project Concept Proposal:

The concept proposal is a written paper. It should include the following elements:

A project title and authors' names. Self-explanatory.
A background research section that presents the projects you are inspired by (at least 3 different projects). Include bibliographic references. 1 page.
A description of the project that you intend to build, including sketches or drawings, and a narrative that explains the idea. 1 to 2 pages with diagrams.
A statement of intent that discusses who is your intended audience (e.g., what age group) and what emotional or cognitive response you hope to evoke from people who interact with your exhibit. 1 to 2 paragraphs.
A list of materials that you will require to carry out the project. List everything that you expect to need: both materials that we will be supplying to you (e.g., PicoBoard, computer, monitor; particular sensors) and materials that you will provide yourself (cardboard, wood, paint, glue, etc.) Be exhaustive, and be clear about where you are getting what (that is, from us or by yourself). 1 page or more, as necessary.
A schedule of progress that describes a path from conception to actualization. Be clear about what the steps are, and when they will be accomplished. 1 page or more, as necessary.
A statement of known risks. What do you anticipate to be the most challenging aspect of your project? What part of it is most unknown to you? Be honest with yourself and us. 1 or more paragraphs.
Concluding remarks, indicating what you personally hope to learn from carrying out the project. 1 or more paragraphs.

The paper should be approximately 6 to 10 pages in length according to the per-section guidelines above.

Remember, the proposal is due one week from today. Turn it in in class.

Medium:

Each team will be given on loan the following materials to work with:

PicoBoard, for sensor input to computer
A computer and screen.
- The computer may be either a small laptop (“netbook”) or a tower CPU with an LCD monitor. You will have your own machine for carrying out your project.
- The screen can simply hang on the wall, but it might be appropriate to embed the screen into your project in a deeper context! E.g. you could make it into a coffee-table by building legs around it; then people sit around the monitor. Or, you could design something that goes in front of it, and let light shine through. Creative projects will go beyond the monitor-hanging-on-the-wall approach.

Materials We Will Order For You:

There are a number of sensor devices that may be used with the PicoBoard

touch switches (note, you can make your own “soft switch” with aluminum foil and alligator clips)
light sensors (that is, external sensors in addition to the one on the PicoBoard
temperature sensors (can tell if a person is holding something)
distance sensors (will indicate how far away a person is from the sensor, e.g., a range of a few inches to 3 feet)
tilt/movement sensors (if the person wears this, you can sense when they are moving their legs or arms; note, it needs wires connecting from the sensor to the PicoBoard)
break-beam sensor (you can build this with a lamp and a light sensor; when a person gets between the beam, the light sensor value will change sharply)

Most of these items have to be ordered! You will have to tell us what you need!

Materials You Must Provide Yourself:

general construction materials—wood, cloth, paint
glue, nails, screws
in general, anything that is not a specific technological item particular to the PicoBoard

Karen Notes:

process folder or book: every sketch must be included, even if it's on a napkin
production schedule (Karen will provide template)
subject matter:
- physics of color, RGB color (additive) vs CMYK color (subtractive)
- music (e.g., rhythm and tempo)
- civility (need sense of humor; e.g., Goofus and Gallant)
- driving and giving directions (left, right, up, down; XYZ axes)
- Fibonacci numbers (flower petals are a Fib #)
- "now you see it, now you don't" (powers-of-10 scale, microscopic and telescopic) get invested in what you can't see -- hidden worlds
- build-a-character (make your own Pokemon; Brett's snowman game; Wooly Willy)
- sound wave or electrical wave propagation
Must have a name for the exhibit
Need a few sentences of instruction

Teams:

Here are the teams for the Exhibit Project!

Team Z—sean & jackie
Team X—kevin & kevin
Team W—jessica & amy
Team V—vinny & dan
Team U—amyralene & chelsea
Team T—stephany & davis
Team S—chris & diane
Team R—rick & suleiman
Team Q—zac & patrick
Team P—jason & brett
Team O—chanra & jian

FAQ:

Do we have to use the PicoBoard and the Scratch software? No, but you must have elements of sensing, computing, and some sort of display or gestural output as part of your project. If you have expertise with other technological materials of this nature, you are welcome to use them. Just make sure to include your plans in your project proposal. Also, you will be responsible for procuring these alternate materials.
OK, we will use Scratch and the PicoBoard. But how will we exhibit our project in our museum? You will be provided with your own PicoBoard on loan for the duration of the project, and you will be provided with your own a dedicated computer and LCD monitor for use in your project. That's right, you will get your own PicoBoard, computer, and monitor (on loan) to use for your project. We encourage you to think creatively about the monitor, and consider embedding it into your project design in an interesting way.
Do we have to use the laser cutter? No. We welcome projects that may have an aesthetic that is totally unrelated to carved acrylic. The laser is a tool that you should use if it make sense for your concept.