Final Prototype Build
After working out some functionality and purpose of shape with the foam core and foam prototype, Ryan and I decided to move into more substantial materials to help legitimize the interactions and the possible reality of the prototype. We moved into mocking up the table with the workable materials of Masonite and Acrylic. We built in a controller hiding place and cove. We then made the light sensors used to activate the 3 zone as seamless as possible with the look of the desk.
12 x 12 space
A one inch equal a foot scale 12 x 12 foot room space for any figure that has the need for collection. I choose Shawn White because he is a multi sport athlete with lots of skate boards and snowboards. I made the space functional with a have pipe and vented sealing for maximum airtime out of the mini ramp.
Colloquium | Design Dialogues
Design Dialogues : Colloquium A lecture series that occurred throughout the semester curated by Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess from M&A (Materials and Application) Jenna and Oliver attempted to place into context how Architects think and utilize system design to impact their personal practice. Lecture series exposed the MDP to the variety of work that can exist under the umbrella of Architecture and Media Design. Highlighted the methodologies of particular lecturers and opened up conversations about a designer role and responsibility with in a system whether it be entrepreneurial or public art based.
One to One Layout Desk
As the interactive NET desk started to evolve Ryan and I ran into a couple of initial concept snags. We started with the notion that it would be helpful in a sequential design piece to be able to move pages in the physical realm and have it reflect in the digital. The one to one relationship got us thinking about paper having a specific location and therefore a specific identity. We quickly mocked up the idea with a barcode scanner and flash and realized that the novelty of paper and digital being one to one fell short pretty quickly. We realized that the order of pages was not as important compared to the how and why the design came to look. Subsequently our concept shifted its functionality to make the NET Desk have specific functionality that added to understanding of a design artifacts process.
Rapid Prototype Rapid Sketch
As the NET Desk concept of linked paper started to evolve, Ryan and I started to utilize more and more sketching to get across quickly to each other what thing might start to look like. In order for us to Rapidly Prototype we started to rapidly sketch ideas until both of us rested on functionality and looks that served both aesthetic function but also interaction. We then moved to building a prototype using quick and simple materials that allowed us to quickly move through ideas using foam core, foam and light sensors we could quickly get to a semi functional desk, which allowed us to understand the usefulness of our actions and user interface up to that point.Twelve
Inspired by the 12 song on Sesame Street. PBS and Sesame Street has been a very large impact on my creativity and drive to be a creative thinker
Useless Network : Ambient Occupancy
A useless network. Bathroom usage sensing triggers a series of speakers in a public space away from the bathroom through a network. When the music is playing, the bathroom is occupied. The service of sensing bathrooms becomes useless in the distance between spaces. The public space that has the Ambient Sounds effected by the bathroom is in no recognizable connection due to distance. Unraveling the idea of networking for networking's sake. The user of the bathroom has no obvious understanding of their effect on public atmosphere and sounds due to the inconstancy of bathroom usage.
User Interface Experiments
Initial wire frames and functionality tests for the interface of the NET Desk. Wire frames gave Ryan and I a discussion position and a place to quickly decide on aesthetics and usability. In Prototyping the NET Desk, a series making decisions about what was going to be demo-able and contextual in order to get our concept of connected paper across was put through the creative process. The wire frames quickly allowed us to spot trouble areas for content, discuss look, feel and functional link between sensing ability and computational output.
Lamp Design & A Mobius Strip
Design a lamp hanging or standing around a 75 watt bulb. I chose to work with the shape of a mobius strip. The shape was inspired by me reading of Einstein's Dreams. The Möbius strip is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. The Möbius strip has the mathematical property of being non-orientable. It is also a ruled surface. It was discovered independently by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius. I attempted to widen the width of curtain sections of the plainer surface at which the bulb could fit into. The Möbius strip is one of the move difficult shapes to work with because the inside become the outside and vice versa.
Barcode Identity
In the NET desk we chose to prototype the idea of paper with an identity with the use of a bar code scanner. The bar code scanner allowed us to quickly give paper identity due to the face that a bar code is just a number. We decided that for the prototype ease of functionality and deliberateness were important for linking the idea of paper and the digital.Sound Scan : Animated Scan
Version of the Space Sound Scanner. The green space scanner is now animating as it interacts with objects in its path. An iteration on the possible user feed back as the line scans the room giving off both sound and visual recognition that it is engaging the 3D space.
Cardboard Stool
Design a stool / chair out of standard cardboard that can support your body weight. An exploration into quickly understanding the constraints of a material. I choose to counter lever the cardboard by piercing the parallelograms through the x shape allowing the chair to be sturdy but open and appear more dynamic then just using the material in a horizontal and vertical fashion.
Network Affordance
The NET desk required a number of iterations within the concept. The require Ryan D'orazi and I to do multiple drawings revisions and discussions around what happens to the world when connections and networks are extended into paper. The drawing helped us quickly mock up and explain our concept and ideas.
Sound Scanner Product Prototype
A speculative prototype for a possible product that could scan a 3D space and annotate sound. Ear phone shape and color inspired by painter Joseph Albers
9 June 1905 : Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
Design a set that utilizes lighting. Take a specific dream from Einstein's Dreams and turn its parts into a set thinking about lighting situations and audience point of view as a way to tell the narrative of the date. Part 1: Binary - Now and Laters. Part 2 - Hexagonal Pilaster Jahring Fountain. Part 3 - Lake Constance and Monte Lema
Photo Trap Test
A quick experiment into trapping users. We (Chris Lauritzen, Nicole Chan, and I) attempted to trap a users photo looking for a funny face. We attached a simple button mechanism over a laptop computer and gave users some simple directions that we were doing a survey of Art Center faces. Upon pushing the button an obnoxious three second doorbell chimed before the picture was taken. The location was placed at the entrance of the building and was left alone for us to observe. In observation we found that more men then woman used the button. Woman tended to do it in groups also where as men made more faces.
Bizmatic Users & Exchange
The Bizmatic 2000 trick and game requested users to show up to the cafeteria at The Art Center College of Design between 1 pm and 1:15 pm. to exchange the card they received with its rightful owner and to receive their own. In total the Bizmatic 2000 gathered and distributed 38 business cards. The out come of the exchange was not as high due to the statistical fact that for the Bizmatic 2000 game to work every user would have to participate. Although we had some no shows areas of forced communication occurred due to our game including early card delivery, emailed notification of delivery, and even delayed delivery of cards. The goal of the Bizmatic 2000 was to force users to engage the Art Center community in a new and different way. The small number card exchanges achieved that new form of communication and stuck up conversations between unrelated students all based around the Bizmatic 2000. Our total number of exchanges was 12 out of 38.
Meta Verse Concept & Prototype
Concept and prototype for speculative vision for "The Metaverse" a term coined by novel - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Task was to take a place (possible sacred) and explore ideas of space in three different scales. One scale of a room or building, one of body space a chair or desk, and one of object space a product or item. Take one of these three scales and forward the sketch into 3D. The Metaverse discussed in the book is described as being part of a virtual reality therefore I quickly sketched with cardboard a sinereo at which a user of the invisible Metaverse could engage.Studio Space Scanner from Christopher Becker on Vimeo.
Studio Space Scanner : Prototype Two
A experiment annotating ambient noise from scanning a space. User control the scanning line through the use of a dial. Sounds are generated in layers through the density of the 3D space. Experiment into the simple idea of how enjoyable scanning a space and the response that occurs back to the user. Studio space is ordinary with no perceived planning for a particular effect.
Art Center College of Design Interactive
Logo and process for The Art Center College of Design Interactive Department. A logo that has been influenced and grown out of the existing Art Center brand.Living Space Sound Scanner Experiment
A Prototyped turntable. A experiment that moves a scanning line across a 3D living space. As the line moves through the space sounds are layered and annotated into the ambient background. Sounds help users get a better understanding of density and location of items in that are being scanned.
Cube, Cone, Sphere
Create a composition out of a cube, a cone, and a sphere. Composition must have a dominant, sub-dominant, and subordinate element. All sides should have these compositional elements
Bizmatic Branding
Bizmatic 2000 required branding to get across the idea, be intriging and fun to approach. Branding requires a good name and a quickly understood purpose. I designed the logo for the interactive system and game to both be emblematic to its purpose but also illicit at the heart of what we were trying to accomplish which was connections.
