I decided to name my final project “Zen Space.”
The project title comes from its purpose—the purpose of my project is to provide people with an environment where they can relax, meditate and vent their stress gained from day-to-day studying or working. Nowadays, with the rapid development in both technology and economy, people are encountering with ever-increasing pressure. It is not rare to find from news the cases where people commit suicide due to stress. Moreover, research has shown that constant pressure is harming people’s health in the long run. In a word, pressure has become one of the main problems for every modern urban dweller. Seeing these facts, I chose to address the pressure issue in my final project. My project is mainly for high-pressure people, such as programmers, company executives, and college students. It intends to alleviate their stress, reduce the probability of mental disorder and suicide, and help people lead a happier life.
More specifically, I will create an interactive particle system in the final project. The system will display a ring flow of particles on the screen. Typically, the particles will move slowly in a fixed pattern. When the user makes a gesture, the moving behavior of the particles will change, and the position of the user’s hands will determine the moving direction and velocity of the particles. To achieve my plan, I will integrate my knowledge about Arduino and Processing into this project—Processing is responsible for displaying the particle system, and Arduino provides buttons and potentiometers as an interface to receive the user’s input. Additionally, I decided to use a camera as the primary sensor and to use computer vision to detect the user’s gesture. My first step is to design and laser-print a box to contain all components. The next task is implementing a particle system in Processing, followed by working on the gesture detecting program. Lastly, I will use serial communication to combine different parts.
In my preparatory research, I defined interaction as progress that involves a loop of user’s action and the machine’s appropriate response. And I also assumed that in a good interaction, the device should provide an understandable hint at the beginning. Inspired by my previous research, I decided to add a suggestive animation in the particle system to tell the users that they can interact with this product by moving their hands in the air. Otherwise, I admit that it could be challenging for the user to find out the proper way to use this product. I learned that lots of students in the last year also did some projects related to meditation. But my project will be unique because it uses computer vision and allows people to interact by simply waving their hands. Since my project aims at people with high pressure, it is smart to make the interaction as easy as possible, so that the user can use the product at any time. By using my project, people can have a suitable environment for relaxation and meditation. Therefore, it can go further to alleviate the issue of stress and improve people’s mental health.