Week 16 Log

Week 16 Log: Week beginning 23/01/2012

Experimentation with Pachube was conducted this week as it is one option for long-distance arduino communication. Two arduino boards could be installed into chairs, and connected to Pachube. The arduino boards could then respond to remote sensor data. A tutorial was followed for implementation which was available here: http://community.pachube.com/?q=node/12 The feed worked perfectly and is available here: https://pachube.com/feeds/46509

The tutorial this week involved a short informal presentation of work with a feedback session. The main responses were the breadth of possibilities and forms that the project could take: this could be a ‘toolkit’, or an architecture for other designers to design from, or it could be one or more polished outcomes. It was suggested that the idea should be taken to users for their feedback on ideas of what they would use it for. The ‘group brainstorming’ technique could very possibly be used here. There is the potential for this to be used in corporate contexts as well as home or school contexts. One idea that was pitched was the idea that the concept could be used to let someone know that someone else is ready to receive a long-distance phone call. The concern was also raised as to the level of ‘finish’ that the project would be made to: that it is important that if a physical outcome is made that it is of a very high quality.

There was also some initial investigation: a task analysis was carried out with the paper chairs and a lego character.

The goals for this week are very similar to those from last week: user testing, focus groups and further prototyping. As there is a thesis that needs to be tested, a framework for it needs to be developed.