Makey-Makey friendly

In review of the video feedback, I decided to revisit some of my original ideas and see which would be easier to prototype with the MakeyMakey, as the reset does not make contact with anything and the MakeyMakey depends on this function.

I am revisiting TwisterXO, my Twister and Noughts & Crosses concept. New video to follow.

Types of Prototypes - Alarming!

Week 3 - Exercise 2

Types of prototypes

A horizontal prototype gives a view of features offered, and does not explain these in detail. 

A vertical prototype explore the function of a specific feature. In the image above, I have given two options the user can do when setting a new alarm - setting the chain of alarms and changing the alarm tone. Now one can envision what will happen or how one of the features works, rather than just knowing about the feature.

For the alarm exercise, I went on what I thought would be a diagonal prototype. From the main interface, the user can edit the chain alarm and edit it directly by clicking and holding the icon. Simply pushing the button will turn the feature on or off, but holding it in will bring up the settings page as before. This is another way of accessing the same tech without many steps.

Testing

The reset is a wearable lifestyle intervention. Students spend hours in sedentary positions and this is detrimental to health. Wearing the reset reminds you to take regular breaks. While it is not directly social, it does encourage wearers to take breaks away from their desks or laptops, which will hopefully lead to more meaningful interaction and study breaks.

While I tried to think of a more social idea, I had a bit of trouble with my creative process this time around. The reset is more of a personal intervention that I would use. Ideally I would like the clip to be smaller than the prototype shown.

It was fun to create the video and I learned a bit about editing because I hadn’t shot videos before this year, so I welcomed the new experience. I used a combination of editing software, starting in Photoshop and later iMovie to see how both are used. For filming, I used my compact camera for video and sound, and had my phone near me to record the audio for better audio quality, which I ended up using in the video, as it was clear and free of background noise.

Testing Feedback

1. How can the concept be made more social?

As stated, the problem is not addressing a social problem but it can be adjusted to be more social and interactive.

Some suggestions to make the concept more social:

• Use it as a competition between friends on social media.
• Encourage lazy or unmotivated people to move and be held accountable in a community.
• Used in nursing homes- where the nurses get feedback when someone has been sedentary for a long time, they can monitor and facilitate movement and walking.
•  Choose a different concept or problem area.

Further suggestions to make it more interactive were:

• Link to an app and social media.
• Have an app interface so you can set your preferred time period and see the percentage of time moving to percentage stationary.
• Have a timer and screen on the device

2. How could the video be improved?

The actual video received good feedback, the sound was clear and it was not too long.

Concepts

I have been in the process of generating ideas and concepts and felt like I had a week where my creative juices were... stagnant.

In the end I did manage to come up with 3 concepts:

1) Game Mashup - Twister/Noughts & Crosses
This is a two-player game where the players will wear sensors on their hands and feet (or wrists and ankles). The game will be played like Twister usually is, but the players must try form a straight line across the board, or stop the other player from doing so.

2) Wearable Technology Intervention - Stop Scratching!
Some may be more acne-prone than others, and within that group, some may be more scratch-prone. It's a bad habit and to stop it, I came up with an idea to have sensors in earrings that interact with sensors in rings or bracelets. If the hand is close to the sensors for more than 1 second, the earring will let off small beeps that the wearer will hear but not be too noticeable to those around the person. These will continue until the hand moves out of range. There are limitations, such as having to wear jewellery on both hands, and making the technology in jewellery does limit the audience catered for.

3) Wearable Technology Intervention - movers+shakers
There are risks to sitting for long periods at a time, and office workers, students or anyone spending hours in front of computers are exposed to them. Even if you are active before or after long periods of sitting, the effect on your body is still relevant. The idea is to have a small device or clip that you can place on your shoe or in your pocket. It works like a pedometer to pick up when you are moving and walking, but instead of counting steps, the device will start a timer when you are stationary. After a certain amount of time, the device will beep and/or vibrate to encourage you to get moving. The vibration will stop when you stand and walk. It will be basic and not aimed at fitness enthusiasts who wear trackers like Fitbits, but rather everyday people who spend long hours at a desk. The ideal concentration span is 50min, but the option can be included to change the time to notification.

And the winner to star in the Kickstarter video is idea #3

Prototypes

A prototype is a basic, physical model or representation of an idea.
It can range from simple shape to a full-scale working model.
Prototyping is a way of making ideas and concepts into physical, tangible objects that can be viewed. It can be used to communicate an idea and its purpose is to gauge response to the idea.
Prototypes are created when you have formed an idea and to see if it will be feasible. It should be created during the design process and not seen as an end-result, but rather, something to be improved upon.

Prototype of kitchen appliance

1974 prototype for a rubik's cube

Flexible phone prototypes