FINAL STEP: REPORT
The chosen project is called “MemoPal“.
Introduction
Imagine that “If there’s also an electric(or even no power needed) board next to our doors, it may help both ourselves and visitors. In my opinion, this board can change into different colors to show different statements—white: nobody in; red: host at home; blue: will back in a minute; etc. Hosts can leave some words on it for different situations(such as say hello to passers-by or show the delivery man where to put packages down), and visitors can also leave a message or make a facetime call through the board so that no message will be missed.” (Contributed by Yijia Shao (Amelia)) The intention of the device to serve ordinary residential buildings, but it has a huge potential and the usage scenarios may expand in the future.
The abandoned project
The artifact is a portable electronic IV fluid patch that is placed anywhere on a person’s body. It pierces the skin while it is attached to the person’s body and monitors the blood and releases different types of fluids depending on what the body needs. The patch is thin but covers a large surface area since the fluid is also on the patch. Also, the patch must be taken out and refilled/charged at the end of the day with another device.
Currently there isn’t any existing technology like this since it’s not very necessary for people because you can drink water to rehydrate yourself. Current portable IV fluids are not electronic and need a case to carry around. There wouldn’t be any major problems due to this artifact but for athletes it could be a way of doping if they change the fluids. Another problem is that since the IV fluid pierces the skin, there is a chance of infection. However, the user should disinfect the area which is pierced once they remove it.(by Sid)
(We unwillingly abandoned the plan mainly because it’s too hard to operate compared to the chosen one. Time was limited and we were a few steps late, so the intention of our work is to make something that makes sense in the minimum amount of time.)
Inspirations
We did find something similar to our idea, which is called an “Intelligent Entrance Guard System“. A device like such can identify the visitors with a web camera and a card reader, and respond to the visitor or convey audio messages from the occupants inside the house. And everyone thought this did make sense, because n entrance guard is currently used in the modern society and it’s useful, so why not make it better?
(Google)
=============== Anyway I feel good about myself! ===============
Personally, we think the invention is unique and imaginative. You can see it as an “Entrance Guard MAX PLUS PRO”, because it’s more intelligent and interactive. It’s more communicable with the support of built-in recognition system. Compared to a traditional entrance guard which can only classify visitors as “owners” and “strangers”, our innovation see people more clearly with the help of personal identification marks. Therefore, a warm-hearted delivery man won’t be simply shut out as an invasion, but welcomed with a warm greeting and guidance for the delivery placement.
Meanwhile, for an owner, the system can provide more details about the condition of the household, such as the members inside or visit records, to keep him/her informed without unnecessary disturbances.
Underlying problems
A potential problem of such a device is that the users may know too much through the entrance guard. For everyone without an exception, knowing more through machines means needing less from people, and this leads to the decline of interpersonal communications, and therefore a tight family bond may get damaged, so do all kinds of social connections. Then people just get more cold, distant, indifferent and self-centered, than they have become under the circumstances of Cov19 pandemic, increase of geopolitical conflicts, etc.
Design & Assembling
Our model of the invention is mainly made of cardboards and tapes, with no mechanical components, no Arduinos and no harmful chemicals. And it’s totally man-driven, so it’s an economical device too. That’s amazing.
The image above shows the process we were coloring the box gray. 
As is known to all, gray is a special color that represents elegance, mystery, distance, seriousness and futurism. Serious because anyhow it’s still a guard and a guard should have the capacity to “stare down” those with an evil intention. Futuristic because what we’re doing will redefine the residential style of human race.
The colorful boards function as the messages that’s supposed to be shown on a screen of the box(mass production version). They are in different colors in order based on the message types according to the identity of the visitors. The colors of the messages are in high lightness and strong saturation, creating a comparison to the gray casing. We designed the colors like this referring to the typical style of Northern European household decoration——”Cold hands, warm heart”.
The device turned out to be around the size of an old wireless radio, but more square than oblong. It has a flap to protect the “screen” from unnecessary damages. Idealistically, the flap moved by itself when a visitor approached and the message is visible.
Perform
I was chosen do play the “Box”, that is, the “MemoPal”. Actually I’m not wearing a box-like costume, but operating the device to respond to different visitors. You can suppose I’m the CPU of “MemoPal”, but a bit larger. Everyone else played a human role. For example, Sid was the delivery man. Everyone is matched a role based on the result of a dice game.
Name: MemoPal
Purpose: To send a message to outsiders and insiders.
Location: Next to the door
Interaction: Display changes,
People: Stranger, Family, Delivery, Friends
To the stranger:
Have a nice day:)
If you want to contact me please call xxx xxxx xxxx
To delivery:
Please leave the delivery in front of the door. Thank you!
To my parents:
Currently shopping. Will be back at 5:00pm.
Call me at xxx-xxxxxx if you need to contact me urgently.
To my friends:
I’m now walking my dog.
And I’ll be back around 5 pm.
8.8×9 inches
Performance Script
Characters (6):
- Delivery driver
- Stranger
- Mother
- Daughter
- Friend 1
- Box(me)
Location: Outside the daughter’s home.
1.
[Delivery driver comes down from the car, with a package in his hand]
[open the box and see the message]
[put the package down and leave]
2.
[Stranger passed by and see the message]
[smile and leave]
3.
[mother come and see the message]
[open the door and go inside]
{the message changes into the green one}
4.
[daughter comes back and see the green card]
Daughter: Hi Mom
[open the door and go in]
5.
[friend comes and see the green card]
[Knock at the door]
[go in]
Performance Video & Photo
Assessment of the work of another group
I have to admit that the VR helmet impressed me a lot (partly because of the fine acting).
The intention of the prototype is to reduce patients’ pressure by offering them access to beautiful and relaxing natural sights. I think it makes sense and will do a lot of help, since we’re living in such a modern society filled up with the crisis of climate change, wars, pandemics, and no escape from tons of pressure and anxiety. People need high quality of relaxation provided or authenticated by professional medical institutions and it’s right on the way!
In the script, a depressed patient payed a visit to the health center and the fellows provided him with the VR helmet. The patient wore the helmet and in front of him appeared a beach bathed in warm, soft sunshine. He was totally drown in it and all the pressure was dropped away. Happy end! So the script matched the intention of the device well and it helped me understand the function of the device as well.
Meanwhile, one criterion of the project is to build something “interactive”. In this scenario, the helmet can receive the brain activity of the user and analyze the possible scenes he/she may want to explore, so that the pressure declines. Then, after a short while, the 3D scene is generated and the user can interact with the scene. Meanwhile, the brain feedback is sent through the biosensors so the the helmet can improve the scenes in time. Therefore, an interaction between the user and the helmet is formed. Basically, the performance met the criteria of the assignment.
Though VR technology has been put into wide use in reality, including VR helmets, so the prototype isn’t really that fascinating, the mind-reading technology the device used is still under development and has drawbacks to polish. It’s based upon a series of cutting-edge technologies, such as AI deep learning where Google has been investing a massive resources into the research.
My advise is that the helmet can be polished by offering more interactive scenes inside. For example, we can add some living things, some animals that are tamed and adorable like dogs, cats, cows or even horses. Under extreme circumstances, animals are more interactive than humans losing sanity, and some animals are always more gentle and affable than humans. You can add extra “intelligence” to them so that they can interact with users and maybe help them solve mental issues, though what’s controlling them is actually the computer.