For the Group Research Project, my group took inspiration from the story “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury. We came up with the interactive artifact by combining the idea each of us had during the “Read” portion of the project. We included aspects of my idea which was a chip implanted in the parents’ hands that could be used to control the house including the nursery as well as ideas from other group members including ideas they had for other stories. Ultimately, we decided to create an artifact that acts as a tool for the parents to feel the children’s emotions and calm them down when frustrated. Our artifact contains an armband worn by both the parents and the children, as well as wires that connect to the children’s arms. The wires’ purpose is to calm down the children by directly sending them cooling sensations and other calming sensations when given the direction to do so by their parents.
After creating the idea for our artifact, we created a sketch to use as a reference when making the cardboard armbands.
This artifact relates to my definition of interaction in the “Research” stage because I defined interaction as “communication between people/things where the action leads to a reaction.” The artifact exhibits my definition because the action made by the parents (putting pressure on their armband when their children are frustrated) leads to a reaction from the children’s devices (sending sensations to the children to calm them down).
After deciding on our final idea and creating the sketch, we assigned each member with a role. One groupmate made a script to follow for the performance. Then, two groupmates made the children’s armbands, and another groupmate and I created the adults’ armbands. The armbands of the children include wires to show the connection between the device and the children’s skin/nerves. It also includes a “screen” which will change from showing “Hi” and “Calm Down” depending on the child’s mood. The armbands for the adults include icons of the children showing their heart rates and notifying them when the children’s moods are abnormal. It also includes antennas to show that there is a connection between the adults’ devices to the children’s. The script and pictures of the armbands are included below:
Armbands
Psychiatrist Jerry: We’ve gone through this many times Jim, we’ve tried almost every solution I’ve offered and nothing seems to be working.
Jim: I mean, we truly do appreciate what you have done and the advice you have given.
Jane: Our children just don’t understand how to adjust after relying on just a machine for so long/
Psychiatrist: Well, I do have one last potential solution. Still in the works, but I think it may help for now. (hands both of the adults 2 arm bands)
Jim: What are they?
Jane: Is this even safe for us? Let alone our children?
Psychiatrist: Of course it is! It uses the best technology on the planet! 9 out of 10 dentists recommend it!
*skips scene*
Jack: *frustrated while doing work* It’s ridiculous! Nursery this nursery that. Why can’t I just have what I want? (violently)
Adult B: *realizes through arm band kid is feeling stressed* It’s happening again… We took it away for a reason. * touching the armband with the other hand* (calms the kid down)
Jack: (feels relieved and continues working)
Jessica: My parents would never understand me, they never let me do what I want to do ever. It’s just unfair.
Psychiatrist: Maybe it was for the best, maybe it was not. Try to tell me what’s going on
Jim: *touches the armband with the other hand* Is it truly our fault? That we spoiled them by buying that nursery room?
Jessica: *feels a cool sensation overcoming their stress* Sorry, I was just frustrated.
Psychiatrist: It’s all part of the process, now where were we?
Adult Armband:
Child Armband:
Our Performance:
I think my group had a great idea for the artifact and was able to create it well in accordance with that idea. We were able to think about the problem that we wanted to solve: “How can the parents have a little more control over their children?” and create a solution: Armbands that would allow the parents to calm the children down when they are a little too angry. However, the artifact was not properly shown in the performance and the performance was not clear or engaging enough for the audience leading many people to be confused with the purpose and use of our artifact. What we could’ve done better was made an artifact that can more easily be showcased which could’ve been done by making it bigger and with bigger symbols. We could’ve also added more actions in the performance to show off how the artifact works rather than having the performance occur just while sitting.
Feedback on another group’s project:
A performance that stood out to me was the performance that showcased a helmet that could detect whether or not someone is infected. The group created a helmet that could detect if someone was infected and alert the user of the helmet.
The design stood out to me because it was interactive in that it responds to someone who is infected by alerting the user of the helmet. It also seemed to be an artifact that would actually be helpful when put into the universe of the story “The Plague” because once the user knows that they are in the presence of an infected person, they know to keep their distance and leave the area before it’s too late. The performance also stood out because the members created relationships with each other that could easily be seen throughout the performance. This made the performance feel much more realistic and made me more engaged in the story.