Thursday, January 31, 2008
Cicek gets the calendar up and starts working.. kinda..
After spotting the general problems in my thesis, I realized I had to make a calendar that is realistic. After long hours of wondering how I will get all of this work done, I broke down my duties in three main categories, and here it goes.
Gaaaah!!! Writing Stuff! - The longest & Coolest Post
Since I've been trying to get all my files together (My documents are scattered all over three computers).
Small little links for writing:
Impetus
Research
Design Questions ( Please scroll down.. Sorry! Will be uploaded soon!)
Methodology
Perspective (down down aaaall the way down.. I promise I'm uploading them soon!
Just to get it up there, I'm copying and pasting all my papers here!
Impetus Paper: Why am I doing this project?
Why would a grown up need a toy (sexual or playful)?
The whole idea behind the project came from my very own
thought of growing up and its’ effects.
At the time of adolescence, many people feel like they want
to grown up as fast as they can to gain more dominant roles
and make decision for themselves. I do believe that after a
while the “coolness” of being able to buy booze or having a
house where friends come over and party till the morning doesn’t
sound appealing. Especially when the responsibilities get stronger
and stronger: earning money, planning a budget, cleaning and
so on. Here’s the brainstorm of the idea of growing up:
So here how it goes:
Growing up rocks in many means:
- you can buy booze and show your ID with total confidence.
- have a house of our own and call friends over whenever and however you like.
- hook up with people not be forces to explain it.
- freedom of bedtime.
but after a while the doom of the city-life / adult-life takes over:
- Managing bills turn into a huge hastle
- "So how am I going to afford a plumber after Jack's success in the bathroom?"
- Why can't anybody go out?
- I miss mom..
- Deadlines for projects.. I can't even make a joke about this situation.
- I just wanna lay done without worrying about entertaining someone.
- I need someone here.. Someone who I can turn on and off whenever I want.
Personally the idea of being alone and carrying the load of life
started when I moved to New York and started looking for an apartment
for myself. Until that point, everything seemed easy and manageable
but at the time when I’ve found myself lost in the middle of Williamsburg,
I realized how hard it was to accomplish an” easy-sounding task”. Since I
moved to New York to start a life, I had a strong urge to prove myself as
a grown up, so I’ve never thought if would be appropriate to call my parents
every time I felt down. As a substitution, I thought about them and the idea of
them being proud of me. That was the time it stroke that I was alone in this new
world, struggling to get things done.
Especially the time I’ve started Parsons, I realized the loneliness I had was very
common, especially among non-New Yorker students.
When the "lived-in" space changes, there are certain issues to be taken care of,
especially when the previous space is our homeland and the new space is the other
side of the world. I realized that the more I grow up/old and apart from my parent,
the more and grander my responsibilities are.
There are technologies around us which are trying to get us connected to our loved ones; cell phones, chat programs, wearables and so on. But at some point, the two way
communication needs explanation. In a communication model with a computer, there is no need for an explanation. The current version of the project is made of two parts:
Adventurer, the soft wearable and the Stuck, the hard base. These two parts are a
reflection of the self. Adventurer is a part of us who built up all the courage to
change our lives and move far away from home, where on the other side the Stuck is
our part who moved far away from home but still longing for the ones we love.
Even the simplest sound clip of a mother, lover, friend or child can keep the fire
burning and give a comfort: Here, when two parts come together and form a shape (a face), both visually and audially they represent a happy version of ourselves.
The way I see my project is an audial/vocal version of a portable photo album, which
carries a part of us. The idea of objects having a life has always fascinated me and
the fact that every object we own or we “contact” with is actually a extension of
ourselves. This project is an executed version of how we are represented with the
objects we own and are surrounded by.
Research: What am I looking for?
Even though the main idea remained the same, the paths and areas
of research changed a lot in this project. Up until this point, the
research was mainly concentrated on precedents and products out there
that carry the similar aim of my project.
The reason why I have concentrated on a more object-based research but
not literal is that, the thesis idea is actually a product. Searching
answers for the same question and finding very interesting solutions
fascinated me and added up to my way of thinking about the project.
In that sense, I’ve come across with a lot of products:
• Chuchi – Banana Design Lab
• Needies – Amos Bloomberg, Daniel Perlin and Brett Schultz
• Blood Pool Pillows
• Keepon – Marek Michalowski and Hideki Kozima
• Huggable Jacket
After the presentation for the first iteration the research started to be
more technical based, but still looking for other projects was and is my
primary focus.
One of the areas that I focused was wireless technology. Because the
project might try to communicate with each other ( a user can send a sound
clip to someone else), the research started to change a little shape.
Bunny Christmas Show – Jenny Wu and Rafael Mejia:
By choosing some certain actions on the website, the bunnies react to what
is said. If the user tells them to lose weight, they get angry and they ears
bend down. The reason why this project is a part of the research I’ve made is,
there is a certain characteristic given to the toy.
Virtual Kisses – Alexis Lloyd:
Even though this was already in my research, it is important to point out
how two people communicate a simple message with two simple toys. Just by
the vibration of the plush ( that imitates a kiss) the user receiving the
kiss is pumped up with the comfort that I am looking for as a product of the
project.
Chatter Pillow and Plushie – Rebecca Stern
Here, the pillow is the interface to receive messages. There are three
messages: xo, on my way and talk to me. When chosen from the computer, the
message is sent to the pillow and the receiver will get the message, when the
LED’s light up. The more and more I look into the project, I realize that
the message send is not that important, but the idea of sending a message and
trying to reach out to someone is actually my main idea. The quality of the
sound clips I’m planning to have and the meaning of the messages are not as
important as having a message present. It is a small moment where the user
can get even a small relief or comfort.
Besides the product based research, I have also been in contact with my target
audience to see where the product stands. So I’ve created a small questionnaire
with simple questions: What shape makes you feel comfortable? How likely are
you to buy a product like this? What sense makes you more comfortable; touch,
smell, visual, audile? I’ve asked 17 people: 9 boys and 8 girls; 4 Americans,
13 non-Americans; 16 technology-friendly, 1 non technology friendly; 8 students,
9 non-students. The creation of the questionnaire helped me to figure out the
fact that there are a lot of aspects to consider in designing the object: the
nationality, gender and hobbies. The more I’ve got the questionnaire done,
I’ve realized nationality was not a big deal but gender had a major difference.
Females tend to have something to hug, touch and look at, where as Males were
concentrated on having sound and visual means as comforting. I am still doing the
questionnaire and looking forward to change the questions and ask the focus
group to take the questionnaire again.
For the literate search, I am still looking into toy design books. But also I
am supporting the idea with Sex Toys and their outcomes (since they have the same
effects with the project I am working on), Being Homesick (as a part of the
Psychology domain), wearable technology.
I am Plastic by Paul Baudnitz concentrated on different styles all along the world,
which helped me to lend on my current design a lot, especially the product line
Kidrobot. Another book, which I think will be a very enlightening, is Plush-o-rama:
Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Knapp. This book is concentrating on
how grown ups concentrate and spend their money to and why. With that I will build
up a better reference list for books.
The last area that I’ve concentrated on is the contact list. Yury Gitman, Randy
Sarafan and Allison Lewis already accepted my cry of help and still I am looking for
some more people concentrating in the area that I am interested in.
In general, the research is still scattered all over the place but the more I dig
into looking for more products, the more I get shocked what kind of a big and yet
tight market it is to get into. I thought this kind of products were only in my
interest but surprisingly the market is very large.
Design Questions Paper: Mood + Object + Presence = Companion
The main idea behind this project is to have a small "companion" that can playback sound clips of the loved ones when the user feels homesick. In more broader and common known sense, it can be said that this project is an audio version of a photo album.
The Mood is the idea of being lonely and homesick,
the Object relates to the idea of having something that the user can hold and use hands on,
the Presence is the size of the object so it can “substitute” a roommate and remind the user to use the object. The Presence also relates to the idea of the objects being everyday objects: a pillow and a keychain.
Since the object will be speaking back in familiar voices, the design should support the idea of being familiar or personal: something that can be close to the user. In this sense, it is hard to speak to the whole target audience since something personal to someone may not carry the same sincerity to the other. So after some iteration, I've figured out some basic principles of the project: keep it simple, stay away from edges and focus on color. The last iteration has provoked people to hug, kiss and touch the object, which is what I'm going for. But the problem about that shape is, when it is separated in two, the shapes sort of lose their meanings and carry nothing with them. they would be acceptable if they were to carry a cozy meaning, but they don't. The main problem behind this project is to figure out two cozy objects that can come together and create a sincere object.
In the idea of personal, I've experimented literal objects rather than abstract shapes. They worked in the sense of how people reacted to it, but on the other hand since the iterations were parts of a human body (hand and head), some didn't find the design as effective.
For the technology, the question is: “how willing are people to use such an object?”. Since it is to be used long-term and needs process to be done, it comes to a point where the execution of the idea becomes a little questionable. At the moment I’m trying to step away from the project a little bit to see the general picture, but at the same time keep sketching and working on the technology. Ideally, I would like to have small versions of the projects by the end of Thanksgiving and send them out to a couple of users to see how devoted they stay and how effective they find the project.
Methodology: How am I going to do this? (will be rewritten.. sometime.. soon.. should be.. at some point..)
Since this project is searching for a way to integrate design and technology to
comfort people who are far away from their home by playing back the sound clips that
the user collected previously. In a way, an audio form of a photo album.
In order to achieve this, first I’ve divided the project into two: the shape of the object and the technology behind the object.
K.H.T.D.Y.P: Know how to define your project:
This has been a question since the beginning of this project. Even when I was
presenting EmcY the hardest part was to describe the project in one sentence (which
was one of the main deliverable). So I describe EmcY as: a familiar tool to hear a familiar voice. Even though this description covered the main idea, it was lacking of a lot of other properties that are the basics of the project, such as multiplicity and mobility. In this sense the first step of my methodology is to pick a hard-core general sentence with some details of the project. It feels like this is the hardest part of the project since there are interesting details to it.
Beginning of this semester, this project was a toy, which is the most ambiguous
description for this project, later on it changed into an “object”. This lead me to question the basics of the projects and they are:
- personal (like a blanky)
- “keep it simple” (just like Chef Ramsay says)
- get the design and technology work together.
Keeping these on mind, a simple description of the project will come out.
D.S:Design Sketches
Iteration 1:
Emcy: a familiar tool to hear the voice of the loved ones in troubled times. The
object is in a shape of a cube, that has 5 different moods (happy, excited, stressed,
depressed, etc) and a recording mode.
Pro’s: Very cozy material that serves for hugging and touching
Design serves for the function
No-No’s: -The design is not “friendly”. The look is too kitsch (which is something I am actually going for)
-5 moods is too much
-Having problems when reading the design: So I put on happy when I’m happy or do I put happy when I wanna be happy? If so why would I put sad? What’s going on
here?!!!
Iteration II
Sphere-like object that has only two moods: one recording one playing
Pro’s: Less sides, easy to use
No-no: Not personal enough, too ambugious
Iteration III
A hand to hold on to in troubled times. While holding a hand it might speak back to you
Pro’s: Hand, a familiar shape, easy to register
No-no: the murder of the cookie monster
Iteration VI
A face that speaks back to you. The face divides into two parts: The top is the
recorder, which also a representation of our adventurous side who goes out, moves
around the world to gain new experiences. The bottom is the speaker and charger, who
is also our stuck self longing for a hug or a familiar voice that give that extra “umpf” to carry on.
The feedback from this iteration was very productive and actually this iteration
invited people to touch, experience, somehow interact with the object. At this point, it seems like the direction of the design in getting clearer. But I haven’t received any solid feedback that said ‘Yes, this is the design!”. Some suggested to lean towards more ambiguous shapes, some leaned towards the size and many questioned the material of.
The Design experimentation will go on in a slower pace for the shape issue, but
concentrate on the material more. As I look for more materials and the way they feel, I would like to make small examples of the current design and integrate a simple technology behind it. By the feedback I would like to build stronger and more complicated.
T.S: Technology Sketches
Uptil this point, I believe I worked well in many areas except the main one: the experience of this object. So to show how it works , I’ve built up a small MAX/MSP patch that records sound and plays the clips in a random order.
What I’m looking for with this method is to see HOW people record WHAT with the recording part and WHEN they listen to it. In order to achieve this I realize that I have to build up some basic prototypes and give it to people. In order to achieve that, I’m building up smaller version of the last model (the face) and hooking them up with basic systems. Right now I’m looking for this simple system: recording maximum of 1 minute, and just play with in the order of recording. By this I’d like to see how often people tend to use this object. Currently I’m looking into this toy which records sound and uploads it to the computer when connected.
This small module records sounds and takes photos. When connected to the computer, the user can upload the photographs and voice clips and listen to them. When the voice module is separated from the photography module, it will integrated into small designs and send out to a couple of users. The aim behind this method is to see if the target audience is really in such a need, and to question the effectiveness of the project. By the support of the feedback, I’d like to build a more complicated system and better design regarding the sights of the precious users.
S.M: Supportive Material
Even though this part falls more on the research part, I think it has a effective impact on the overall project.
A very interesting example came from one of my collegues and she suggested that the project is like Mr.Wilson in Cast Away, the ball that Tom Hanks talks when he is stuck in a deserted island. This lead me to think about the contemporary examples and approaches towards my question in different media.
This lead me to the heaviest reading of all time: Peanuts by Charles Schulz in order to see the approach to loneliness. A very interesting coincidence came across here: In the feedback during the midterm, Anezka pointed out how the design looks like Charlie Brown. Since the project is close to the idea of having a blanky (Like Linus does), this is leading me to question the design.
Even though the project’s methodology is concentrated on design, technology and the integration of it, the projects, movies, books or any kind of medium that is focusing in this approach is useful and effective on my project.
Perspective Paper: When two lovers come back to school after the winter break
Now looking back, the progress of this project is both very satisfying and disappointing. The reason behind this conclusion is actually making high assumptions.
Since March 2007, this project has been a priority and big ambition. Nothing this fun is easy. Even though it sounds very simple to create “a companion that can serve as a comfort for people who has just moved from their hometown to a bigger city with bigger responsibilities by playing back the sound clips of the loved ones that were previously recorded”. The challenge starts here: there are – at least – three different concentrations behind this project: Product Design, Physical Computing, and Multimedia Design. In order to have a working prototype, all three of these aspects have to work together.
Assumption I: Start working on all areas and progress slowly.
Not the best decision, even though it helped a lot in knowing what I have to research and what I have to learn. After a month, the pressure of leaning towards different concentrations slowed down the progress of having a final product, so here kicked in the second assumption.
Assumption II: Start working in one area
Assumption III: At least have a final decision in one of the three component of the project.These two ideas combined led me to iterate a lot of different designs of the object. When I stopped worrying about three components and concentrated on one, the progress speeded up and the best part is, it actually shaped the other two components as well.
Keeping in mind that I want an object that:
- is modular: made of two parts. One part is mobile and the other is stable (stay at home)
- can record with the mobile part and playback with the stable part. This idea came out in the third iteration of my design and helped me sophisticate the project a lot more.
- Is soft and cozy, yet hard and mature. Even though the final for last semester served for this idea, the design was very similar to a well known character, The Pacman Ghost.
Iteration V
So this is still a bit of a challenge that I have to work on and figure out as soon as possible.
The lonely user is sitting by the window missing home and longing to hear a familiar voice. Then he remembers he has a Moomi
So he grabs his keychain and clicks it in the pillow. That’s where the magic begins:
He hears a snorty laughter of his mother, that he recorded when his father tickled her.
The gargly sound reminds him one of those days he hung out with his crazy friend.
Well.. This is kind of obvious.
In a couple of minutes, he feels cozy and supported, happily hugging his pillow.
Even though the similarity of my object and the Pacmac Ghost is quite disturbing, I started building up the presentation. Just to show the interaction I’ve added a small circuit of LEDs and a battery that causes the eyes of the bigger one to light up when the smaller version is inserted. This small representation of interaction tripled the reaction that I’ve expected – the “awwwww” reaction. The overall feedback was interesting in the sense that, not that many people pointed out the resemblance of the project and the famous character. Rather they wanted to see a whole family of Moomis, like the Ugly Doll.
Another common feedback was, when people hugged the pillow/speaker version of Moomi, they were expecting it to speak when it was somehow squeezed of hugged. In a way they wanted it to have a tactile on/off button that would react to some kind of pressure.
It seems like I nailed down the overall idea, design system, size and feeling of the object. Now it is time to think about the technology, the finalized design and last but not least, the user testing. Since building different designs with different materials was exhausting, during the break I took some time off from design and concentrated on physical computing and multimedia design.
Another reason for putting some distance between me and the design was to come back with a fresher eye and mind. Let’s hope it will help.
For the spring semester, I have already started research chips and circuits for recording sound clips and playing them back in a certain order. Now I have a couple of options for this, I am looking for ways to break the circuits in two parts (the recording part which is a keychain, and the speaker as a pillow) and connect them back in user friendly way.
Just like the previous semester, I’ve build up a very unrealistic calendar to plan out my semester. Ideally, I will be working on both the design and technology to get a working prototype as soon as possible, so I can start on some true user testing. Since it’s a quite of a consumer product, the user testing is very crucial. After creating a prototype that works, basically it will be going back and forth between making tweaks and usertesting.
Exhibition:
The main problem about the exhibition is that, this project is a long term product. The sound clips have to be recorded and at a certain mood they have to be played. It seeks time, mood and effort to see the effects of the project. This seems to a main problem for the exhibition since the visitors won’t have the perfect condition to experience Moomi
The Name:
Apparently the name of the project is already in use. Muumi is the name of a very famous character in Finland. The name Moomi came out from actually nothing. Last year I kept postponing finding a name for the project and ended up with a mispronunciation of Mommy. So I have to solve this problem as soon as possible. Apparently Muumi is a famous character in Finland.. [Damn it!]
Small little links for writing:
Impetus
Research
Design Questions ( Please scroll down.. Sorry! Will be uploaded soon!)
Methodology
Perspective (down down aaaall the way down.. I promise I'm uploading them soon!
Just to get it up there, I'm copying and pasting all my papers here!
Impetus Paper: Why am I doing this project?
Why would a grown up need a toy (sexual or playful)?
The whole idea behind the project came from my very own
thought of growing up and its’ effects.
At the time of adolescence, many people feel like they want
to grown up as fast as they can to gain more dominant roles
and make decision for themselves. I do believe that after a
while the “coolness” of being able to buy booze or having a
house where friends come over and party till the morning doesn’t
sound appealing. Especially when the responsibilities get stronger
and stronger: earning money, planning a budget, cleaning and
so on. Here’s the brainstorm of the idea of growing up:
So here how it goes:
Growing up rocks in many means:
- you can buy booze and show your ID with total confidence.
- have a house of our own and call friends over whenever and however you like.
- hook up with people not be forces to explain it.
- freedom of bedtime.
but after a while the doom of the city-life / adult-life takes over:
- Managing bills turn into a huge hastle
- "So how am I going to afford a plumber after Jack's success in the bathroom?"
- Why can't anybody go out?
- I miss mom..
- Deadlines for projects.. I can't even make a joke about this situation.
- I just wanna lay done without worrying about entertaining someone.
- I need someone here.. Someone who I can turn on and off whenever I want.
Personally the idea of being alone and carrying the load of life
started when I moved to New York and started looking for an apartment
for myself. Until that point, everything seemed easy and manageable
but at the time when I’ve found myself lost in the middle of Williamsburg,
I realized how hard it was to accomplish an” easy-sounding task”. Since I
moved to New York to start a life, I had a strong urge to prove myself as
a grown up, so I’ve never thought if would be appropriate to call my parents
every time I felt down. As a substitution, I thought about them and the idea of
them being proud of me. That was the time it stroke that I was alone in this new
world, struggling to get things done.
Especially the time I’ve started Parsons, I realized the loneliness I had was very
common, especially among non-New Yorker students.
When the "lived-in" space changes, there are certain issues to be taken care of,
especially when the previous space is our homeland and the new space is the other
side of the world. I realized that the more I grow up/old and apart from my parent,
the more and grander my responsibilities are.
There are technologies around us which are trying to get us connected to our loved ones; cell phones, chat programs, wearables and so on. But at some point, the two way
communication needs explanation. In a communication model with a computer, there is no need for an explanation. The current version of the project is made of two parts:
Adventurer, the soft wearable and the Stuck, the hard base. These two parts are a
reflection of the self. Adventurer is a part of us who built up all the courage to
change our lives and move far away from home, where on the other side the Stuck is
our part who moved far away from home but still longing for the ones we love.
Even the simplest sound clip of a mother, lover, friend or child can keep the fire
burning and give a comfort: Here, when two parts come together and form a shape (a face), both visually and audially they represent a happy version of ourselves.
The way I see my project is an audial/vocal version of a portable photo album, which
carries a part of us. The idea of objects having a life has always fascinated me and
the fact that every object we own or we “contact” with is actually a extension of
ourselves. This project is an executed version of how we are represented with the
objects we own and are surrounded by.
Research: What am I looking for?
Even though the main idea remained the same, the paths and areas
of research changed a lot in this project. Up until this point, the
research was mainly concentrated on precedents and products out there
that carry the similar aim of my project.
The reason why I have concentrated on a more object-based research but
not literal is that, the thesis idea is actually a product. Searching
answers for the same question and finding very interesting solutions
fascinated me and added up to my way of thinking about the project.
In that sense, I’ve come across with a lot of products:
• Chuchi – Banana Design Lab
• Needies – Amos Bloomberg, Daniel Perlin and Brett Schultz
• Blood Pool Pillows
• Keepon – Marek Michalowski and Hideki Kozima
• Huggable Jacket
After the presentation for the first iteration the research started to be
more technical based, but still looking for other projects was and is my
primary focus.
One of the areas that I focused was wireless technology. Because the
project might try to communicate with each other ( a user can send a sound
clip to someone else), the research started to change a little shape.
Bunny Christmas Show – Jenny Wu and Rafael Mejia:
By choosing some certain actions on the website, the bunnies react to what
is said. If the user tells them to lose weight, they get angry and they ears
bend down. The reason why this project is a part of the research I’ve made is,
there is a certain characteristic given to the toy.
Virtual Kisses – Alexis Lloyd:
Even though this was already in my research, it is important to point out
how two people communicate a simple message with two simple toys. Just by
the vibration of the plush ( that imitates a kiss) the user receiving the
kiss is pumped up with the comfort that I am looking for as a product of the
project.
Chatter Pillow and Plushie – Rebecca Stern
Here, the pillow is the interface to receive messages. There are three
messages: xo, on my way and talk to me. When chosen from the computer, the
message is sent to the pillow and the receiver will get the message, when the
LED’s light up. The more and more I look into the project, I realize that
the message send is not that important, but the idea of sending a message and
trying to reach out to someone is actually my main idea. The quality of the
sound clips I’m planning to have and the meaning of the messages are not as
important as having a message present. It is a small moment where the user
can get even a small relief or comfort.
Besides the product based research, I have also been in contact with my target
audience to see where the product stands. So I’ve created a small questionnaire
with simple questions: What shape makes you feel comfortable? How likely are
you to buy a product like this? What sense makes you more comfortable; touch,
smell, visual, audile? I’ve asked 17 people: 9 boys and 8 girls; 4 Americans,
13 non-Americans; 16 technology-friendly, 1 non technology friendly; 8 students,
9 non-students. The creation of the questionnaire helped me to figure out the
fact that there are a lot of aspects to consider in designing the object: the
nationality, gender and hobbies. The more I’ve got the questionnaire done,
I’ve realized nationality was not a big deal but gender had a major difference.
Females tend to have something to hug, touch and look at, where as Males were
concentrated on having sound and visual means as comforting. I am still doing the
questionnaire and looking forward to change the questions and ask the focus
group to take the questionnaire again.
For the literate search, I am still looking into toy design books. But also I
am supporting the idea with Sex Toys and their outcomes (since they have the same
effects with the project I am working on), Being Homesick (as a part of the
Psychology domain), wearable technology.
I am Plastic by Paul Baudnitz concentrated on different styles all along the world,
which helped me to lend on my current design a lot, especially the product line
Kidrobot. Another book, which I think will be a very enlightening, is Plush-o-rama:
Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Knapp. This book is concentrating on
how grown ups concentrate and spend their money to and why. With that I will build
up a better reference list for books.
The last area that I’ve concentrated on is the contact list. Yury Gitman, Randy
Sarafan and Allison Lewis already accepted my cry of help and still I am looking for
some more people concentrating in the area that I am interested in.
In general, the research is still scattered all over the place but the more I dig
into looking for more products, the more I get shocked what kind of a big and yet
tight market it is to get into. I thought this kind of products were only in my
interest but surprisingly the market is very large.
Design Questions Paper: Mood + Object + Presence = Companion
The main idea behind this project is to have a small "companion" that can playback sound clips of the loved ones when the user feels homesick. In more broader and common known sense, it can be said that this project is an audio version of a photo album.
The Mood is the idea of being lonely and homesick,
the Object relates to the idea of having something that the user can hold and use hands on,
the Presence is the size of the object so it can “substitute” a roommate and remind the user to use the object. The Presence also relates to the idea of the objects being everyday objects: a pillow and a keychain.
Since the object will be speaking back in familiar voices, the design should support the idea of being familiar or personal: something that can be close to the user. In this sense, it is hard to speak to the whole target audience since something personal to someone may not carry the same sincerity to the other. So after some iteration, I've figured out some basic principles of the project: keep it simple, stay away from edges and focus on color. The last iteration has provoked people to hug, kiss and touch the object, which is what I'm going for. But the problem about that shape is, when it is separated in two, the shapes sort of lose their meanings and carry nothing with them. they would be acceptable if they were to carry a cozy meaning, but they don't. The main problem behind this project is to figure out two cozy objects that can come together and create a sincere object.
In the idea of personal, I've experimented literal objects rather than abstract shapes. They worked in the sense of how people reacted to it, but on the other hand since the iterations were parts of a human body (hand and head), some didn't find the design as effective.
For the technology, the question is: “how willing are people to use such an object?”. Since it is to be used long-term and needs process to be done, it comes to a point where the execution of the idea becomes a little questionable. At the moment I’m trying to step away from the project a little bit to see the general picture, but at the same time keep sketching and working on the technology. Ideally, I would like to have small versions of the projects by the end of Thanksgiving and send them out to a couple of users to see how devoted they stay and how effective they find the project.
Methodology: How am I going to do this? (will be rewritten.. sometime.. soon.. should be.. at some point..)
Since this project is searching for a way to integrate design and technology to
comfort people who are far away from their home by playing back the sound clips that
the user collected previously. In a way, an audio form of a photo album.
In order to achieve this, first I’ve divided the project into two: the shape of the object and the technology behind the object.
K.H.T.D.Y.P: Know how to define your project:
This has been a question since the beginning of this project. Even when I was
presenting EmcY the hardest part was to describe the project in one sentence (which
was one of the main deliverable). So I describe EmcY as: a familiar tool to hear a familiar voice. Even though this description covered the main idea, it was lacking of a lot of other properties that are the basics of the project, such as multiplicity and mobility. In this sense the first step of my methodology is to pick a hard-core general sentence with some details of the project. It feels like this is the hardest part of the project since there are interesting details to it.
Beginning of this semester, this project was a toy, which is the most ambiguous
description for this project, later on it changed into an “object”. This lead me to question the basics of the projects and they are:
- personal (like a blanky)
- “keep it simple” (just like Chef Ramsay says)
- get the design and technology work together.
Keeping these on mind, a simple description of the project will come out.
D.S:Design Sketches
Iteration 1:
Emcy: a familiar tool to hear the voice of the loved ones in troubled times. The
object is in a shape of a cube, that has 5 different moods (happy, excited, stressed,
depressed, etc) and a recording mode.
Pro’s: Very cozy material that serves for hugging and touching
Design serves for the function
No-No’s: -The design is not “friendly”. The look is too kitsch (which is something I am actually going for)
-5 moods is too much
-Having problems when reading the design: So I put on happy when I’m happy or do I put happy when I wanna be happy? If so why would I put sad? What’s going on
here?!!!
Iteration II
Sphere-like object that has only two moods: one recording one playing
Pro’s: Less sides, easy to use
No-no: Not personal enough, too ambugious
Iteration III
A hand to hold on to in troubled times. While holding a hand it might speak back to you
Pro’s: Hand, a familiar shape, easy to register
No-no: the murder of the cookie monster
Iteration VI
A face that speaks back to you. The face divides into two parts: The top is the
recorder, which also a representation of our adventurous side who goes out, moves
around the world to gain new experiences. The bottom is the speaker and charger, who
is also our stuck self longing for a hug or a familiar voice that give that extra “umpf” to carry on.
The feedback from this iteration was very productive and actually this iteration
invited people to touch, experience, somehow interact with the object. At this point, it seems like the direction of the design in getting clearer. But I haven’t received any solid feedback that said ‘Yes, this is the design!”. Some suggested to lean towards more ambiguous shapes, some leaned towards the size and many questioned the material of.
The Design experimentation will go on in a slower pace for the shape issue, but
concentrate on the material more. As I look for more materials and the way they feel, I would like to make small examples of the current design and integrate a simple technology behind it. By the feedback I would like to build stronger and more complicated.
T.S: Technology Sketches
Uptil this point, I believe I worked well in many areas except the main one: the experience of this object. So to show how it works , I’ve built up a small MAX/MSP patch that records sound and plays the clips in a random order.
What I’m looking for with this method is to see HOW people record WHAT with the recording part and WHEN they listen to it. In order to achieve this I realize that I have to build up some basic prototypes and give it to people. In order to achieve that, I’m building up smaller version of the last model (the face) and hooking them up with basic systems. Right now I’m looking for this simple system: recording maximum of 1 minute, and just play with in the order of recording. By this I’d like to see how often people tend to use this object. Currently I’m looking into this toy which records sound and uploads it to the computer when connected.
This small module records sounds and takes photos. When connected to the computer, the user can upload the photographs and voice clips and listen to them. When the voice module is separated from the photography module, it will integrated into small designs and send out to a couple of users. The aim behind this method is to see if the target audience is really in such a need, and to question the effectiveness of the project. By the support of the feedback, I’d like to build a more complicated system and better design regarding the sights of the precious users.
S.M: Supportive Material
Even though this part falls more on the research part, I think it has a effective impact on the overall project.
A very interesting example came from one of my collegues and she suggested that the project is like Mr.Wilson in Cast Away, the ball that Tom Hanks talks when he is stuck in a deserted island. This lead me to think about the contemporary examples and approaches towards my question in different media.
This lead me to the heaviest reading of all time: Peanuts by Charles Schulz in order to see the approach to loneliness. A very interesting coincidence came across here: In the feedback during the midterm, Anezka pointed out how the design looks like Charlie Brown. Since the project is close to the idea of having a blanky (Like Linus does), this is leading me to question the design.
Even though the project’s methodology is concentrated on design, technology and the integration of it, the projects, movies, books or any kind of medium that is focusing in this approach is useful and effective on my project.
Perspective Paper: When two lovers come back to school after the winter break
Now looking back, the progress of this project is both very satisfying and disappointing. The reason behind this conclusion is actually making high assumptions.
Since March 2007, this project has been a priority and big ambition. Nothing this fun is easy. Even though it sounds very simple to create “a companion that can serve as a comfort for people who has just moved from their hometown to a bigger city with bigger responsibilities by playing back the sound clips of the loved ones that were previously recorded”. The challenge starts here: there are – at least – three different concentrations behind this project: Product Design, Physical Computing, and Multimedia Design. In order to have a working prototype, all three of these aspects have to work together.
Assumption I: Start working on all areas and progress slowly.
Not the best decision, even though it helped a lot in knowing what I have to research and what I have to learn. After a month, the pressure of leaning towards different concentrations slowed down the progress of having a final product, so here kicked in the second assumption.
Assumption II: Start working in one area
Assumption III: At least have a final decision in one of the three component of the project.These two ideas combined led me to iterate a lot of different designs of the object. When I stopped worrying about three components and concentrated on one, the progress speeded up and the best part is, it actually shaped the other two components as well.
Keeping in mind that I want an object that:
- is modular: made of two parts. One part is mobile and the other is stable (stay at home)
- can record with the mobile part and playback with the stable part. This idea came out in the third iteration of my design and helped me sophisticate the project a lot more.
- Is soft and cozy, yet hard and mature. Even though the final for last semester served for this idea, the design was very similar to a well known character, The Pacman Ghost.
Iteration V
So this is still a bit of a challenge that I have to work on and figure out as soon as possible.
The lonely user is sitting by the window missing home and longing to hear a familiar voice. Then he remembers he has a Moomi
So he grabs his keychain and clicks it in the pillow. That’s where the magic begins:
He hears a snorty laughter of his mother, that he recorded when his father tickled her.
The gargly sound reminds him one of those days he hung out with his crazy friend.
Well.. This is kind of obvious.
In a couple of minutes, he feels cozy and supported, happily hugging his pillow.
Even though the similarity of my object and the Pacmac Ghost is quite disturbing, I started building up the presentation. Just to show the interaction I’ve added a small circuit of LEDs and a battery that causes the eyes of the bigger one to light up when the smaller version is inserted. This small representation of interaction tripled the reaction that I’ve expected – the “awwwww” reaction. The overall feedback was interesting in the sense that, not that many people pointed out the resemblance of the project and the famous character. Rather they wanted to see a whole family of Moomis, like the Ugly Doll.
Another common feedback was, when people hugged the pillow/speaker version of Moomi, they were expecting it to speak when it was somehow squeezed of hugged. In a way they wanted it to have a tactile on/off button that would react to some kind of pressure.
It seems like I nailed down the overall idea, design system, size and feeling of the object. Now it is time to think about the technology, the finalized design and last but not least, the user testing. Since building different designs with different materials was exhausting, during the break I took some time off from design and concentrated on physical computing and multimedia design.
Another reason for putting some distance between me and the design was to come back with a fresher eye and mind. Let’s hope it will help.
For the spring semester, I have already started research chips and circuits for recording sound clips and playing them back in a certain order. Now I have a couple of options for this, I am looking for ways to break the circuits in two parts (the recording part which is a keychain, and the speaker as a pillow) and connect them back in user friendly way.
Just like the previous semester, I’ve build up a very unrealistic calendar to plan out my semester. Ideally, I will be working on both the design and technology to get a working prototype as soon as possible, so I can start on some true user testing. Since it’s a quite of a consumer product, the user testing is very crucial. After creating a prototype that works, basically it will be going back and forth between making tweaks and usertesting.
Exhibition:
The main problem about the exhibition is that, this project is a long term product. The sound clips have to be recorded and at a certain mood they have to be played. It seeks time, mood and effort to see the effects of the project. This seems to a main problem for the exhibition since the visitors won’t have the perfect condition to experience Moomi
The Name:
Apparently the name of the project is already in use. Muumi is the name of a very famous character in Finland. The name Moomi came out from actually nothing. Last year I kept postponing finding a name for the project and ended up with a mispronunciation of Mommy. So I have to solve this problem as soon as possible. Apparently Muumi is a famous character in Finland.. [Damn it!]
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