- something before the proposal……
My original final project was mainly aimed at long-distance couples, and I wanted to design a product to help both of them to ease the mood of missing each other. So I interviewed four friends of mine who are having long-distance relationships right now. But in the course of the interview, I also came up with a lot of other interesting ideas, which makes me think that my target can not only about long-distance couples but also for the general public.
- Proposal 1：Pretty Kitty
audience: cat lovers
The inspiration came from the interview, one of my friends is in a long-distance relationship. She wants to raise a cat online with her boyfriend because they are both cat lovers. Because I am also a cat lover, I understand her feelings. So if I want to make a real fluffy kitty. The consumers should regularly feed it (put certain items in certain places), touch it, and it will also purr to indicate its happiness, and show its mood and health on the computer at the same time. 
The problem might be how to relate the cat’s “feeling” to the computer, how to interact with the kitty to form a connection after the cat shows up hungry or bored on the computer. This product can please cat lovers, and when the user becomes the owner, it can cultivate a sense of connection and responsibility with the cat. If the technology is available, you can see other people’s cats on the computer and remind them to feed and pet them.
- Project 2: Hug me
Audience: Couple
Inspired by my roommate Trisha, because her boyfriend is in the Philippines, and she is now in China, two people often feel very lonely because they can’t express their feelings towards each other through chat. My idea is to design a pair of teddy bears with heating devices. When both sides embrace the bear, a lovely heart will appear on the bear’s stomach, and the two bears will heat slightly to let each other feel the temperature of each other. A way to embrace each other remotely.
The problem that may be encountered is how to solve the problem of heating when both parties embrace the doll at the same time.
This product can alleviate the loneliness between lovers. Embracing the teddy bear can give both parties a sense of security and intimacy so that they can feel the temperature of the other even when they are video or chatting.
- Project3：Vine
Audience: Anyone
Inspired by my high school classmate, he and her girlfriend go to college in different places, but both of them like to play games, they often playing online multiplayer games. This gives me the inspiration to design a game for two. It’s about growing the vine. Each of the two players takes a controller, one controls the direction in which the vine grows horizontally, and the other controls the direction in which it grows vertically. During the growth process, the vines need to bypass many obstacles to reach the endpoint, that is, the two sides need to cooperate in order to make the vines reach the endpoint smoothly.
The problem that may be encountered is how to make this game more interesting, more design and cooperation. And how to use Arduino more effectively.
This product allows two users to work together better, and both parties can establish and understand each other during the game.