Category: Experimental Interaction G3 (Tuesday)

Final Project – The Pill Bag

OBJECTIVES & RATIONALE BEHIND THE ISSUE WE’RE HIGHLIGHTING

For our final project for Experimental Interaction, we decide to create a provocative object to address ethical issues in contraceptive justice. For this project, we will be focusing on the issue of birth control for women. Our project is trying to break the stereotype of being secretive about consuming birth control pills and girls should be empowered by using our pill bag by making this issue transparent and boys have to get used to it. Our objective is to make the bag as a fashion statement which stands out as a protest to change the perspective of how such issues should not be kept under the rugs or not be spoken in front of the opposite gender – normalize it. 

 

The invention of the birth control pill was a significant milestone in the women’s rights movement. Since then, other long-acting, reversible contraceptives have been developed for women, and women now have a total of 11 methods. In contrast, men only have 2 options, thus the public ceding major responsibility for contraception to women. Moreover, Women currently bear most of the financial and health-related burdens of contraception, dedicating time and energy to contraception care, feeling stress and anxiety about taking the pills, the possibility of unintended pregnancy.

Women bear the majority of contraception responsibility and the burdens it entails while men have limited reproductive autonomy. We decided to design a pill bag resembling the birth control pills calls the attention to reconceptualize the issue of responsibility and transparency for contraception between men and women.

 

THE PILL BAG

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

A provocative object that can be used in our everyday life to create a commentary about the transparency of consuming birth control as a female which usually being frowned upon when we’re talking to our parents or male counterparts. The embellishment of the bag imitates the form of our birth control package. Instead of pills, we chose to insert babies to show the severity of the pills not taken on time. Babies will be formed which is horrendous if you hate children or are not planning to have one anytime soon.

In addition, the material of the bag is made of up a transparent material because we are focusing on the issue of transparency of consuming birth control. We were inspired by the case study of “Transparent Grenade” during the researcher’s critique and decided to incorporate this element into our object. 

For the user, the function of the bag is to remind them to take the birth control pill in time because it is essential to be punctual in order for it to work by including an alarm. 

As for the observers when the alarms set off, the second layer of interaction will occur as the bag will attract attention with the sound and striking form and embellishment of the pill bag, causing a complicated pleasure. A QR code with “Save it or Kill it” can be scanned and it will lead the public to a survey about birth control and lead them to a page about information related to birth control. 

In addition, not only this is beneficial for the users but it raises awareness by making the public uncomfortable with our object and learning the importance of transparency and responsibility that a woman has to bear to control her body. With the QR code and survey, we are able to track down how many people we have reached out to with the pill bag.

TIMELINE FOR OUR PROGRESS – THE PILL BAG

OBSERVATIONAL DOCUMENTATION FOR USER TESTS

FIRST BODY STORMING

Click on this link to view our first body storming process, video and feedback.

 

INTERACTIVE WORKING PROTOTYPE

First attempt:

Our alarm code is based from this youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQWR0BW8zQ

The code is from this website:

https://github.com/masseullahadel/LCDClock/blob/master/LCDClock.ino

 

COMPONENTS FOR OUR CIRCUIT

RTC Module – to set off an alarm at a specific timing

24V Buzzer (for the sound of the alarm)

Photocell – to stop the alarm and buzzer once the pill has been removed from the compartment (works together with the code of the alarm by replacing the alarm snooze switch button to a photocell which detects light)

LCD Display – for user interface to set the alarm

LED Strips – to light up the pill compartment when alarm it being set off

LCD Display:

Code for LCD Display:

Initially, the circuit wasn’t working with the code we used from the Youtube Video despite having all the components and code correctly placed. After our technical consultation with Lei and Serena, we found out the LCD display wasn’t working and changed it. An important lesson is to check each component is working by itself before assembling everything together!

LED Strips:

Code for LED Strip:

With the help of Serena soldering our mini USB cable to the LED strip and Lei’s technical consult to make the LED lights blink one by one, we were really satisfied with the LED component which will highlight the compartment of our pills at the back of our bag!

RTC Module – The component that is a pain in the ass ):

During our first interactive working prototype exercise, in order for all our other components to work, we have to make the RTC module work in order to set the alarm. Since I’m not really good with coding, I decided to DIWO and asked Weijie (my fwen with an engineering background) and we stayed up from 7pm to 7am to figure out the problem!!! We troubleshoot every single component to figure out the component and we realized that it was the hardware, not the software!!!

We even used Fritzing to arrange all the components and figure out what’s the main issue with this circuit. Firstly, it was the display and now the RTC ): At least, we’ve learnt a new software which is Fritzing to troubleshoot my components in the circuit without having to buy any additional components beforehand to try it out! Thanks Weijie!

So after consulting with Lei, we decided to buy a new RTC module! I decided to try the code outside of the Sunlight store so I can exchange immediately if they sold us another faulty component! I literally sat outside of the story for an hour just to make the RTC component work in our circuit. Thankfully, it finally worked without giving me gibberish numbers and I felt a sense of satisfaction!

To set the timing on the RTC, I used this code:

COMPLETED CIRCUIT VIDEO

DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS FOR OUR CIRCUIT IN PDF FILE:  Pill Bag – Development of Circuit

 

REFLECTION ABOUT USER TESTING:

I’ve realized the importance of user testing. As designers and creators, we tend to assume that the users will automatically know how it works or how to approach it. Sometimes, we’re too ambitious with trying to create something complicated to impress people but simplicity is the better option to send out a message to the public. I’ve learned to think in the perspective of the user and how I should have added visual cues for them to approach our object. To be honest, it was a good experience because every failure is a learning process but not a loss. I was not disheartened by every failure because I knew that our circuit and user approach could be improved with the help of our peers and the community online. 

 

DESIGN PROCESS – CHANGES IN DESIGN

The design process documentation and changes for the pill bag after the first body storming exercise and first interactive working prototype can be seen here: Link

Our final change with the features of the design:

  • The front of the bag will be embellished will pill containing babies.
  • The pill compartment will be placed at the back of the bag with LED lights surrounding it.
  • At a certain timing, the compartment containing the pill will light up and sound off a beeping alarm with a baby crying sound. (Easier for the user to approach)
  • Once, the pill is placed back in the compartment, sound and light sensors will be off.
  • There will be a barcode at the front with a tagline which prompts the public to scan it. “Kill It or Save It” (Why barcode? → Price of contraceptive is a problem too)
  • The second layer of interaction; QR Code: Leads them to a page about our movement (information, questionnaire, maybe donation for people who don’t have access to conceptive)
  • Data collected can be used to raise awareness and inform the public about how many people we managed to reach out using our object.

 

PROTOTYPE PROCESS

 ENVIRONMENT/SET UP OF CONTEXT IN A LIVING ROOM

Location: Level 2 of ADM, nearby 2D Foundation room

BACKGROUND SOUND TO SET THE ENVIRONMENT AND CONTEXT OF OUR PILL BAG

During our test runs before our presenting, we realized we need to create an environment so the tester will know how to approach the object we wanted.

When the alarm sets off, it will create a beeping sound and a baby crying. Why? Whenever we hear an alarm, our first instinct is to shut it off because it’s annoying and it will increase our sense of urgency.

In addition, to guide our tester to our pill bag which is hidden in a wardrobe, a voice recording of “Take the pill to stop it! Take it!”. Another reasoning behind this phrase is when you take your birth control pills, it will reduce the chances of you getting pregnant. Thus, when you removed the pills from the compartment of the bag, it will immediately stop the alarm and the LED using a photocell.

TEST RUN WITH CAROL BEFORE PRESENTATION

We decided to have Carol to test run before our presentation to make final changes to our set up and see if we need any additional changes to make the user experience more enriching.

VIDEO OF THE PILL BAG IN AN ACTUAL SETTING – PRESENTATION DAY

For our main tester, we decided to choose Brian who has no pre-existing knowledge or experience about birth control. After experiencing our setup with the pill bag, he told us that he didn’t know taking your birth control on time is essential to prevent pregnancies and he understands the responsibility and burden a woman has to carry. Hence, raising awareness and empathy for the girls consuming birth control.

FEEDBACK FROM OUR PARTICIPANTS AND OBSERVERS:

NOTE TAKER: FENELLA <3

HOW IT WORKS WHEN IN USE IN A PUBLIC PLACE

Imagine being a female carrying out our pill bag in a public place, when it’s time to consume your birth control pills, the alarm will set off with a beeping and annoying baby crying sound. It will attract the attention of people from the surrounding because of the sound and baby embellishment of the pill bag causing complicated pleasure. With a tagline of “Kill it or Save it” and a QR code next to it, it will spark curiosity amongst them to scan it which will lead to a questionnaire about birth control. Even if they do not wanna do the questionnaire, we are able to keep track of how many people that we reached out to with our provocative object – The Pill Bag. This is to empower woman to be proud and transparent about consuming birth control and we are controlling our body because it’s our choice. Nothing to be ashamed about. 

REFLECTIONS

Experimental Interaction module was a love-hate relationship for me. It really makes me understand the concept of DIWO and I wouldn’t be able to complete this project with the help and guidance of Serena, Lei, Weijie, Tongtong and my peers for giving their opinions about our provocative object. Coding was particularly hard for me and trying to make sure all the software and hardware components work together is really tedious but I’m glad to be able to have this experience! All the mental breakdowns and crying to my peers was worth it because I’m able to make most of the circuit work for our provocative object! The learning process of figuring out the codes and trying to use Arduino in different ways is really enjoyable!

I’ve learned new aspects of interaction design of how we should focus on the impact it can make instead of focusing on marketability and getting rich through profits. To be honest, I used to think that being an interactive designer is not really sustainable and I find it weird but now, I have a new found respect for such people. How admirable are they to be doing such installations and to highlight certain issues in our society so our future generation can benefit from it. I feel that enriching the public with such values as the message of the object/design/project is essential in our society and more projects like these should be funded.

Whatever grade I received for the module, I feel like it’s not really important compared to what I’ve received and learned from Serena and Lei throughout the module about all the case studies about interaction design and discussion. I feel like the knowledge and experience I’ve received from this module will definitely improve my skills as a designer by being able to observe and empathize with the mindset of each individual in the project.

INSTRUCTABLES – THE PILL BAG

PROTOTYPE – THE PILL BAG

MATERIALS:

  • Babies you can buy from Amazon
  • Any thick transparent plastic sheets (Or just buy a ready-made transparent bag)
  • Heat Gun
  • Glue Gun/Sewing Machine
  • The pdf file for the tagline and QR code

CODING  – THE PILL BAG

Final Project: Project Development Body Storming

TASK: BODY STORMING

We were tasked to create a quick mock-up of your installation or object with cardboard, paper, any found objects, electronics, computer, laptop, speakers and etc. A quick prototype to observe our users approaching and interacting with our object to see whether they manage to get the message or issue we are trying to highlight. (User experience with our object/prototype)

CONCEPT: THE PILL BAG

For our final project, we chose to create a provocative object to address the ethical issues in contraceptive justice – issue.

The invention of the birth control pill was a significant milestone in the women’s rights movement. Women currently bear most of the financial and health-related burdens of contraception. On the whole, female methods tend to be more expensive than male methods and female methods have more severe side effects than male methods, as well, in part because various contraceptive methods for women involve hormones, while no methods for men do.

Beyond the health-related and financial considerations, there are also nontrivial inconveniences and burdens associated with contraceptive use: dedicating time and energy to contraception care, feeling stress and anxiety about the taking the pills, the possibility of unintended pregnancy, and facing the social repercussions of contraceptive decisions and the possible moral reproach for contraceptive failures.

Women bear the majority of contraception responsibility and the burdens it entails while men have limited reproductive autonomy.

INTENDED OUTCOME

We decided to design a pill bag resembling the birth control pills blister packs calls the attention to reconceptualize the responsibility for contraception as shared between men and women.

*(After body storming, we decided to change the focus to the transparency of bag on birth control (+ function of the bag of reminding the user to take the birth control pill) and one should not be awkward about this issue. Adding a second layer of interaction which requires the public to scan the barcode to lead them to a page about the information, questionnaire, and donation related to birth control. – raising awareness and ability to track down how many people have we reached out to with our object.)

THE PILL BAG: FIRST DEVELOPMENT – HOW IT WORKS?

FIRST DEVELOPMENT: HOW IT WORKS?

  • Rings at 7 am
  • The alarm (RTC module) will be activated and LED light surrounding the pill on the calender-like embellishment will light up.
  • The alarm will stop once the pill pack is removed and placed back into the compartment. (Using photocell)
  • After consuming the pill, whoever comes near the bag will trigger a beeping sound (using a photocell by controlling the threshold) to show the sensitivity of our user taking the birth control pills. (DECIDED TO OPT THIS FUNCTION OUT)

BODY STORMING PROCESS

OUR PROTOTYPE

LIST OF TASK FOR OUR PARTICIPANT:

  • Persona: Young girl/Women taking birth control pills
  • When the alarm will be activated at 7 am as a reminder to take the pills. (Sound + Light will be activated) 
  • The participant will take pills from the compartment, pretend to consume it and place it back into the compartment. (Sound alarm will be switched off)
  • The LED light on the embellishment of the bag will be switched on for the rest of the day.

VIDEO: PILL BAG – BODY STORMING PROCESS

PARTICIPANT: MEHRILEY

FEEDBACK DURING BODY STORMING PROCESS

NOTE TAKING: CHERYL

During the test:

I guess I’m supposed to act as the xiaomeimei

Looks around trying to find out, where’s the compartment?

Not sure what the tin foil thing is

Didn’t know the pills are inside

–

Feedback:

If didn’t read the thing, don’t know what to do or take on the persona

If were a guy, don’t really know how to approach it

Distracted by pin which is supposed to be the LED pin 

Didn’t realize it was a pouch

Maybe if upright and can see the opening

Not sure what to do with the pills

Might not take the pills, didn’t know need to take the pills

–

Other feedback:

Thought the pin was the pill

Don’t know what to do without the instructions

How to show to take the pill?:

Use the pill organizer box instead?

Design of bag: name or logo of The Pill Bag etc.

Conceptual: If you’re trying to tell guys that responsibility is on the female, why is it still the female who takes the pill?

REFLECTIONS

“What did you learn from this process?”

SITI: The process of body storming allows me to identify the problems of the interaction aspect of the object with our user. This experience enables me to see how people with zero knowledge about our object interacting with it and whether we are able to convey the message/issue that we wanted to highlight. I realized that our object should have obvious cues so the user will know how to approach it. During the body storming, we realized we have one layer of interaction with the user and one of the feedbacks was how do we share the responsibility with the guys or how are they involved. Hence, we decided to add another layer interaction with the public by incorporating a barcode for them to scan which leads them to an informational page about birth control which includes a questionnaire and donation for our movement.

TONGTONG: Through the process of body storming, it helps us to recognize what are the problems that we face in terms of customer experience. The participant was clueless of what to do, even with instruction. This might due to as creators, we are very familiar with the concept and how it works, but it is hard for the participant to understand how it works especially when the object is it not intuitive. The object should send strong emotions and visual cues to create an interaction between the user and the object. So it is essential that when we design the object, we need to think from the user perspective, how are they going to approach the object, and what will they feel when they interact with the object.

“What surprised you while going through the process?”

SITI: During the body storming process, we thought it was obvious to remove the pills from the compartment because a list of task was already listed. However, our participant had a hard time locating the pills to consume and it made us realized that we should make the pill compartment more obvious and incorporate LED around it to highlight the area they should look for. I felt that our prototype should indicate the features of the LED, pill embellishment and pill compartment clearly.

TONGTONG: Many things that I thought would be intuitive for the users were not. For example,  the participant was having a difficult time to find the pills?? Where is the LED light and How to off the LED light?? Everyone includes the audiences were confused!

“How can you apply what you have discovered to the designing of your installation?”

SITI: After observing during our bodystorming and our peer’s process, I realized we have to make our object more inclusive so the message of highlighting the issues of birth control will reach out to more people, educating people from all walks to lives. From the feedback of our peers, we decided to re-structure the features of the bag to make it more idiot-proof. In addition, we decided to change the responsibility of bearing the birth control to the transparency about educating people about birth control. Hence, making it functional to the user as well as sending a message to the public and making them involved to make a change. Most importantly, the form and features of our pill bag have to be aesthetically appealing to make a statement. 

TONGTONG: There are quite a number of things we have to add and change in our object, firstly, is the form of the object,  instead of a pouch we think that a handbag bag might be a better idea cause not everyone uses pouch. Secondly, we decided to add a pill bag compartment outside the bag, so it helps with the customer experiences journey to be more intuitive.

Research Critique 5 – Design Noir (Suicide Box)

According to Anthony Duane and Fiona Raby, design can be divided into two categories; affirmative design and critical design.

Affirmative design conforms to cultural, social, technical and economic expectation whereas, critical design rejects and challenge what is available in the industry as the only possibility, with alternative ideas that embody values in design as the foundation to raise awareness on social, cultural, technological, ethical issues that make us think. It can be used to provoke new ideas for systems, products, and services.

In authors’ words, the design profession will lose all intellectual credibility and “be viewed simply as agent of capitalism”, if they insist on focusing on marketability. Popular design has to sell in large number thus, focusing on capitalism instead of the impact it might make. It lacks practicality as it promotes desires for new products, ensures obsolescence and encourages dissatisfaction with what we have. Unfortunately, most critical design objects are deemed as conceptual design because it is unlikely to be funded by the industry due to challenging its agendas.

Developing critical perspective in design is essential because having an intellectual stance creates a more responsible and pro-active role within the society. It emphasizes on neither commercial purpose or physical utility. Creating design that challenges the system will encourage discussion among everyone about why certain values are embodied in the design, and question about the design proposals about the progress of technology, consumerism and cultural value being implemented in our lives.

Affirmative design focus on the production rate, product, and its feasibility. Whereas, critical design focus on the consumption, aesthetic of use and, the user experience and awareness it can offer. Hence, critical design is a powerful form of social critique by implementing values as a raw material into the object.

For example, Suicide Box by Natalie Jeremijenko, created this box to reveal the political nature of data abstraction as she felt that advanced technology is being taken for granted. The object is a motion-triggered camera developed by the Bureau of Inverse Technology placed on the Golden Gate Bridge for 100 days. The purpose of the suicide box is to count the number of people jumping off the bridge. When vertical motion is detected, it will trigger the camera to record to disk, supplying public, frame-accurate data of a social phenomenon not previously quantified.

An average of 0.68 suicides per day during the duration of the project. This statistics and data create an opportunity to characterize the value of suicide. Previously, the value of suicide has been extremely hard to quantify and represent but with its imaging of suicide, it recovers statistical representation and quantifies suicide in the logic of information thus, shedding some light into the issue of mental health and how the data collected and can be used to improve the situation. With the advancement of technology, having a critical perspective in design is essential to create a commentary of reflection and criticism regarding a certain issue with our object or artwork with the public to progress as a society.

References:

  • Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects by Anthony Duane and Fiona Raby
  • http://www.bureauit.org/sbox/#back
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Jeremijenko#Suicide_Box
  • https://simplicable.com/new/critical-design

 

Micro-Project 4: Disobedient Objects – Warning Wallet

After being introduced to ‘Critical Making’; a combination of Critical Thinking and Hands-On Making, we were tasked to create a disobedient object by hacking an everyday household object. The objective of this micro-project is to incorporate Arduino, sensors, and actuators with our chosen object so that it behaves in the least expected way.

Group Members: Siti Khadijah & Tong Tong

 

IDEATION

1. Screaming Headband

Hacking a headband so when we place our head below a certain level, it will start to beep, the objective of the hacked object is to increase productivity, avoid sleeping while when we are doing work.

2. Screaming Shoes

Hacking a pair of shoes so when the user enters a room with the shoes on, it will start to beep, the objective of the hacked object is to prevent the worn shoes into the room.

3. Warning Wallet

Hacking a wallet so when the user opens the wallet and take out a card from the cardholder, the wallet will produce an alarming noise to alert the user to control spending, give a second thought before spending.

4. “True love” Earrings

Hacking an earring so when the user’s body temperature goes up, the earring will light up, the earning is helping the user to detect the love of his/her life.

 

CHOSEN IDEA: WARNING WALLET

After the presentation of ideas and discussing with one another, we decided to go with the third idea, we felt that the Warning Wallet is conceptually stronger and it’s a legit problem that we face everyday-impulsive spending. So we did a research on “How to avoid impulsive spending?” The first step to making a change in behavior is to recognize the problem. Once you acknowledge that uncontrolled spending is an issue, your awareness of the problem will help you follow through with a plan to stop. The alarming noise produced by “Warning Wallet” helps the user to acknowledge that uncontrolled spending issue thus, it helps reduce impulsive spending. In addition, creating an uncomfortable situation will embed discomfort and awkwardness into their experience hence, they won’t repeat the same action and it will serve as a reminder before they spend their money. 

PROCESS – ‘WARNING WALLET‘

  • Figuring out the code

The essential components in our circuit are the switch button which acts a sensor to trigger the beeping sound when the card is removed from the wallet and the sound motor which beeps when it is triggered. 

Using reference (below) from Open Source websites and forums, we were able to solve the issues we had which is being able to loop the beeping sound and the switchState to trigger the beeping sound.

  • https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=350943.0
  • https://www.electroschematics.com/8964/turn-on-led-button-arduino/

CONSULTATION WITH LEI

We were able to simplify our code and learned the easier way to do the switchState and adjusting the pitch of our beeping sound to make it more annoying.

  • Circuit Board

VIDEO: HOW OUR ‘WARNING CIRCUIT’ WORKS?

On a breadboard:

We realized that the breadboard was too big to be fitted in the wallet and we wanted our participants to have good user experience with our hacked object. Hence, we consulted some of our friends with an engineering background to solve this issue. 

SUGGESTIONS FROM WEIJIE (ENGINEERING FRIEND):

After discussing with each other, our group members decided to:

  1. Buy an Arduino Nano to make it compact and portable for our ‘Warning Wallet’
  2. Upload code onto Arduino Nano
  3. Solder the wires directly onto the Arduino with reference to our circuit on the breadboard
  4. Create a casing prototype for our circuit 
  • Process of soldering directly onto Arduino 

Since we’re are not experienced with soldering, we decided to ask assistance from our engineering friend and learn how to solder all the components together. Through this experience, we were able to learn the ‘hands-on’ making of the project and improve our ability to create a robust and working circuit.

FINAL OUTCOME OF SOLDERING ONTO ARDUINO NANO:

Wejie told us that he decided to solder extra wires connecting the power and the ground to a battery in case, our power bank isn’t working so there’s another alternative to power the hacked object.

 

VIDEOS: TWO WAYS TO POWER THE ‘WARNING WALLET’

  • Powered by Xiaomi power bank – For compatibility and convenience 

  • Powered by 9V battery – Another alternative

 

  • Prototype casing for ‘Warning Wallet’

Sewn and glued together, a wallet prototype for the circuit. The main objective of this prototype is to create a section in the cardholder for the switch button which will trigger the beeping sound when the card is removed from it. 

ISSUES WITH OUR PROTOTYPE CASING – WALLET:

  • The card slots in the wallet weren’t tight enough to prevent the switch button from beeping. Hence, I added a clip to add more pressure to press against the switch button as an immediate solution. 

 

*FINAL OUTCOME – ‘WARNING WALLET‘

  • VIDEOS

 

  • HARDWARE
  • CIRCUIT

 

  • Code

‘WARNING WALLET‘ IN USE IN A REAL LIFE CONTEXT

OUR EXPERIENCE:

  • As the users, honestly, we were quite embarrassed because of the loud beeping sound activated in the public and we wanted the purchasing process of buying bread to be over as soon as possible.
  • The auntie was wondering where the sound was coming from and kept looking around so, it was amusing to us. Afterward, she realized it was coming from our wallet and informed us about it. 
  • We felt like we were able to deliver the objective of our hacked object and we’re pleased with the results.

 

PRESENTATION IN CLASS

ISSUES DURING PRESENTATION:

  • During our test trials and runs before the presentation, it was working fine. However, we were unlucky and the wire for the sound motor soldered to the Arduino Nano came off when we’re presenting ): 
  • Despite this mishap, we had documentation videos of our working prototype and how it works in a real-life situation to present to our peers.

 

REFLECTIONS

“How does your hacked object behave in a way you least expect it to?”

SITI: A function of a wallet is supposed to store and safeguard valuables such as cash, cards, and identification details. Due to the consumerist culture of purchasing items that we do not need but want, we decided to hack a wallet and create an uncomfortable interaction. When a card is being removed from the wallet, the switch button will be released and trigger a loud beeping sound. Hence, creating an uncomfortable and awkward situation during the process of payment. The participant using the hacked object will be shocked and try to figure out how to stop the looping beeping sound which is by placing the card back into its slot. It serves as a reminder not to overspend and makes the user think whether it’s necessary to purchase an item.

TONG TONG: Our hacked object was designed to respond to the user’s movement, which is to take out the card from the card slot. We made a cardboard wallet and use a clip to exert a force onto the switch to imitate the actual wallet. In all our testing, we were assuming that the user will know how to use the wallet until the wallet is being used by the others, we then release the problem.

 

“What are some reactions you observed from your participants when they interacted with the object?”

SITI:

  • TongTong as the participant

During our test run in a real-life context, our prototype was working fine. When we were making our payment to the pastry store auntie, the beeping sound was activated and she was trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. You can see the confusion and frustration on her face. Personally, we as the participants wanted the whole process to be done as soon as possible but it was hilarious to see her reaction. After the payment is done, we were relieved that the annoying beeping sound has been stopped.

  • Brian as the participant

During our presentation, he wasn’t sure how to approach our ‘Warning Wallet’ but he took out the card but our circuit wasn’t working. The soldered wire of the sound motor was not connected properly and it might have been loose during the process of transportation. I should have been more careful in terms of safeguarding the circuit or should have created a protective casing for the wires to prevent such things from happening.

TONG TONG: Our first participant Brian, he was initially confused with how he should approach the object, when he took out the card from the wallet with the wallet being not very responsive, just happened that not to work during the presentation, even though we tried many times before the presentation, he is even more confused.

 

“What are the challenges involved and how did you overcome them? What problems still exist? How might you overcome them eventually?”

SITI:

We faced a lot of challenges during the process of creating our ‘Warning Wallet’.

As we’re not proficient in coding, we relied on opensource forums and the knowledge we’ve learned in class to figure out the codes suitable to apply for our circuit.

We realized that to make our prototype more realistic during user experience, we had to focus on the compatibility and portability of our ‘Warning Wallet’. With the assistance of our friends with an engineering background, we were given suggestions to change to an Arduino Nano and solder our components directly so it will be compact. In addition, we learned how to solder directly, simplify the circuit and completed the circuit together (DIWO). Personally, it was a meaningful and fun experience collaborating with my friends and I appreciate their skills.

During the process of creating the prototype casing of the ‘Warning Wallet’, the card slots in our spare wallet weren’t tight enough and I had to resort to making a wallet out of cardboard because I didn’t want to destroy our current wallet that works perfectly with the circuit. However, despite creating a prototype casing out of cardboard, the card slot and card were still not tight enough to press against the switch button sensor. I resorted to adding a clip onto the card to exert more force onto the switch button sensor to prevent it from beeping (immediate solution because we didn’t have much time left). Hence, affecting the user experience of our participants for the presentation ):

When we were faced with this issue of making the sensors work, we realized we should have change the sensor from the switch button to a photocell sensor (detects light) which is much better as it doesn’t require force and it will stop beeping when the card is covering the photocell. The user experience of the participants will be much better if we tried multiple sensors for our circuit before finalizing which sensor is the best option for our hacked object! (Lesson learned!)

TONG TONG: There were several challenges that we faced throughout the process, involved hiding the components of the setup. We decided to buy a smaller Arduino board and soldering it so we were able to hide everything inside the wallet. We could have improved on our object by doing user testing, then we will realize the problem of the product. It would have been better if we use an actual wallet instead of the cardboard. Moreover, there was the issue of the choice of sensor, photosensor (detects the presence of visible light) might be a better choice than using the switch (detects the pressure).

 

THANK YOU!

Micro-Project 3: Together Split

 

https://vimeo.com/316642795 (Please click this link if video shown above isn’t playing)

Group members: Desiree, Fenella, Tong Tong and I

OUR PROJECT

Our concept was a collaborative performance to recreate a music video of “Take On You” by a-ha, using Instagram’s Split Screen Video Group Chat Feature. 

The objective of this project is to create a third body whereas each screen interacts with one another by creating a connection through choreographing a pattern of movements and gestures with 4 members. Despite being displaced physically, we had to be connected on a third space executing the choreography as coherent as possible according to the beat and rhythm of the soundtrack.

Basically, we’re like the beta version of Poreotics, a dance group that uses tutting; a dance style which are based on angular movements which involves intricate movements of the fingers and body parts to create a pattern according to the lyrics or rhythm of the music. What makes us different is we’re an amateur performance group that uses subpar tutting skills IN A THIRD SPACE. Bammmmm!!! <3  

LOCATION

It was performed on the second floor of the ADM building in different locations.

PROCESS

Initially, we thought it would be easier to plan the execution of the performance according to the beat and rhythm of the soundtrack. Little did we know that perception of time is different to everyone and people who are musically challenged like me ): However, it was a helpful tool as a non-verbal cue for us to begin and continue with the next movement in our performance despite being displaced physically. 

The sequence of our performance:

  • Typing “LET’S DO IT” in the group chat to inform the other members to get ready. 
  • Bobbing of heads
  • Zooming in and out of our faces
  • Snapping of fingers with half our faces connected to the other screen to form a one whole face
  • Creating a pattern of continuous movement by moving our arms vertically, horizontally and diagonally interacting with different frames such as connecting one’s arm to one’s hand to create a whole arm in two screens.
  • Heart shape
  • Thumbs up to end the video

OUTCOME

The difficulties we’ve experienced doing this project are execution, scalability and framework, disconnection and lastly, the shortcoming of recording our performance.

  • EXECUTION: 

The execution of the performance was really challenging because we had to figure how to use the terminal, choreography our movements according to the soundtrack and practise to perfect the movements in order to produce a good quality work. In addition, we had another issue with each member’s perception of time hence, we spent quite some time to synchronise according to the exact beat after discussing that we should follow Tong Tong’s rhythm. We had to record our performance a few times but we managed to produce one with a decent outcome with the objective we had in mind. 

  • SCALABILITY AND FRAMEWORK

This was another factor that affected the accuracy and synchronization of our movements because it was hard to judge how far our face should be from the screen and we had to roughly estimate ourselves in order to link up with the member on the other screen. It was really tedious because we can only perfect it the best we could within the amount of practise we could afford at that timing. 

  • DISCONNECTION

Another issue that we faced was disconnection and lagging due to our Wifi network. Whenever there’s a disconnection and someone left the group chat due to the network problem, it will change the orientation of the framework. Hence, we had to switch phones to make it easier for us because we had already planned out which frame each member should be in. In addition, during the final recording, one of our member’s phone is lagging and it affected the quality of the performance. 

  • SHORTCOMING OF RECORDING OUR PERFORMANCE

Not everyone has the same placement of the framework of each member on the platform. I was the one screen-recording the performance so I had to lay out the perimeters and give directions to ensure that our movements and scale appear similar to one another. Also, the screen recording on the latest iOS version on the iPhone doesn’t record audio. Hence, we had to play the music and the recorded performance during the presentation. 

The overall experience of this micro-project was enjoyable and we were happy with results of the outcome even though it could be better if we were given more time. It is essential to make sure everyone have the same perception of time and accurate scale of the proportion of their body to the screen. The outcome of this project is really dependent on our communication skills as a team and dealing with the uncontrollable circumstances of using a platform that relies on Wifi. All in all, we made the best we could with the duration given to us to complete this project and we are satisfied! 

Oh yeah, I think it would be super cool if Poreotics did own rendition of performing in a third space with their awesome tutting dance style. I bet it will be go viral as compared to ours!

“Which project did you feel you had the most creative control? Why?”

MICRO-PROJECT 1: CREATING THE THE THIRD SPACE. I had the creative freedom to curate my posts according to the direction I have in mind and set a mellow theme. There’s no restrictions regarding the quality and quantity of the photographs. Hence, I was able to manipulate the images by adding filters which assisted in evoking emotions, to create my series of significant places in ADM on a virtual space. Due to the ability and power to edit as a creator on the platform, I had the ability to manipulate the engagement and interaction by deleting responses that aren’t relevant or blocking some words so it won’t appear on the comments section. Overall, as a DIY and DIWO project, my work added value to the collective artworks on the platform with my definition of a significant place in ADM. However, I had no control in terms of the overall look of the third space (#1010adm) as a whole. It is an inclusive platform which allows people to participate and view artworks from different participants with different approach and theme of the topic given on the platform.

“Which project had the most unpredictable outcome? Why?”

MICRO-PROJECT 2: CROWDSOURCED ART. Personally, it was an eye-opening experience for me because the outcome of this project was highly dependent on the participants’ responses and how they interpreted the tasks given to them. As the project initiators, we laid out the perimeters and give a set of tasks for selected groups or individuals to do on Whatsapp. They were given the freedom to participate or ignore our request. Hence, we only had the creative control in the beginning with objectives of the project and planning. We had no control over the overall look and direction of the two collages which is dependent on the participants’ responses which are dynamic whenever another response is submitted. The outcome of the project will determine the success of the project on whether the participants are able to deliver what the creators had envisioned in the planning process or create an outcome that is even better. All in all, it was a challenging yet and an interesting take on allowing the participants to have control over the outcome of the project. Igniting our curiousity as the creators on how our project will turn out.

“Which project best illustrates the concepts of DIWO & Open–Source? Why?”

MICRO-PROJECT 1: CREATING THE THE THIRD SPACE. Despite physical distance being a boundary, all the participants are connected on a third space to collaborate and create our own representation of the significant places in ADM. #1010adm is hosted on Instagram which acts as public and virtual platform for unlimited possibilities and creations for anyone to participate or view which strongly resonates the open-source culture. As a collective, posting and curating this space with our work creates more exposure, engagement and responses as compared to an individual artist. Hence, it has a strong concept of DIWO by creating a platform which showcases different individuality and approach to the theme of the hashtag to make the project more impactful and reach out more to others with the following we have on social media. 

Micro-Project 2: Crowd-Sourced Art

Crowd-sourced art is about a collaborative process which focus on inclusivity of the artist and outsourcing its formation to willing participants using networked communication to create an artwork. The artist creates an intent and the starting point with setting a task and a series of instructions, followed by the participants’ contribution and approach to the project which will be the final product of the artwork. It revolves around the concept of (DIWO: Do-It-With-Others) which was taught in the previous class. 

An interesting research regarding crowd-sourced art which shows the scale of how much control the creator of the project are willing to allow the participants to take control in creating the final outcome of the artwork. Source: https://amt-lab.org/blog/2018/7/crowdsourced-digital-art-projects-centralization-and-agency 

My team members are Alicia Ng and Brian Chong. 

HAPPY vs. KMS

 

Our crowd-sourced community was targeted at our contact list on WhatsApp messenger, an instant messaging platform that allows electronic devices to exchange text, image, video, audio messages and location of the users. We decided to choose WhatsApp because it allows our participants to have different ways to respond and we can approach our participants in a group chat or a personal chat setting. 

 

This collective artwork garners contribution from our willing participants on WhatsApp to provide a photo response to the respective questions;

“What makes you happy? It can be anything.”

“What makes you wanna kill yourself?”

The objective of our artwork is to gather an image representation of what makes them happy or what makes them wanna kill themselves without any text. The goal intended is to create a collage of the two notion of happiness and sadness with the contribution of the participants thus, showcasing the final two collage to the audience who will be viewing and guessing the overall sentiment of each collage. Hence, the social interaction involves the creators’ intent, participant’s response and the audience’s opinion about the artwork.

PROCESS

First layer of interaction between the creators and the participants is sending out the task and instructions for them to respond to. Second layer of interaction is the participants have a choice to respond and participate or just ignore. 

RESPONSE

The participants had questions and different interpretation of the instructions given so they had to clarify what must they do in order to respond to my question. All these questioning made us realised a few ways to improve and make our instructions clearer for majority of the audience to understand easily.

DIFFERENT RESPONSES IN DIFFERENT SETTINGS

We realised there were different response and reaction when the instructions were being sent out to the individual personally and in a group chat setting. 

Personal Chat

The attitude of the participants who were being approached in a personal chat tend to be more expressive and put in a lot of thought before answering the questions. It wasn’t necessary to explain the meaning behind those photos they’ve sent but they were genuine about expressing their thoughts. 

Group Chat

The responses received from a group setting tend to be a bit more humorous and silly. It takes just the one person to set the tone of the conversation to be serious or humorous. In addition, being in a group chat, your response tend to be build upon the previous reply thus, influencing conformity. 

FINAL OUTCOME

The final collage of the two notions of happiness and sadness were presented to our class, creating a third layer of interaction. Without any text and just images collected from our participants, we made the audience guess the overall sentiment of the collage. Despite the participants not being physically there, their contribution added value and completed the project with the intent that we had as our end goal. We as creators, were curious too about the final outcome of the collage as the participant’s contribution is unpredictable which spark our sense of curiousity and engagement.

Personally, I felt it was a success because the audience were able to relate to the sentiments of the photos in the collage. Despite not putting restrictions to our participant’s contribution of their representation of these emotions, the audience managed to interpret the notions of happiness and sadness.

OBSERVATION & TAKEAWAYS

  • There were different responses despite setting a task and instructions given which is just a photo to answer the questions asked. However, due to different interpretation of the participants of the task at hand, despite disrupting the overall approach of the concept, it gives a creative outlook of the crowdsourced artwork, making it more unique with a sense of depth. Personally, I just think it’s human nature to rebel against the task given to stand out more or being able to feel a sense of control unconsciously in whatever we partake in.
  • To my surprise, majority of the participants did not ask the purpose behind those questions and answered without questioning due to the factors such as the closeness of our relationship and trust. However, some were curious about their involvement and wanting to see the overall outcome of the crowd-sourced project. Some of the participants were particular about their privacy and anonymity, hence, wanting us to crop out some of the details.
  • We expected the interaction to stop after most of the participants made contribution to the project, however, it enables a conversation in the group chat to be active again, discussing about our well-being at the moment and wanting to meet up. Hence, it shows that certain conversation can be built upon our previous responses and interaction. “It just takes one person to start a movement.”
  • “People have different persona in all spaces”. The responses might differ according to the setting of the environment hence, affecting the authenticity of the contribution which leads back to the intent of the creators.

 

How is your crowd-sourced project different from one that is created by a single artist/creator?

Our crowd-sourced project starts off with an intent and approach to the whole concept which is versatile. We tried not give a lot of restrictions so the participants have the freedom to express themselves. Our end goal is unpredictable and changes every time we receive a response from the participants, so there was no definite outcome to the whole artwork. Every contribution adds value to the whole collage hence, it is dynamic process of a doing crowd-sourced art. Majority of the control of the direction and outcome of the artwork is depended on the participants which is determined by the layout and perimeters are formed by the creators on the platform.

A single artist/creator usually have an end goal to the whole process but not necessarily. However, the process of doing the artwork won’t be so dynamic as there isn’t a crowd to control the direction of the artwork freely. Hence, the process of the artwork is not as ever-changing and the end goal is most likely predictable since the creator have the upper hand of the overall work.

 

Inspiration for our crowd-sourced artwork: Sketch Aquarium

Art Science Museum – Sketch Aquarium

The Art Science Museum created an interactive augmented reality platform which is an aquarium where visitors are allowed to create their own version of animals by drawing from their imagination that can be scanned and transform from 2D piece into a movable 3D piece which will be placed into this AR platform. The objective is to ignite the visitor’s creative spark and create a collage of all the unique contribution of the visitors into this AR ecosystem that is enhanced with subtle background music and LED lights projected onto a screen. Each artwork is unique individually and all of the contribution of the visitors creates a beautiful ecosystem with a variety of species and colours.

Hence, giving the participants the freedom to contribute to the outcome of the artwork can be unpredictable and dynamic as an end goal. However, it’s one of the unique yet challenging feature of doing a crowd-sourced artwork as a creator or project initiator.

Micro-Project 1: Creating the Third Space

Why did you choose this space or object to photograph?

The significance of this location is a place of escapism from the chaos in class. The blur in the photo was accidental but it really depicts how I feel whenever I’m trying to take a breather from the stress and pressure, to relax and calm down. Personally, exiting the school compound during breaks is a temporary relief to reset my stress level back to 20% and building up my motivation to end the day well.

 

The toilet cubicle has a special significance to me as it’s one of places where I seek refuge to show my vulnerability. It’s a communal place yet private and intimate to me. Despite being constraint in a small space, I feel safe because nobody will be able to look at me. Being guarded by three vertical dividers allows me to let down my guards and be my true self. The interaction from the viewers tells me that different people have different sentiments attached to the space. Some disagreed that it is not a safe place and some got reminded of a memory attached to this space. Hence, factors such as memories, proximity of the space and notions might influence your emotional attachment to the place.

 

I’ve decided to photograph ‘Pepe the Frog’ poster on a locker because it brings back memories during the finals week in Semester 1. It evokes a sense of familiarity as I recalled the emotions I’ve felt during that period by looking at this expression of the frog. Tired and drained out. The fact that it’s being pasted on a locker that is safeguarded by a lock reminds me of how I have to put away all the unnecessary distractions in life to focus on my school work. Good times…

 

I’ve chosen this photograph focusing mainly on the concept of how a vending machine works. It serves as a reminder to my work ethics and mindset in life. “different input, different outcome” is the caption I’ve chosen because I’ve observed that there’s multiple ways to get our goals and we have the choice to decide how we are going to get to the end point. There’s no right or wrong way, especially, in the design industry. For example, there are coins that will add up to $1.50 to get the orange juice that we want and we can also put more than the amount needed and the machine will return back the change. Reminding me that different situations have different approaches such as ‘Less is More’, ‘Just enough’ or ‘More than what is expected’ to achieve the end goal that we want so, it’s essential to plan. Everyone’s goal is different and the amount of effort we put it varies too. Hence, this is a reminder that I should be grateful to have the freedom to choose what I want to be and make full use of my opportunities.

 

What are some of the characteristics of this alternative virtual space you had created collectively?

  • It shows individuality of each creator’s approach to the direction given to us about significant places in ADM. As a whole, it resonate strong sentiments about one’s significant place in ADM influenced by their memories, emotions or experiences attached to the space.
  • There’s added value whenever there’s new content being posted by the participants contributing to this platform.
  • Public sharing platform where anyone with an Instagram can view the content gathered and created by #1010adm or even add their own creations with no restrictions regarding quality and quantity of the photographs. Personally, I realised it spiked people’s interest and curiosity during the first week of school because the hashtag was going around on social media due to the exposure, connectivity and engagement of the ADM students with our peers online.
  • The ability and power to edit the space according to our representation of the actual space in ADM that we want to showcase. For example, adding filters or cropping certain part of the original photo to focus on the main idea/object, manipulating and evoking a certain reaction or emotion that we have in mind from the viewers. Hence, we have the freedom to curate and approach the topic of this project in multiple ways onto this alternative virtual space.

 

Under what circumstance will this alternative virtual space change?

It will change in terms of the value whenever there’s new content being posted by the participants contributing to #1010adm platform. The interaction of the viewers with the post will change the space with their comments, being able to relate with the post based on their sentiments or experience of the shared space and the popularity of the post considering the amount of people who will be able to view it due to the creator’s following and influence on the platform. Hence, despite the platform being on a limitless and vast virtual space, there will be changes and added value due to the interactivity of this platform until there’s no more viewers or participants going to the #1010adm platform.

As #1010adm is a virtual space being hosted on Instagram, there will be changes if the hashtag or certain content is being removed due to violating the guidelines of the platform.

 

How does this project relate to what we discussed in the lecture regarding co-creation. In the concept of Do-It-Yourself (DIY), Do-It-With-Others (DIWO)?

Despite doing the in-class assignment alone (DIY), the #1010adm project focuses on collaborative art which brings content from different creators onto the same platform instantaneously (DIWO). This project is a different approach of (DIWO) collaboration on a social media platform without having to communicate physically with one another but we are interconnected virtually. Being able to engage people to view the content under the same virtual platform and it brings exposure as a collective. It showcase a variety of works and viewers can find something that they can relate to or express their agreement or disagreement. This project relates to DIWO and co-creation because without a platform to gather all these content and interaction, all these thoughts and works are kept to oneself and it wouldn’t be as dynamic as a combination of each creator’s individuality and style which adds value to the whole collaborative project.

Similarly to Yoko Ono, Cutpiece (1964), The interactivity between Yoko Ono, participants and the viewers will lead to the end product of the whole performance art (DIWO). Factors such as the reaction from the viewers, participant’s decision to cut the amount of cloth from Yoko Ono’s clothing and her tolerance towards the whole performance art as she has a choice to stop or continue, will affect the whole end product. Thus, the outcome is unpredictable and ever-changing.