In the first meeting of group 4, we allocated all the ideas on the three fiction stories and came up with one that was applicable, which was the cleaning machine. In order to fulfill the criteria, we focused on how to make the machine as imaginative as possible. The washing machine for cars was a suitable prototype, so we added more on it’s basis, for example, the machine was supposed to contain more funtions rather than washing, disinfectioning and drying, but functions like putting minirobots into patient’s body would add up to our work, so we gave up.
We decided that one member needed to write a script about the project, and three people built the different parts of the machine. To be specific, I wrote the script, Wendy, Nomun and Daniel were assigned the later role. Furthermore, I was the doctor in the story, Jim was the patient and narrator, Wendy, Nomun and Daniel were the machine.
This mahcine can be more interactive than we performed. I defined interation as “a conversation between two individuals (man or objects) that conveys messages with each other without limimtation” in the first step of group project. This machine involves interaction between patients and doctors——patients tell their health contidition to doctors before and after cleaning. Since we decide to make the machine a more general cleaning machine, patients don’t necessarily have to tell which disease they have.
Of course, this artifact we built has many flaws. One of the failures was that we intended to build a gate for the machine, but ended up using our own bodies to imitate the door, which looked really stupid. However, it turned out to be a good idea, because we could make the machine looked like as if it had AI in it, so thinking from another angle, it might also be one of the successes. We also failed to build more parts of the machine, limiting it to only three basic processes. But performing to much may be unacceptale for the audience, so it seems a wise choice.
The roles we need to play were determined after the script came out. No need to mention, I was the doctor in the story. Until the last second before performance, I was still fixing the script according to their suggestions. To be specific, we rehearsed the first draft together, which, from time to time, was interrupted by new ideas come from group members. For example, the part that I tested the positivity of the patients before and after cleaning wasn’t in the original test, actually, Wendy suggested I add it into the performance to make it more natural.
To demonstrate this, I attached the controller and the thermometer built just before our performance.
This is how we worked together, from deciding the artifact to performing.
Below is the script, though we may have some improvisation, the overall plot is correct.
In the future, the plague that can turn human into stone swept the world. Among all the infected areas, section 11 is the worst. The Emergency Management headquarters try to gather all possible infected patients and test positivity, but first they need to go through a machine……
Staff: Good morning doc.
Doctor: Good morning. Have you organized today’s schedule.
Staff (pass the schedule): Sure, we have a few possible infected patients from section 11.
Doctor (looking at the schedule): Section 11…… A place of death. How did they possibly survive the plague?
Staff: Luck, I suppose.
Doctor: That make sense, but I believe in science. All right, bring them in.
(Operator1,2,3 starting the machine, patients in)
Patient: Hi, doc.d
Doctor: Hi, welcome to the front gate of Emergency Management headquarters, let me first test your positivity.
Doctor: Apparently, positive. Now you just need to go through the machine.
Patient: Can you save us doctor?
Doctor: Yes, and no. Why not ask yourself?
Patient: What do you mean?
Doctor: Don’t tell me you have no idea about section 11.
(Patient silence)
Doctor: Now hurry up and get the hell into that machine!
(Operators push patients into the machine)
(Patients slowly go through the gates)
(Patients perform to show how the machine works, use performance not words, but he can say like “I feel water coming down” to indicate the purpose of each gadget.)
Staff: All the procedures are finished, doc.
Doctor: Well, let’s test again.
Doctor: Congratulations, you are negative now.
Doctor: Excellent, bring the next crew in. We still got a lot to do.
Analysis on group6:
The project of group 6 is crime detecting glasses, which will alarm user when it spots a crime. The glasses also includes playback function, by clicking it, a virtual screen that shows how the crime happened will appear. This invention relates to the first fiction story “The Veldt”. In group 6’s clarification, in the story, the glasses can detect what crime the children want to commit, so that the parents won’t end up eaten by lions. I think their project relates to the story, since the backgrouds of it allows many virtual reality devices to exist and their project do make sense in the content. What is pity is that a glasses like that won’t necessarily exist in a normal family. Despite that, the project is also interative, in the way of alarming the user when dectecting a crime.
They imbeded the crime detecting function in glasses, but I may design a more inconspicuous device, like watch or earphone. The reason is that you want to make criminals focus less on it. For example, in group 6’s performance, students suddenly noticed that the teacher was wearing a crime detecting glasses, because he didn’t have myopia before. But if the device is a articles for daily uses, those students may drop their guard.
Nevertheless, they demonstrated how the glasses work compellingly, from the backgroud of the story to how the glasses spot the crime. Especially the part that they display the playback of the crime, I didn’t expect they would make a play window, which was creative and interesting. However, it wasn’t wise to add another character for giving and explaining the glasses, since it would make the plot look unnatural. For improvements, they can her a salesman on the teacher’s way home where he came up with the idea of buying a crime detecting glasses.