Posts Tagged ‘Internet’

• Getting Technical

  Date: 2012.10.06 | Category: DJ31035 - Interaction Design - Physical Digital Products | Response: 0

  

  The class this week was about arduino. Ali, the tech guy, told us about different sensors and what things we can do with the arduino like have tweets from the internet get read out from an audio output sensor. It was all very interesting and learning about how we can manipulate technology in all different kinds of ways is exciting.

  

  Also in class we had to tell Graham and Kate what our initial ideas where. Mine was a box that would show your horoscope by using percentages like Work = 86% and have leds’ that would light up brightly if the percentage was high for work or shine dimly if the percentage was low. However after reviewing this and reading over the resources etc. I changed my mind and I am now focusing on an idea that would help people who have stressful jobs and need some calmness just before they leave their homes. I would have stress tips from tweets be sent to the box and either spoken out via an audio output or printed using a thermal printer. I still have not decided which route to take but both have positives. The audio one would be beneficial for visually impaired people but the print out is in my opinion a more richer experience for the user especially for the kind of person I am designing for. They can take the print out to work with them to refer back too or show friends who need a quick stress relief tip.

• 21st Century Barometer

  Date: 2012.09.23 | Category: DJ31035 - Interaction Design - Physical Digital Products | Response: 0

  

  This week we were given details of our new project, 21st Century Barometer. Back in the day, before the internet, a barometer would give information about the weather to people leaving their houses so they would know to take an umbrella of sunglasses with them. Using this concept we are to design a “domestic, dedicated, daily data-driven digital device” meaning an internet-enabled information appliance that gives a householder a specific and appropriate piece of information as they leave their home at the beginning of their day.

  After only knowing the brief for an hour we were tasked to find “source material” to inspire and generate thoughtful ideas on ways to tackle this project. Some went and asked people on what they would like in their households, others went to the library and the rest searched online. Each of us presented our initial ideas and there were some very interesting ideas. Lots of people went with reminders, travel information, messages and some were more out there like calculating how much milk is left in the fridge. This was a good exercise as it let you see what people wanted and how others thought in the class, giving us all better ideas on our own concept. Here is the classes’ ideas up on the wall for all to see:

  

  I plan to sketch ideas and research designers to get some influence on styles and techniques they use. I am looking forward to the designing what the product looks like but I am also feeling the pressure of actually pulling the information from the internet to my product through arduino. I am not 100% confident on arduino but at the same time looking forward to learning more about it.

  The next few weeks will be based on 3 different design perspectives. These are Design Ethnography, Designing for Disabilities and Physical Interaction Design. These will help shape our designs by giving us insights on each perspective and we can tailor our projects to suit ideas from these.

• Pressure Project

  Date: 2011.10.30 | Category: DJ21012 - Screen Based Interactive Media 2 (11/12) | Response: 0

  

  At University I was giving a pressure project task to complete during reading week. The project was about creating an iPhone App that makes good use of gestures in Xcode. Gestures such as swipe and tap are extremely useful in interacting with your iPhone. I started researching app designs and looking at their information structures, layouts and colours.

  Soon after I roughly sketched out layouts of each app page and thought about transitions and how they would all link. The app was originally about the Marvel comics movie The Avengers. However when I was doing the digital design part of the process I realised I did not really like this idea. I changed the idea to Michael Jackson’s Thriller Album. I did the same design process as before and then made Photoshop designs for each page and buttons.

  I was pleased with the outcome of my app and that it made use of swipe, tap, shake and other gestures. The internet came in very useful for providing me lots of tutorials in Xcode. I would suggest to anybody creating apps to put your ideas on paper first before you start to code as you can easily change ideas and the quality of your app will reflect your design process.

• Who does the Internet serve, the public or the corporations?

  Date: 2010.10.24 | Category: IM11002 | Response: 6

  Well lets start off with the public.  We use the internet for interaction through email and Facebook etc.  We shop through a vast selection of online stores such as eBay snd Amazon.  We watch countless videos on Youtube.  We now have greater connectivity than ever but we seem to neglect the usefulness of the internet to an extent.

  Did we really need to tell that distant friend on facebook that you had a sore head two nights ago?  Did we really have to buy that keyring on ebay or was that just for the excitment of bidding on an auction?  Did we really need to watch that video of the kitten dancing?  These are classic examples of what the corporations have pushed us to do which we would never have thought about years ago.  This shows that the public have freedom online but at the same time the corporations seem to be luring this unto us.  So who does the internet serve the public or the corporations?  It looks like both as they are helping to serve each other through the Internet.

• How Has The Internet Affected Me?

  Date: 2010.10.21 | Category: IM11002 | Response: 0

  

  The Internet has been a huge part of my life and I guess most people can say likewise.  It has informed me in on countless facts, for example, how many days are in February this year to major breaking news.

  I mostly go online to access the Chelsea FC and BBC Sport pages to see what the fixtures and latest news in football is.  I also like to visit the Michael Jackson website to check on the latest products to go on sale.   I visit Google, Youtube, Hotmail, and others sites like that which we seem to take for granted of having.  One huge factor of the Internet which has impacted on the way I live is shopping online.  It is a lot easier to buy an item online and wait for it to get delivered rather than getting a bus to the nearest shopping centre.  I also check the online to compare prices so I can get the best deal either on the Internet or outside.  There is also no limit on what type of items he Internet will sell whereas a shop outside will be limited.  The Internet helps me book tickets for trains or cinemas a lot easier too.

  The Internet has changed the way I live and made things like shopping a lot easier to do.  Therefore the Internet has changed my life dramatically in how I do most things.