In-class Demonstration
Each interaction may have 2 types of documentation: Zoom call or hand-held video. The Zoom call is muted as both computers are set up next to each other, which would create feedback otherwise.
Showcase Interactions
Write-up:
The SpitScreen reconnects loved ones and whets the human appetite for closeness. With face recognition and machine learning, the SpitScreen is a tool to bring friends and family closer when added on to a video call. Bathe in the mist that is sprayed as your video mate sneezes, allowing you to be fully immersed in their “presense”. Simply get on a call (masks off, please) and sneeze (Achoo!) to get closer than you ever wanted. Gesundheit!
Here are some snippets of showcase day! A better documentation video will come soon.
Reflections
The SpitScreen is meant to be a tool to aid private video calls, so I did not anticipate the amount of noise that all the sensors would detect when set in a public/high traffic space. This was especially so with FaceOSC’s desperation to detect a ‘face’. In my attempts to remove all this noise, I think I have started to see the world as FaceOSC does too. Below is a video proving my guess of a face right.
Upon sharing this with my computer science roommate, she mentioned that I could have trained my algorithm FOR noise as well. Thus, instead of only 2 gestures (normal face, sneezing face), I would need to include No Face and Ghost Face as gestures.
Another factor I did not take into account was the lighting in the lounge and the lack of instructions for users when I was not there manning the table. While I initially thought it would be instinctive to cover the spray and thus reflect distance < 20 cm on the ultrasonic sensor, most users just ducked away and left the spray going and going until there was no water left.
In the end, I added a cup in front of each Spitter to immediately end the interaction. Each interaction lasted about 30 seconds as it would take a couple of sneezes to get going.
It was also interesting to see that most users turned the SpitScreen set up into a competition of who could get their friends the wettest. I think this sense of play made some interactions last longer.
Overall, I feel pretty fulfilled with this device and project and am happy that I made the decision to kill and bury the Steamboard or mist glass or whatever that was meant to be.