Author: Uma

Reflecting on our experience on the first prototype:

Narrowing the scope for our first prototype wasn’t easy, there was just an overwhelming amount of things that could be done. We had decided that we would only include the most “popular” forms of inputs and outputs, as we didn’t want to overcomplicate things. Using a fan was one of the initial ideas we came up with that we stuck to as it’s something that can physically be added to a visual/work, but we hadn’t realized how much more complicated working with motors would be compared to other outputs. Even then, it was worthwhile learning experience, soldering wires to the motor and working with transistors.

Once that was decided, we had to decide on the kinds of visuals and non-text elements we wanted to add to our Twine tutorial. Inspired by the style of an microbit tutorial website, we decided to have a very “cartoon”-y feel to our drawings and have those replace buttons to add a level of playful interactivity. For the actual tutorial pages, we felt like actual images might be better suited as we didn’t want anyone to get confused over our drawings. Of course there are still kinks we have to figure out in how to best utilize Twine and organize our entire navigation system.

For the first couple weeks, we wanted to understand the established goals and how we can set up milestones to reach that.

We decided to spend some time familiarizing ourselves with physical computing concepts and doing a quick Arduino refresher. We also got together to discuss the plan for the rest of the semester.

Our initial plan (image below) depicted a rather lengthy process of fully building out the application slowly over the course of the semester. After meeting with the class, we decided to pivot and instead create a shorter and faster prototype. This will allow us to quickly iterate and find the best way to write out the rest of the tutorials.

We received tons of feedback in how we can improve our system, the bulk of them being ways to expand it so that it’s more inclusive to all levels of expertise and is less specific so that it caters to a wider range of possibilities.

Our next steps are to add the following changes:
– Tutorial for inputs and outputs individually for customizability
– Specifying different types within inputs/outputs (i.e. different kinds of motors, etc.)
– Tone and vocabulary
– More visuals/visual consistency

And future additions:
– Tutorial on how to apply onto the actual murals/going beyond the prototype
– Test/requirements for going further
– Troubleshooting

For our first prototype we’ve decided on getting a basic menu system for navigating between the different options as well as an explanation and tutorial on motors and pressure sensors. In outlining, we were debating between displaying outputs as the first option or displaying inputs. This would differentiate either someone would choose lights then decide whether they are controlling that with sensors, buttons, switches, etc. Or the opposite where they select the control first. We eventually settled on the first, but it might be worthwhile to pursue both options and see which is better or more necessary.

Once we’re past the first stage, on the instruction page are visuals of the output, in our case, the motors. Then we give a couple ideas of different ways motors can be used with pressure sensors creatively. Then we move on to the specifics of one example. The example includes materials, code and the schematics of the Arduino.

Project detail: The possibility of technology for creative is immense but it’s sometimes difficult to build a connection between the two. We want to help students understand physical computing concepts and possible creative solutions through interactive lessons, then we would solidify the abstract concepts with a concrete example. We hope that they will be able to use what they learned to implement physical computing creatively into their murals.

We decided on using Twine as the platform we’ll be creating our interactive lessons in, the easy linked-based navigation and the ability to embed images, videos and other supplementary materials makes it a good starting point for our creative physical computing guide. Rather than organizing the different parts linearly, we’ll be arranging the topics modularly, allowing you to access any part of the guide from the get go. We hope it’d be something of a quick “cheat sheet” that students can reference to get ideas and figure out how to implement those ideas immediately.

To start off, we’ll be writing up a guide for one interaction and doing a quick physical prototype on connecting a motor with a pressure sensor.

We’re hoping to have a prototype ready by next week to show and user test with!