DESIGN OBJECTS

This course is an introduction to the design of objects — the products, furniture, and other everyday accoutrements that shape our modern daily experience — and the role technology plays in design. Students will follow the path from project to product...

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Final Review

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Quick intro to core elements of film making

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Assignment 2 /

Emotion Modulator and Dials

Orli Hakanoglu

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Assignment 1/

Autoproggetazione Chair

Orli Hakanoglu

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Useful electronics tutorials

Here are some links to useful electronics stuff.

Tutorials:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/what-is-a-circuit

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/voltage-current-resistance-and-ohms-law

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/light-emitting-diodes-leds

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/series-and-parallel-circuits

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-breadboard

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-solder---through-hole-soldering

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/what-is-an-arduino

Books:

Practical Electronics for Inventors

Places to buy stuff:

https://www.adafruit.com/

https://www.sparkfun.com/

http://www.digikey.com/

and of course: http://www.mcmaster.com/

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Assignment 3: IRL

Read the full assignment and schedule here and see the slides from the first class here

Objective:

Replace a digital interaction with a physical one

Replace a screen-based interaction with a physical one

Physicalize a digital interaction that has no direct physical correlate

In 1983, Susan Kare designed many of the icons for the first Apple Macintosh Computer, billed as “the computer for the rest of us.” She was tasked with making the abstract computing interface familiar and easy to understand. To do this, she used familiar metaphors from the physical world around us. Thus, we have the trash can, the lasso, the bomb, the watch, the hand. But, there were other types of interactions that didn't have direct correlates in the physical world, such as undo, save, scroll and copy/paste, that she designed for too.

Since then, most general use, screen-based interfaces have remained GUI and rely on mapping digital interactions to real world analogues, such as: the rudimentary (but still ubiquitous) pan icon, three-dimensional effects on buttons and switches, modeling natural motion in sticky and swipe gestures, the Mickey Mouse watch face on the Apple Watch, and the echo of a clicking sounds in a large chamber in audio feedback.

In this assignment, we will continue the work that Kare started by interpreting purely digital interactions as physical, tangible ones, to make computers for the rest of our senses.

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Prototype 2, the Light That Goes Ding & Dong~

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Prototype 1, the Ding~

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Prototype 1

The light that goes ding~

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Prototype 1 goes Ding~

Prototype 2 goes Ding~ & Dong~

Videos to Follow.

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Under no lighting in a dim area, prototype 3 was very visible when not hidden behind a layer of clothing, and slightly visible when tucked behind a t-shirt. 

Teresa Lin

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A light that goes ding~

Light itself is of course, silent.

Through Pavlovian conditioning, it seems different sounds become associated with different lights; the rooster’s call and sunrise, match striking and candlelight, explosion and firework, the click and electric light.

It seems a shame for the click, which is essentially a noise, to become the official sound of electric light.

What is the sound of light?

Sub-consciously, it seems intuitive for the light to be switched on with a short and crisp ding~ and switched off with low and resonating dong~~~. Whether the notion comes from cartoons, or a Freudian association with the bell shape of the typical lamp shade; it seems to scratch a mental itch.

Taking the pull-click switch, I would like to harness the click and make a ding~.

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Aya Suzuki 

4.S10 Final Chair

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Reimagining timekeeping

Teresa Lin

The human body is programmed to respond in certain ways to its environment- and these programmed responses are called its circadian rhythms. Nevertheless, not everything is programmed - humans make their own adjustments to their environment, so that each human’s experiences, habits, lives are different.

Similarly, this device is programmed to reflect the circadian rhythms of the human body but in colors. Over the course of a day, the device tells biological time by emitting a color that represents the stage the body should be in (awake, hungry, cold, asleep, etc). And similarly to how a human body adjusts its habits according to other factors in its environment, the device can be offset or changed programmatically to emit different colors at certain times.

Two important qualities that this device should exhibit are being unobtrusive and being part of the body. That is what I really liked about the watch I disassembled - that it was so light and so simple that it affected very little of my daily routine. Additionally, because a wristwatch is more attached to the body than an iPhone, let’s say, that integrates the object more into the user’s routine and attached to the body, it allows the user to not have to worry about the location of the object or where to place it (such as with females, who frequently find themselves with a lack of pockets). Things that can characterize unobtrusiveness are being lightweight (something that is heavy and chunky will undoubtedly make it more noticeable, whether it is to the user or to other observers), subtle (if the device is large, it makes it harder to incorporate into a user’s daily routine without attracting a lot of attention), etc.

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Watch Disassembly

Teresa Lin

Disassembling the central portion of the watch was not too difficult. The central portion containing all of the electronics consists of two conductive metal pieces, enclosing two plastic injection-molded pieces that hold the battery, PCB board, and a small spring. It is very delicate, because the outer metal pieces snap to tiny notches on the plastic pieces. Four tabs on the side of the conductive metal correspond to the four buttons of the watch and move when the button(s) is/are pressed.

Taking off the watch strap was really hard, as it needed a special tool that I luckily found. The watch straps are held to the central portion by small spring rods.

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Digital watch (Pre-disassembly)

Teresa Lin

This watch was designed to be functional. It emanates pragmatism. It is not ornate like a traditional metal analog watch, but rather clean and simple, minimalistic. Its four buttons are associated with basic necessary features: a stopwatch, indiglo light, settings, and the mode. The strap is made out of some type of rubber that easily conforms to the shape of the user’s wrist when worn, and a number of holes span almost the entire length of the watch strap in an attempt to accommodate various wrist sizes. Its color is quite gender-neutral, and altogether, the entire watch is very lightweight, exerting very little stress on the wrist when worn.

The watch currently does not work because the battery is dead. I ordered this watch intentionally because I love wearing watches, and it’s an easy, convenient way to keep time, if there is no clock nearby or when it’s not convenient to check my phone. I really loved this watch in particular because it was so lightweight and simple, and when the battery died, I didn’t want to get a different watch because I thought I would fix it up. Shortly after, I got a smartphone, which I settled as a reasonable replacement for time-keeping, so I never got around to fixing the watch.