DROOZ Manifest Visualizer

About the Artifact

Our artifact works by detecting and influencing peoples’ emotions. In order to do this the user must go through a scanner that measures their vitals and assess their facial expressions to assign an emotion. After registering the patient’s emotions it will analyze and tailor a treatment plan to make them peaceful again. Through a pair of glasses and wristband, the user is connected to the machine and able to have direct interaction with their treatment. The patient is shown hypnotic/psychedelic imagery and experiences other sensory influences such as music. The end goal is for their mind to then react to the artifact and change to the desired state.

The Performance

The Process

1) Brainstorming

2) Building

3) Final Product

4) Conclusion

Our performance was made up of six roles; three doctors, one robot music player, and two patients. Backstage during the process we had brainstormers, script writers, musicians, artists, prop builders, and actors. Most of the tasks were completed by everyone on the team or those who had strong suits in certain arts and media forms.

There were many roles throughout the process of this project so we made sure to split the workload evenly between all group members. Although we decided together as a group what kind of machine we were going to create, the original idea for the artifact came from Luna. Therefore she was put in charge of creating the panels with art and building the main stand for them. However, we also decided to expand on her original idea and added more components to the artifact. I created a new sketch that outlined how we would combine all the different parts of the machine together, and after approval we began to build.

Personally, my contributions consisted of, alongside other teammates, creating the script as well as creating props and acting. I created the final sketch that we modeled our artifact on, and I mainly worked on creating the monitor prop that shows vitals. I also worked on creating the final script and acted as Doctor 1 during our performance.

Communication within the team was very effective. WeChat was our main method of contact and we made sure to effectively organize our meeting schedule and equally divide up the workload. When creating the project, we started by brainstorming and sharing the ideas that we had come up with for part two of our assignment. After sharing, we decided as a team which project we wanted to pursue building, as well as the tone we wanted our performance to follow. We wanted everyone to agree and be comfortable.

When writing the script we also used team communication. A rough draft was first created together and the a second one was made by Ellen. Then Jean, Ellen, and I worked together to make final revisions for the final product. All members also helped create props and we worked together as a team to build the set. Because our artifact included musical aspects but we could not incorporate recordings we decided to play live music. Fred was comfortable playing the saxophone so he became in charge of picking the music choices and performing during our presentation. The different roles within our group were decided through clear discussions with group members present. It was important for us to understand what everyone was comfortable with when writing the script and assigning the different acting roles.

Other Groups – The Hypersomniac 2000

There were many amazing performances at the show but one that stood out to me especially was The Hypersomniac 2000. I thought that they did a great job at met the criteria of the assignment because their performance clearly demonstrated the functions of their artifact. This project also followed a very similar concept to ours; where a machine reads information from a user and then measures the collected data to effectively help them. In this case, one of the vitals that the machine scans is hormone levels to best see what the body needs to stay healthy. Their performance helped me understand the artifact creatively by using relatable examples and comedy.

One of the things I liked best about this performance was how many creative examples they used to demonstrate how their artifact worked. The way in which they used NYU Shanghai as a setting and included everyday and relatable examples made it very easy for the audience to better understand the issues that the artifact tackled because they could relate to them. I also really appreciated that the creation they made had a more vague use, and therefore could be used in multiple different stories.

However, if I were to suggest any changes, I believe that the machine could have been a bit more interactive. At the moment it does follow the input, process, and output order, but there is little interaction demanded from the user. I think the product could be more engaging if other elements are added. Additionally, the performance felt like an infographic or advertisement, I think they could have left more for the audience to understand themselves than just explaining all the functions straight out. They also could explore the downsides and ethical dilemmas in their performance. Time was limited, but I think that going into those issues could make the project stronger. Overall, the group had an amazing performance and a very interesting artifact.

Reflection

This artifact relates to the established form of interaction that I identified in my research because there is a clear input, process, and output system. It also relies on the user viewing the actions of the artifact to facilitate a reaction and complete the process. It requires constant attention from the user and it is essential for both the user and the artifact to work together for the machine to function. Without a user the machine cannot do anything, it relies on interaction.

What where the successes and failures of the artifact?

Successes:

There is interaction with the artifact from both patients and doctors
The separate components of the machine work seamlessly together to share data and create an input, process, and output cycle
The machine effectively uses a variety of methods, mostly psychological to change a person’s mood
This could practically eliminate all negative feelings, almost instantaneously
It is a better way than turning to drugs for similar results. This would also probably lower rates of drug addiction and drug abuse
It works quickly and efficiently by taking into consideration various measurements so that readings are very accurate and carefully adapt to best fit the needs of the patients
There is a positive impact on society, as less people face stress, depression, and anger
It could help people forget traumatic experiences and recover from trauma related disorders such as PTSD and ASD

Failures:

Because it functions with therapeutic aspects, there is also a placebo effect that comes with it, meaning if a person is doubtful of its success, the machine is more likely to fail
Furthermore, emotions are ever changing and each human responds differently to certain situations they encounter, therefore the machine may not have the same effect on everyone, and what may help one person could harm another
Emotions are complex so it is possible that it miss reads someone’s emotions and provides them with the incorrect treatment, which could lead to more harm
If the machine is very effective, people could use it for evil purposes, they could force someone to go there and unwillingly change their feelings which is unethical
People could also become too reliant on this technology and get addicted to it like a drug. They could grow to depend on it to feel at peace

I think our project effectively showcases how our artifact is interactive. We included multiple examples in our performance of people interacting with the artifact; one which was successful, and one that was not. The user is not the only one interacting with the artifact, as the doctors are also utilizing it as a tool to help them with treatment. For example the scanner collects the data and the TV monitor displays it, but it is the doctors that have to physically scan the patient, and then also read and explain what the data means to the patient.

For our performance, I was very satisfied with how it turned out, but if I could make any changes to our I would like to include more examples of patients because I think there were a lot of other concepts that I wanted to further explore but could not because of the time limit and group size. I would also like to further explain how the panels work. Because the effects are mental it is hard to show them at work, but I would have liked to emphasize the therapeutic and psychedelic aspects that are responsible for the mood changes. I think we could also better show how the data from the scan decides what mood the patient is feeling, and how it affects which panels are shown.

All in all, I’m very satisfied with how our project turned out. Our team worked very hard and I was very impressed by the work of all the other teams as well. This group project was very fun to complete and it got us to think of new and creative ways to address topics.