This presentation was for an assignment to create an alarm clock for business travelers.
Archive for January, 2006
This Subway Map Analysis was performed as the initial class assignment for User-centered Design.
This is the circuit for the prototype of KidVac, a toy that amplifies a child’s inhalation using a vacuum, so that they can “suck” up objects for fun. Here’s the first draft of code for the microcontroller.
This is a first-draft prototype of a slider control for a shower. The control is intended to move easily between warm and cool, with a double-reversal of direction required to select very hot or very cold water. The control utilizes some fundamental interactive properties. Water temperature is mapped to up and down, and constrained from accidentally entering unintended extreme regions. However it does break the cultural convention of having hot water on the left. For a revised version, I would follow the convention, and also add icons with conventional red and blue coloring. It would be interesting to test whether the knob could successfully act as a multi-function control to regulate water volume. My hunch is that it would be superior to have a second control instead, perhaps a lever that moved up and down. The prototype was fashioned with wood using a scroll saw and with a stereo knob on a screw using washers to help it slide.
Caught a showing of “Uncle Jimmy’s Dirty Basement” on Saturday night at Bowery Poetry Club. A hot rock ‘n roll set that’s one part performance art, two parts nasty puppets and far more entertaining than a Broadway show with just as many cues. Highlights were the Chuck Bob Marley improv and the scary puppet of Jimmy’s dead grandmother swooping down to leer at him. Have a listen.
In class today we discussed a project that created an audio link between the distant apartments of two close friends. Even though they were located in different cities, hearing the ambient audio from the other’s apartment created a connection that in some ways simulated the person being in an adjacent room. I wonder how creating a similar audio link from a public to a private space would alter the effect and the spaces themselves. For example, how would a link between an apartment living room and a Starbucks modify the apartment and the coffee shop? Would different spaces have different effects? It would be interesting to compare a link to a museum gallery with one to a very public space like a city sidewalk or park. Would creating a link to a semi-public space like an office water cooler create a greater intimacy with the private realm?
Apparently the Evil Empire has done some research on the topic.
A new battery charger for a new semester at ITP. The LaCrosse Technology BC-900, doesn’t just have a cool name, it also features a display that shows complete information on the batter charging process. It can handle both AA and AAA NiMH rechargeables in four totally separate banks. That means while one batter fast charges, another can be refreshed while a third slow charges. I got mine from Thomas Distributing and it came with eight batteries, C cell and D cell adaptors, a carry case and detailed instructions (PDF online). I love it because it’s environmentally progressive, provides complete user feedback, saves me money and involves batteries. Nerd heaven.
