Posts

Posted on

History of Design Lecture 3 – Reflections: Constructivism

Constructivism was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art, with Vladimir Tatlin wanting to construct art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes, and had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as De Stijl movement, which I will briefly touch on later.

Constructivism encouraged the creation of art from scratch, with a mix and match of different materials. This movement mainly focused on geometric shapes and abstract forms, and works in this era were far from being objective and representational. There was also a focus in making useful and pragmatic items.

Below attached are artworks by El Lissitzky, an artist in the movement. His works heavily rely on the usage of geometric shapes, and are highly abstract.

Constructivism influenced another art movement, De Stijl greatly. De Stijl focused on straight lines, geometric shapes (specifically squares and rectangles) and primary colour (red, blue, yellow) alongside black and white. Attached below is an artwork by Piet Mondrian, an artist that was largely influential in the De Stijl movement.

Posted on

History of Design Lecture 2 – Reflections: Harper’s Weekly

Based on the second lecture, I’ve decided to research more on Harper’s Weekly and its contribution to the illustrative era in America which played a part that led to the decline in typography.

Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilisation, was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humour, all which were portrayed through illustrations. There were also many illustrations depicting the war. During its most influential period, it was the forum of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast. The magazine’s cover were all pure illustration, with minimal elements of typography. How the cover of every week’s magazine depended on the illustrators.

Harper’s Weekly was inspired by the successful example of The Illustrated London News. Illustrations were an important part of the Weekly’s content, and it developed a reputation for using some of the most renowned illustrators of the time, notably Winslow Homer, Granville Perkins and Livingston Hopkins. Another notable illustrator with recurring features was Thomas Nast, who was a feared caricaturist, and is often called the father of American political cartooning. Nast contributed a lot to the magazine, pushing the magazine towards being a magazine with significant political significance.

During this era, since there was a focus on illustrations, ornamented designs and the importance on how things looked visually, the use of typography in design started to decline. The decline of typography was further fuelled by the mechanisation of printing processes.

Harper’s Weekly was a showcase of the illustration heavy era in America, with all of their weekly publications illustrated and with the magazine gaining a lot of popularity for its illustrative covers among its political significance.

Posted on

History of Design Lecture 1 – Reflections: Caslon Typeface

Caslon is a serif typeface that is that is designed by William Caslon I, and belongs to the oldstyle typeface family. At that time, improved skills of punchcutters and their techniques resulted in the refinement of the humanist calligraphic style, which was popular in the late 1400s. Similar to all oldstyle typefaces, Caslon has generous counters, an increased x-height as compared to the humanist typefaces commonly used before, and has excellent readability even at a small point size. Caslon worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp the moulds or matrices used to cast metal type. Soon after, Caslon established a strong reputation for its quality and its attractive appearance, suitable for extended passages of text.

William Caslon’s specimen sheet was issued from 1738 onwards although first appearing in 1734. Caslon’s type was publicised through the contribution of this specimen sheet to Chambers’ Cyclopedia, which has often been often cut out by antiquarian book dealers and sold separately. Caslon’s specimen sheet exhibited his roman and italic types in 14 different sizes.

Influenced by Dutch baroque, Caslon was the first to produce a distinctive English type with strong serifs (a projection finishing a letter stroke) and solid capitals. The glorious specimen sheets show his type family. In the terminology of type, a font was a complete set of one particular style and size of typeface that would have been cast in metal by Caslon’s foundry and sold to printers. His work helped to modernise the book, making it a separate creation rather than a printed imitation of the old hand-produced book, pushing print to greater heights.

I personally feel that the transition of the Humanist typefaces to the Oldstyle typeface was a big push towards the evolution of print and towards the popularisation of books as the oldstyle typefaces, though still largely influenced by the Humanist typefaces which has the influence of the hand (the types under the influence of the hand are more organic and contain traces of handwriting), has helped increase readability of paragraphs and allowed larger paragraphs to be printed in books.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Caslon

https://www.linotype.com/348/william-caslon.html

A Specimen by William Caslon

http://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3383

https://www.theclerkenwellpost.com/design/253-the-father-of-fonts-caslon

Posted on

FINAL PROJECT: The Cold Room

DN1010 EXPERIMENTAL INTERACTION 

FINAL PROJECT DOCUMENTATION

DN1010 G02 – Ginnie Lee, Nicole Chen

“The Cold Room”

Project brief: 

Dark Object – Design and build an object that facilitates emotions of loss, loneliness, and self-pity associated with a person who has just been abandoned by someone they loved.

Our project: 

Nowadays, people are getting connected more and more online and even during meal times or time spent with your loves ones, we stare down at our phones and use social media / messaging applications instead of attempting to connect with our loved ones with us physically. The more we are on our phones to stay connected online, the more we neglect those around us, creating a disconnection in real life. This project aims to bring out the loneliness we feel when we are “abandoned” by our loved ones or when we “abandon” our loved ones in exchange for connectivity online. The more we wish to be connected online, the lonelier we feel offline.

Video describing your project and showing in the actual place or context of use:

Please click here for the video.

Observational documentation for user tests:

Body storming (Week 10) 

During body-storming, we brought in a jacket and simulated the test with the use of cardboard. 2 of our classmates helped us test the process of the interaction, and based on the comments given, we refined and improved on our idea.

The documentation and reflections of the Body-storming process can be found here.

Play Test (Week 12)

For the Play Test, we didn’t manage to complete the entire set up of connecting twitter to Arduino and hence only brought in our circuit with Arduino connected to the Peltier module. To simulate the  process of tweeting causing the Peltier to react, we manually pressed the button in the circuit when a new tweet is sent to close the circuit and hence allowing the Peltier to turn cold. Below is the circuit we brought in into class for the Play Test (with the fan under the heat sink).

Participants tested our circuit during the play test, and tweeted while placing a finger on the Peltier module to test it’s temperature.

Attached below is the video taken during the play test.

Video of Play Test

Notes taken during the play test (curtesy of Mun Cheng) :

Amanda

Tweets –> turn cold

A series of continuous tweets will make it cold constantly

Charm

Getting colder as she tweets

Gwen

It gets less cold

The more tweets there are, the Peltier will just remain cold // The Peltier will not get colder with each new tweet

You have to tweet, wait –> tweet again

The interaction have to be planned in a way where Peltier can rest (to cool down) before next user uses it.

———————————————————————————————-

After the play test, we decided that there were some things we wanted to improve on based on our current idea. Firstly, we decided to change the jacket to a head pillow, as we realised that there was a significant weight when the Peltier module is attached to the heat sink and the cooling fan. This weight would cause the already flimsy collar to flap downwards and not be able to have contact the user’s neck when the Peltier is attached to the collar of the jacket. The neck pillow was also a better choice as we could cut out the filling of the pillow and insert the Peltier module attached to the heat sink and the cooling fan into the pillow itself. That way, we can have a better finishing and also at the same time combat the problem of the Peltier not being able to have contact with the participants’ neck.

A problem brought up during the play test was also that (as seen in the notes) the Peltier module tends to get less cold as time passes and the Peltier needs time to cool down before the original effect of cooling can be achieved again. We considered getting a bigger fan to help dissipate the hate faster, but decided against it as the entire Peltier combo would then become even bulkier and heavier and will not be able to fit into the neck pillow comfortably/ let the participant using the neck pillow use it comfortably. During the process of inserting the Peltier into the neck pillow, we tried to time the length of time the Peltier takes to lose the coldness (to reach room temperature), and initially, it was only able to stay cold for 1.5 minutes due to the fan being inside the neck pillow with the hot air sucked in by the cooling fan trapped inside the neck pillow.

Hence, we decided to cut an opening through the back of the neck pillow to allow the hot air to dissipate out. After cutting the opening, the Peltier could stay cold twice (up to 3 mins) as long as when the neck pillow didn’t have an opening.

Thereafter, we also came up with the idea of building a room with 2 exits, one being the entrance the participants come in from and one hidden exit that leads to another room. The other room will have people and other previous participants in it, allowing the participants who exit through the hidden exit to connect with those people, hence alluding to connecting with people physically offline, away from social media and our phones.

Design Process Documentation:

Initial Ideation

“Cold Jacket”

Our original idea was to create a jacket, something that is made to provide warmth, to turn cold when a certain volume of activity is detected in the mobile phone (in terms of notifications). The jacket, made to keep us warm, can ironically make us cold with the increase in activity in our phones.

The cold felt from the jacket is a physical manifestation of the loneliness. Furthermore, based on a  study by Psychologists Chen-Bo Zhong and Geoffrey Leonardelli from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, social isolation can actually allow people to feel cold physically. A group of volunteers were divided into 2,  with one group recalling the personal experience of being socially excluded and the feelings of loneliness and isolation, and the other recalling an experience of being socially included (in other words, being accepted and hence not being isolated). The 2 groups were then asked to enter the same room and estimate the temperature in the room. Those who were told to think about a socially isolating experience gave lower estimates of the room temperature. In other words, the recalled memories of being ostracised actually made people feel colder and experience the ambient temperature as colder.

Hence, we wanted to amplify on the feelings of loneliness and isolation through the drop in temperature. The loneliness we wanted to project when we are getting “abandoned” or “abandoning” others in exchange to be connected online is translated into physical coldness.

(Refer to Project Development Drawings for more details on initial ideation.) 

Final Ideation

Below is the plan for how the circuit will be connected, from Twitter to Arduino (through blynk and IFTTT app)  to the Peltier Module via the relay module and with an external power source.

Furthermore, we wanted to create a room that can help to enhance our object, with the room having a lone table and having a hidden exit that leads to another room in which participant can connect with others.

Below is the room plan for the proposed room.

Instructables (Making of the work) : 

For a neater and more organised version of the same instructables, please refer to the document below.

DN1010 FINAL : INSTRUCTABLES

The Cold Room 

A Peltier module connected to Arduino which is connected to Twitter and hence controllable through Twitter. The Peltier module is inserted into a neck pillow and the neck pillow is situated in a all white room, which has a hidden exit that leads to a secret room.

Step 1: Get materials

Materials needed for this project:

  • Arduino
  • Breadboard
  • 12V Peltier Module
  • Relay Module
  • Jumper wires
  • Male to female jumper wires
  • 12V Power adapter
  • Heat sink
  • Cooling fan
  • 10V resistor
  • Crocodile / alligator clips
  • Button
  • Testpen
  • Blynk app
  • IFTTT app
  • Mahjong paper
  • White trash bag
  • Tape
  • Table

Step 2: Connecting the Peltier module to Arduino

Based on the above drawing, the positive end of the Peltier module (denoted by the red wire), is connected to the Common of 2nd relay module on our 2 module relay. The negative end of the Peltier module (denoted by the black wire), is connected to the negative end of the 12V Power adapter. The positive end of the 12V power adapter is then connected to NC (Normally Closed) of the 2nd relay module. The IN2 pin of the relay module is then connected to Digital Pin 8 on Arduino with a female to male jumper wire. The GND (Ground) of the Relay module is connected to the GND of Arduino.

Next, the 5V of Arduino is drawn to the Breadboard. This 5V that is drawn to the Breadboard is then connected to VOC on the relay module and to one side of the button. The other side of the button is connected to GND through a 10V resistor and to Digital Pin 8 of Arduino.

This is to connect the Peltier module to Arduino and to the button, which controls the opening and closing of the circuit. When the button is pressed, the circuit is closed and it is then will the Peltier module react with a drop in temperature.

Step 3: Input of the code in Arduino 

The code below is keyed in into Arduino on computer and thereafter sent to Arduino.

_____________________________________________________________________

/*

Button

Turns on and off a peltier module attached at pin 8,

when pressing a pushbutton attached to pin 3.

*/

// constants won’t change. They’re used here to set pin numbers:

const int buttonPin = 3;     // the number of the pushbutton pin

const int PeltierPin =  8;      // the number of the LED pin

// variables will change:

int buttonState = 0;         // variable for reading the pushbutton status

void setup() {

// initialize the LED pin as an output:

pinMode(PeltierPin, OUTPUT);

// initialize the pushbutton pin as an input:

pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);

Serial.begin(9600);

}

void loop() {

// read the state of the pushbutton value:

buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

// check if the pushbutton is pressed. If it is, the buttonState is HIGH:

if (buttonState == HIGH) {

// turn LED on:

Serial.println(“Relay on”);

digitalWrite(PeltierPin, LOW);

} else {

// turn LED off:

Serial.println(“Relay off”);

digitalWrite(PeltierPin, HIGH);

}

}

_____________________________________________________________________

With this code sent to Arduino, the Peltier module is then able to react with a drop in temperature when the button is pressed.

Step 4: Connect the cooling fan (12V) to the power source.

By connecting the cooling fan to the power adapter, the fan will then work when the power adapter is connected and hence is able to help suck out the heat produced on the other side of the Peltier module to ensure the cold side can stay cold for a longer time.

As the fan need not be controlled by Arduino and only needs to work to cool down the Peltier, it can be directly connected to the power adapter that supplies the 12V needed for the fan.

Step 5: Attaching the fan and the heat sink to the Peltier module.

We then placed the Peltier module onto the heat sink with the hot side down and attached the cooling fan under the heat sink. The entire thing is bounded together by insulating tape.

The circuit can now be tested for workability through the use of the button.

Video – Button test 1

Video – Button test 2

Step 6: Connecting Blynk to the computer

Following instructions on OSS, we then connected the Blynk app to the computer. We tested the workability of the Blynk app afterwards with a LED light.

Video – Blynk app to LED

Step 7: Connecting Twitter to Arduino via the IFTTT app and Blynk.

Thereafter, we created a separate project for the Peltier and connected the button to V1 (Virtual 1). This allows Blynk to control the Peltier module via Arduino.

Video – Connecting Blynk app to Arduino 

We then created a link via webhooks on IFTTT to connect Twitter to Arduino.

Video – Connecting Twitter to Arduino

The code below is used to allow Twitter to control the Peltier module through Arduino.

_____________________________________________________________________

#define BLYNK_PRINT SwSerial

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial SwSerial(10, 11); // RX, TX

#include <BlynkSimpleStream.h>

// You should get Auth Token in the Blynk App.

// Go to the Project Settings (nut icon).

char auth[] = “dd2304c3e7cb4382be621395648e6270”;

int pinValue = 0;

// This function will be called every time Slider Widget

// in Blynk app writes values to the Virtual Pin 1

BLYNK_WRITE(V1)

{

pinValue = param.asInt(); // assigning incoming value from pin V1 to a variable

// You can also use:

// String i = param.asStr();

// double d = param.asDouble();

SwSerial.print(“V1 Slider value is: “);

SwSerial.println(pinValue);

}

// constants won’t change. They’re used here to set pin numbers:

const int PeltierPin = 8; // the number of the Peltier pin

void setup()

{

// Debug console

SwSerial.begin(9600);

// Blynk will work through Serial

// Do not read or write this serial manually in your sketch

Serial.begin(9600);

Blynk.begin(Serial, auth);

 

pinMode(PeltierPin, OUTPUT);

}

void loop()

{

Blynk.run();

// check if the pushbutton is pressed. If it is, the buttonState is HIGH:

if (pinValue == 1) {

// turn LED on:

Serial.println(“Relay on”);

digitalWrite(PeltierPin, LOW);

} else {

// turn LED off:

Serial.println(“Relay off”);

digitalWrite(PeltierPin, HIGH);

}

}

_____________________________________________________________________

Step 8: Packaging the Peltier module into the neck pillow 

Thereafter, we cut a hole in the neck pillow where the neck would be and pulled out the stuffing in that area to fit the Peltier module in as well as allow space for the fan to spin inside the neck pillow.

Step 9: Cutting a hole through the back of the neck pillow

By cutting a hole through the back of the neck pillow, the heat generated by the other side of the Peltier module is then allowed to escape.

Step 10: Stitching the neck pillow back together

Thereafter, the neck pillow is sewed back together, with a mesh covering the Peltier to ensure that the temperature can be felt but at the same time ensure that the user does not get burnt if the heat is not dissipated fast enough and affects the cold side of the Peltier too.

Step 11: Setting up of the room

Thereafter, we started setting up the room. As we wanted the entire room to be white, we bought mahjong paper and sourced for white trash bags to cover / create the walls and floor for the room. We selected a room to build our room in and since there was a mirror, covered the mirror with white trash bags so that the entire wall is covered.

We then used mahjong paper to cover the floor of our room, and similarly used mahjong paper to build the remaining walls of the room.

For the hidden exit, we cut a hole in the mahjong paper wall and replaced the opening with cascading white trash bags.

Step 12: Setting up within the room

The table was then brought into the white room and covered with white mahjong paper. Simple instructions was then written on the table surface.

Instructions include:

  1. Pick up the phone. Start tweeting.
  2. Reply all responses to your tweet. Interact online.
  3. Leave whenever you want.

We then placed the neck pillow on the table, taping visible wires with white cloth tape before hiding the entire rest of the circuit behind  the white wall.

Step 13: Set up of the hidden room

Chairs were arranged in a semi circle behind the hidden door and some seats were filled with people to welcome the participants who walk through the hidden door.

Step 14: Placing of the neck pillow

The neck pillow was then placed on the table with the rest of the circuit placed behind one of the white walls. The installation is now ready for its participants!

Codes / Circuit design used to build prototype:

Below is the code used for the project. Coding was done with help from Lei.

Original code used for the circuit that was controlled by a button (when Twitter was still not connected) :

Circuit design:

Above is the drawing and photo of how the circuit is connected.

Final Presentation

Videos from final presentation:

Participant 1

Participant 2

Notes from final presentation (curtesy of Natalie):

No access to camera
Left when it got hot

People more connected online due to phones, talk to real life people less

White room for isolation – neck pillow is comfort (but uncomfortable cos it gets cold)
– pink, for the warmth but it doesn’t give warmth
– People planted at another exit, another option instead of leaving through the main way

Exit made abit more clear – but creators did not want it to be obvious – more on the participants to look carefully around themselves
Gwen’s thoughts: can see wires so more careful, first time tweeted then got colder, but after that not much diff, tweeted more & more to see if got diff
Introduced to room so wouldn’t look around much

Munch thought she wasn’t allowed to go another way

Wires make participants frightened in case they ruin it
Small space made people not want to disturb the space and maybe not look around the room as much
Can afford another type of entry like got curtain or people you planted are talking (about why the participant is always on their phone) to get the participants curious and want to exit that way

Reflections

As we have never learnt coding and have never been exposed to Arduino or coding beforehand, the setting up of the circuit and coding was extremely challenging for us. With no sense of direction, I headed to Sim Lim Tower for the first time to get additional materials we needed. Not knowing what exactly was needed, I asked around the store and everyone referred me to someone else in the store until I got referred to a young technician. The technician was kind enough to explain to me how I should connect the circuit and even drew out the circuit for me.

However, when I came back and we tried to connect the circuit, we realise that I bought a wrong wire (was supposed to buy a female power connector but got a male power connector instead), and ended up not being able to connect the power adapter to the circuit.

Even after buying the right power connector, we still weren’t able to make our circuit work and hence we went for consult. During consult, our code was checked and there was indeed problems with our code, when we coded HIGH when it was supposed to be LOW and vice versa. The circuit was then able to work after that.

The connecting of Twitter to Arduino was also very challenging. Initially when we tried with the code Lei sent us to help us, the Peltier module reacted immediately after the code was sent to Arduino although no button was pressed / no tweets were sent. We tried changing the code and the circuit but yet still unable to succeed.

We then consulted Lei again and figured out how to connect Twitter properly to Arduino, and it was because we didn’t configure the computer to connect to Blynk properly.

Also, tapping on experience with the previous micro-project where we didn’t solder the wires and had to tape the wires together to connect them, we went for consults and with Serena’s help, soldered our wires together and hence had stronger wires connected compared to our micro-project.

During the Final Presentation, our plan to have the participants enter the secret room did not happen, as participants were unsure of whether they can enter the room or not. If there are further developments of this project, it would be best if there were clues that can lead the participants to the secret room (through sound/  visual cues).

Throughout the duration of this project, we went for consult many times and the professors helped us a lot during the process. While it was challenging learning something completely new, I learnt a lot through trying the many different (wrong) ways and through failing and asking questions. The basic knowledge of Arduino I gained will be useful for me as a designer in the future, and I’m glad to have went through this learning process, albeit stressful. I’ve learnt how to overcome adversities and have learnt the importance of time management through this and the things learnt would definitely help me in the future.

Posted on

Final Project Development Drawings

Project Development Drawings

“The Cold Jacket” –> “The Cold Room”

G02 Ginnie Lee, Nicole Chen

Initial Ideation

Our original idea was to create a jacket, something that is made to provide warmth, to turn cold when a certain volume of activity is detected in the mobile phone (in terms of notifications). The jacket, made to keep us warm, can ironically make us cold with the increase in activity in our phones.

The cold felt from the jacket is a physical manifestation of the loneliness. Furthermore, based on a study by Psychologists Chen-Bo Zhong and Geoffrey Leonardelli from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, social isolation can actually allow people to feel cold physically. A group of volunteers were divided into 2,  with one group recalling the personal experience of being socially excluded and the feelings of loneliness and isolation, and the other recalling an experience of being socially included (in other words, being accepted and hence not being isolated). The 2 groups were then asked to enter the same room and estimate the temperature in the room. Those who were told to think about a socially isolating experience gave lower estimates of the room temperature. In other words, the recalled memories of being ostracised actually made people feel colder and experience the ambient temperature as colder.

Hence, we wanted to amplify on the feelings of loneliness and isolation through the drop in temperature. The loneliness we wanted to project when we are getting “abandoned” or “abandoning” others in exchange to be connected online is translated into physical coldness.

 

To do that, we will connect the Peltier module to Arduino via a relay module, as Arduino runs on 5V while the Peltier module runs on 12V. An external power source is also needed, and we will use a 12V adapter to connect to the Peltier module to supply the 12V power the Peltier needs to run. Twitter will then be connected to Arduino via the blynk app and the IFTTT app to act as a button to control the circuit. A new tweet posted would close the circuit and allow the Arduino to send information to the Peltier to change temperature.

Because the Peltier module is cold on one side and hot on the other, the side which emits heat must be attached to a heat sink and also a cooling fan to help to dissipate the heat so that the heat will not spread to the cold side and affect the coldness of the cold side.

Research on loneliness

Reflections

Ginnie

How does your audience experience your project?

The participants will wear the jacket and physically interact with our project. The jacket will be located in a room and this room provides the context and helps the participant experience the feelings more intensely with the surroundings set up in context rather than just with the item itself. The participants will feel a direct physical manifestation of an abstract feeling, loneliness, while tweeting. The participant will realise that his/her own actions (in the case of our installation, tweeting), will affect the temperature he/she experiences.

Is it for a single person to engage with your project or for multiple participants concurrently?

Our project aims to evoke the feeling of loneliness, and hence the environment the person is in must be void of other people and hence, our project is meant for a single person to experience it, one at a time. However, multiple participants can interact with the project one after another, but not together.

What is the interaction or situation you are creating for your audience?

We’re creating a situation where the participant’s actions will directly impact the output of this project and the resulting outcome is an uncomfortable one, to simulate the negative emotions involved in this particular action.

What is the intention of this interaction?

The intention is to clearly allow the participant to experience the connectivity between social media and the feedback (output). The situation created (a person getting colder while tweeting) helps the participant link their actions on social media to their physical environment. This then helps brings out our message of the increase of usage of social media (i.e. the more connected you are online) affecting the temperature of the cooling pads (i.e the stronger the feedback projected).

Nicole

How does your audience experience your project?

We intend to build a mock up of a room so that the audience can have a mental preparation on how to experience the exhibition. This means that when they walk into the “room” it is already set up with a homier feel. So when they pick up the jacket and start using social media, the coldness they experience would be more impactful and contrasting to their surrounds. This would enable a stronger reaction as well as understanding regarding what we are trying to put across.

Is it for a single person to engage with your project or for multiple participants concurrently?

We require people to go one person at a time, but the exhibition can allow for multiple participants, one after the other.

What is the interaction or situation you are creating for your audience?

We are setting a space of a room, and showing isolation through usage of social media. The more you are active online, the lesser your offline persona experiences tangible. We are bringing this correlation into a literal aspect by making them experience coldness, associated with isolation.

What is the intention of this interaction?

It is to show the adverse side of what advancement in technology has done in our lives. While also rewarding the participant for taking time off from the online world.

Other ideas 

Idea #2

Hacking an Umbrella

Idea #3

Hacking an earpiece

Idea #4

Hacking a bracelet

Drawings

Reason for choosing the jacket to hack for our final project

We were most intrigued by the idea of the cooling pad/ temperature changing modules and also thought that the jacket was something very close to the body and hence can enhance the experience of the participants.

We also think that the coldness of the jacket can also best convey the feelings on loneliness (based on the research done) and hence we chose to hack the jacket.