The Helmet that Cures Depression
Fulfilment and Process:
My group’s artifact meets the assigned criteria. It is an interactive piece that takes away one’s depression. The user is able to experience a new type of treatment and the helmet interacts with the individual’s brainwaves. It also builds onto the idea of mental health support. There are so many medications and treatment for depression in present day, and the helmet excels forward with the solutions in treating depression or stress. In relation to the rain room I incorporated in the research phase of the project, it stands parallel to the concept. The rain room is interacting with the person’s bodily movements while the helmet is interacting with the person’s brain movements (brain waves and emotions). In comparison to the digital and analog clocks that make up one big clock, it is different. There is more purpose to the helmet and it is more interactive with the user who is using it.
The artifact overall was successful. The only flaw I would see from the helmet is the time it takes to take away the depression. It seems unrealistic that depression can be cured in one session. Also a failure in the design was the incorporation of wires: They were too heavy as well as tedious in terms of reading brainwaves.
I contributed with the exterior design of the helmet. I cut out circles and triangles to make the helmet look more modern, and the circles took place of the supposed wires. They were buttons for the assistant in the script to operate the helmet with. Additionally, I played the role of the depressed child, so the helmet was tailored better to my head shape. Our communications throughout the project were through WeChat, and it worked well because everyone wanted to do something different in terms of task responsibility.
Critical Analysis of Another Group:
I would like to analyze the project that was also based on the second story in the required readings, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.” It was an interactive machine that was displayed at an interactive science museum. There were four stations on each end, held down with water bottles. In the center, there was space for one person to stand, where they had to put a necklace around their neck. If all two or more people pressed their buttons at their station, the person in the center would feel pain from the necklace. If it was just one person pressing the button, then that person would feel pain from the button.
In terms of relevance to the story, I feel like they could do a better job in relation to it. I like how they connected it to feeling the pain of others, but I don’t see it aligning with the story plot of the fiction. Other than that, it does meet the criteria of the assignment: it is an interactive artifact that is original and imaginative. I’ve never seen any design that is similar to it, so I do think it is a cool machine to experience possibly. However, an issue I see with this artifact is that it leads to negativity. To expand, this machine is essentially comparing the pain of others and putting that on to one person. It could easily be used for malicious purposes or cause disputes between relationships. For example, if two people go test it out and their pain out pains the other, than it can be seen as diminishing the other person’s pain. In comparison, it is similar to comparing the traumas of two people. However, a positive aspect that comes with this artifact is understanding: people are able to understand the level of pain someone is feeling and thus possibly empathizing with them.
Script and Description:
Characters
Narrator: Tina
3 villagers: Calvin, Blake, Jack
Depressed Child: Vicky
Door: Blake, Jack
Patient: Vicky
Doctor: Calvin
Assistant: Blake
Technician: Jack
Brainwave Reader: Tina
Scene 1: Backstory
Narrator: Once upon a time, there was a utopia, and everyone in the city was so sad and so exhausted, just like you have just survived the midterm exam.
- Actions → villagers act sad (look down)
Narrator: One day, someone told them that if you want to exchange the goodness of everyone in the city, you need to lock a girl into a basement and give her no food, no light, and no care for five year.
- Actions → villager Calvin brings Depressed Child Vicky into the scene and both narrator and villager push her down to the floor (the basement)
- Actions → Depressed Child Vicky act depressed
Narrator: Now, five years later, she got rescued from the basement, but she’s still so depressed. So, someone developed a helmet to help her.
- Actions → Depressed Child Vicky gets up, villager Calvin puts helmet on her
Narrator: (to Depressed Child Vicky) How are you feeling now? Are you feeling better?
Depressed Child: Yeah, I feel happy. I can see the light. I can see the light ahead of me. It’s so bright.
Narrator: Are you feeling energetic now?
Depressed Child: I’m so energetic.
- Actions → Depressed Child Vicky jumps up and down
Narrator: Are you happy now?
Depressed Child: I’m so happy.Thank you!
- Actions → Depressed Child continue to jump
- Actions → Narrator and Child hug
Scene 2: Present day
- Actions → Patient walks through door
Doctor: Sorry madame, please stop. We are detecting severe negative energy from you. Please follow us to this room please.
- Actions → doctor stops patient at door, leads her to the room (the chairs)
- Actions → both doctor and patient sits down, assistant has the helmet in her hand, and technician is sat on a different chair on the side
Doctor: *Sighs* Can I see the notebook please?
Assistant: Yes.
- Actions → assistant passed notebook to doctor, doctor opens and look
Doctor: Yikes, another one affected by the Calculus quiz today. Must be traumatic for you.
Patient: Very.
Doctor: (to Assistant) Assistant, please put the helmet on her. (To Patient) Relax, it won’t hurt. Just let the energy come out of you. (To Technician). Everything’s set and connected?
- Actions: Assistant puts helmet on patient, Assistant puts Tina’s hand on Patient’s head/helmet
Technician: Yes.
- Actions → Tina starts drawing brain waves on white board
Doctor: (back to Patient) How are you feeling madame?
Patient: It’s not kicking in yet.
Doctor: Really?
Patient: Oh wait, I feel it.
Doctor: It takes a little bit.
Patient: Yea, it does. Oh, I feel it tingling. It’s like a massage. I think I’m not as depressed.
Doctor: Are you sure? I know the Calculus quiz was a bit rough for you guys today.
Patient: It was a bit rough, you know, front page blank, back page blank.
Doctor: It’s all good.
Patient: Yea, all good. Um, I think I’m good.
Doctor: Then, it’s all set. I think you’re stabilized now. (To assistant) Please take the helmet off of her please. (To patient) Go home safe, take some rest, don’t think about that quiz, it’s all over now.
Patient: I won’t, I won’t. Thank you so much.
Scene 3: Audience interaction
Assistant: (comes up to the doctor and whispers) There’s sad people in the audience.
Doctor: It seems like there are a lot of sad people in our audience today.
- Actions → turns to audience and pick out a random member and improv the helmet treatment
*The end*
Video of our performance:
Teamwork:
Our team dynamic worked out perfectly for each one of us: we all had our tasks to complete and our ideas interlocked to agree on the design of the helmet. Although we delegated most of the tasks in the process of building the helmet, our teamwork and communication was productive and clear. We were able to work on the tasks simultaneously, leading up to us completing the helmet in a detailed and productive manner. Tina and I were mainly in charged of the design and appearance of the helmet while Calvin, Blake, and Jack worked on the structure of the helmet.
In terms of the script, we based it off of the second story in the required readings. To make it more interactive, we established a parallel story structure: past v. present use of the helmet. We had an outline and idea of how the performance would go, but overall, we practiced how we talked through improv. After several runs of the performance, we were set on a structured speech. Essentially, our teamwork flowed really naturally.