Physical computing project

Process
Working with Magnus Torstensson

how we see each other


Magnus: “I want to build something REALLY beautiful!”

And of course I thought: “Oh my God this is gonna be a long week!”

One brainstorming night
….uhmm uhmmm….

Tall Swedish man mental process:


You know, sometimes I felt lost…

How you dim a light with ?

But finally something came out: a flower lamp! A BEAUTIFUL flower lamp

But what’s a flower lamp?
Magnus:
Me:
And of course was something in the middle :)

Our first release was pretty complex, we were ambitious!
We were flower people!
A new light for the world…

Interactions and feedback: first release

1. Press the main button
Switch on/off all the LEDS (half brightness)

2. Pass by the motion sensor
Yellow central LED Pulsing

3.Moving the bee (magnet)
Green LEDS Pulsing tracking the path Emitting smell (magnetic sensors)

4. Singing a song loudly
Increasing brightness of the green LEDS (microphone)

For the second release we clear up our mind…
Or above all the time constraint made the miracle of simplicity :)

Inputs about the tangible interfaces were definitely important inspirations for us and for our interactive bee!
The queen of interaction!

Interactions and feedback: second release

An IR receiver that detects the proximity
of the bee is placed in the flower toghether with a loud speaker.

1. Moving the bee (IR emitter)
_Switch on Green and Yellow LEDS
  (slow fade out)
_Switch on The loudspeaker
  (simulate bee buzzing)

We had incredible fun building our physical prototype!
Sorry, no images...we burnt our fingers bending petals with a very powerful hairdryer. We weren’t able to shoot photos…

Conclusion
I’m happy!
I learnt a new language :)

We develop something simple and coherent; the flower metaphor seems to me pretty consistent and meaningful not only a shape for representation.