Pre-submission Reflection... It's Too Late Now

After three days of trail and error workshop experience and a late night with a power drill I have my completed Needlebox. Looking over the completed model there are many things I would try differently if I was to refine the object further. Firstly simple things like the scale, I would like to shrink everything down to make it a bit more delicate but the primary purpose would be to bring the wires closer together so the stroking sensation is a bit more consistent. My main limitation on this was the hinge lock mechanism was the best thing I was able to produce without sculpting my own hinges, and they force the box to be a certain size. I would also want to make the grooves deeper to hold the locks better. Apart from a few minor constrution errors like one end of the box having a slight gap in the joint the final piece came out looking pretty good and overall I'm happy with the result. Plus the grain on your cheek feels way too good to be healthy...
(Pictures in formal submission)

Learning From the Best

I should just do what the technician says. That, I've learnt. My hinges weren't soldering properly. Francis says "sand them down". I sand them down and it still takes forever. Francis says "sand them down properly". I do and try again and we have success within minutes. That's why she runs the workshop and not me...

Here are photos of my prototype. I lost the grooved rod that goes with it before I was able to take these photos but I did have time to test it and it worked pretty well. It's just a matter of making it pretty now :)

Here is the degree to which I have to sand the hinges to expose the steel. Turns out you can't solder to copper either, but hey, you live and you learn.

Lock it in, Eddie

Over the past week I've been developing a means to lock the rotating rods so that my needlebox functions correctly. An animated conversation I had with a mate of mine at home inspired a few ideas and now I think I have a definite track to follow. Full credit to AJ for the following work of art, from which I was able to develop a coherent series of sketches that eventually evolve into something that might actually work;

Cheers AJ

As for my own development of the concept;

As I couldn't find anything like what is shown in these sketches in the shops its up to me to make the locks. Typical...

The most reasonable and durable option apparent is to solder a ridge onto the underside of the hinge which would jam inside grooves carved into the wooden rods. Using screws would still require solder as a seal and a wooden wedge would eventually wear out. So it was off to the workshop to prototype;

I found after a lot of waiting, that the solder disagreed with the metals I was using and wouldn't attach to them. A solution, it seems, is to change my ridge wire to something other than aluminium and sand off the layer of oxidised metal on the hinge and hopefully some progress can actually be made. But hey, this is what prototyping is all about.
An alternate, but considerably more elaborate solution cooked up in the workshop is to use ball bearing in the way they feature on adjustable-height crutches. Instead of one bearing, however, there would be several staggered around the rod, which would be inside a tube with holes in it for the bearings. This solution would require a lot more delicate work and is a bit less desirable for my inexperienced workmanship.

Here is the sketch nonetheless.

Pins and Needleboxes

I took my experiment further by constructing the needle brush out of thicker wire and sanded down half of the tips. The effect of the thicker wire was that the needles were less 'scratchy' on a whole and sanding down the first half meant that when stroked with the grain the sensation was dulled slightly over the rounded tips. The most notable effect was when going against the grain the round tips did not provide an unpleasant experience, they just seemed to add smooth friction. This sensation surprise many people who commented on it during feedback.

Some interesting points raised during the feedback alongside expected ones. Most people preferred the sanded down needles as the sensation wasn't so harsh. It also gives an unexpected feeling as people expect the needles to be sharp. One person suggested that a change in gradient or frequency of the needles could provide a changing sensation from the simple stroking motion. It was also mentioned that placing the needles in a soft surface then when they are stroked the base would move where pressure is applied. Last but not least it was suggested that I could have the needles coming out of a hedgehog's back.

This simple storyboard shows the how the needlebox can be interacted with. It demonstrates how the box can be customised to provide a range of different experiences. Several flaws still sit with this model, however. I have yet to find a way to lock the angle of the needles to that they aren't shifted out of place when touched. I also discovered that the 'surprise' orientation where one row faces the other way only works if it is the only row that isn't parallel to the others, otherwise it is blocked by the next one behind it. The top edge of the box should also be closer to the adjustment rods to make the maximum angle to which the needles can rest greater.

This is an alternate concept for the needlebox. I came up with this as a substitute for the adjustable one as I have yet to solve many of the design's flaws. This model is complete in its simplicity. It has four pre-set textures that provide different sensations by stroking the desired face of the block against the skin. It is highly functional but restricted. The original idea theoretically allowed the user to customise their experience, enhancing the kinetic interaction with it, and included the sensation of feeling the needles move under pressure. This alternate design  give far less freedom but is easily the most achievable. I do feel the variety of available textures are unique enough to make interaction with the object interesting though.
Over the next week or so I will try to engineer a better needlebox but I may be required to fall back on this block design. We'll find out soon enough.

University is for Experimenting

Or so they say. Originally I was stuck with ideas on what to make but I knew the sense I want to create an experience ofr would be touch. I'm a kinetic person, I fidget, so I thought it would be appropriate to make some kind of toy that held an interesting tactile experiece. I looked into some of the things people play with when they're not thinking and did what design kids do best; cranked out some conceptual sketches!

Having looked into the idea of entertaining touch sensations it was time to mess with our expectations a little. I whipped up this concept for a 'gizmo' box. The idea is that it would translate motion of one type into an unexpected type, e.g. linear to rotational and vice versa. This would make both a tactile and visual experience but then I realised I wasn't doing a Bacelor of Engineering and put the sketches down.

This is the idea I'm most likely to run with. Morbidly dubbed "the needlebox", this contraption is designed to allow the user to customise a tactile experience by adjusting the angle of the of the 'needles' within the box to create an artificial 'grain' that has its own tactile experience. The concept still needs a lot of development but it effectively uses touch as its primary sense to affect, with secondary visual elements.

I did indeed choose the third concept to experiment with and played with the sensations that different orientations of the wires made. The wire use was cut rather roughly, making the experience a bit more extreme that what would be expected in the final but the overall sensation could be tested.

The test models were passed around our studio group and people provided feedback. Common responses were the singular angle model "felt the best" because it massaged the skin when the finger was stroked with the grain, yet provided the harshest experience when going in the opposite direction. Another common response was about how people interacted with the models; they most commonly stroked them with a finger or pressed vertically down on them with their palm.
Particularly interesting responses were one that stated that "maybe sharper wire" could be used to emphasis the "smooth against sharp contrast, and one that suggested the wires face one direction but there be "a surprise one that goes the other way." Firstly, I was considering using thicker wire and sanding down the tips a little so that the harsh experience isn't so extreme but the suggestion for the sharp contrast is definitely a potent experience. I don't want to maim the users, however, but I will definitely monitor the degree to which I sand them. Secondly, this idea of having a surprise wire going the opposite way is an intriguing one for messing with what users expect from their interaction with the object. Although the surprise may be ruined by  visually examining the item, the tactile experience will still be relatively unavoidable.
I have yet to look too deeply into the construction of this needlebox but one comment suggested I "put needles on all sides" and instead of having one shifting group have fixed orientations around the box that are sturdy. I feel more sketches are in order...

Autobots and Octagons

I was playing with basic shapes and parameters to make a transforming octagon. Unfortunately after about the seventh or eight iteration it became quite a boring pattern but that's why I'm only showing you five;

A display of very simple changes but sometimes simple is best. Regardless, I feel some more complicated manipulation is in need.

Putting the "Fun" in "Functional"

Today we all brought along something that was highly functional and something that was fun to use to our studio. We compared these items them categorised them alongside everyone else's.
The functional item I brought were my pliers as they are a tool designed to aid manual construction. The handles have grip on them and are shaped to fit your hand. They make manipulating wire easier and have a bladed edge to cut wire also. They were classified as 'Ergonomic'.
The object I chose that was fun to interact with was my whalebone taonga. The reason I chose it was because despite the fact that it wasn't designed to be played with I would often find myself absent-mindedly fiddling with it. This is likely caused by its smooth flowing shape and texture. It was placed under the 'Aesthetic/Visual' category as is didn't have an actual function apart from being ornamental.

An interesting category that featured was 'Self Evident'. The best example of this was a pair of sunglasses. Their function is self evident as there are a pair of lenses plus arms that are shaped to hang off your ears. Something that has a self evident function is considered well designed as it leads the user to interact with it properly. For our project, however, we can use this idea to mislead the user; to lead them on a track where they think they know the end then to throw them an unexpected experience.
Basic concepts I've come up with so far are several kinetic 'toys'. The first idea was to research into what simple kinetic motions are the most entertaining to perform repeatedly, e.g. pressing a button, flicking a switch or stroking something soft. With the results I would construct an object that incorporates the best of these interactions into its form to make a kinetic toy that satisfies any need to fidget. I am sceptical at the potential of this concept's development, however.
The other 'toy' was designed to play with the user's expectations a bit more. It would be a box of some sort that has levers and switches on it but the motion of these triggers would be transformed within the box so that the output motion would not match the input. The machinery inside this toy could be potentially too complex.

One-One Won One Race, and DSDN112

I swear half the fun of these posts is coming up with the titles. Today's studio explored the sense through interaction with various objects. The objects I chose were cola jelly for taste, washing powder for smell, a paper-clip container for sound, a Rubik's cube for sight, and an off-cut of foam for touch.

The reason I chose cola jelly is because it is incredibly synthetic. Everything about it is artificial and deceptive of it being a food item; it's appearance as small crystals, it's translucent brown colour, even it's flavour is based on a synthetic beverage. Food is something natural whereas jelly is completely man-made.
I used washing powder for smell because it has a potent chemical smell, yet the smell is supposed to be appealing. This is a confusing sensation when compared to something like the smell of paint, which is harshly chemical and by no means pleasant. Smell is an incredibly strong memory trigger, so the basic smell of washing powder is similar to soap, therefore inspiring memories of cleanliness within people using it. This aids the product in alert users of its function. A similar point was raised in the group about how smell can indicate what something is for where sight or touch fails, an example being the comparison of moisturiser and hair gel; both of which were white creams yet the moisturiser had a softer scent and the hair gel had an appealing sweet scent, as it was designed to attract people.
I used the paper-clip holder for my sound because it's smooth texture and curved form and misleading to the rattle that it makes when shaken. The idea of the senses misleading others was a common occurance amongst the items brought; the 'rttlesnakes', a pair of smooth magnetic stones, made a high pitched and rapid clicking when thrown together.
I chose my Rubik's cube for sight as it holds both visual order and chaos. When is is solved or arranged into coherent patterns it is ordered, when it is jumbled it  is chaotic. As established earlier sight is relatively easy to mislead on its own.
Finally, the reason i chose the off-cut of foam was because of the diversity o sensations it produced from touch. It had both smooth and rough faces and sharp, crisp edges and broken, jagged ones. The density of the foam varied too, making it harder and softer at points. These are all sensations directly related to handling the object, however, and some more interesting variations of 'touch' came up. The texture of food was one such variation, as was a tool used to massage pressure points on a person's head. These showed that touch is more than just interaction with your hands, it can be a full kinetic experience.