Elias Does BCT

Wire Colours:

- Red: 5V

- Black: Ground

- Yellow: Potentiometer Signal

- Green: Green LED

Photos

Video

Wire Codes:

Red = 5V

Black = Ground

Orange = Button

Green = Traffic Light Set 1

Week 7 taught us about Effectuation Logic.

Effectuation Logic is logic solely based on the act of envisioning what can be possible given what is available. There are a few principles to this logic such as the Bird in Hand Principle, Affordable Loss Principle, Lemonade Principle, Crazy-Quilt Principle and Pilot in the Plane Principle. The specific principle that came into play this week was the Lemonade Principle. 

The Lemonade Principle encourages you to change your view on failures, to utilise the unpredictable and overall learn from the events or things you have perceived as a ‘fail’. This week’s ‘failure’ was my project pitch. My group and I had pitched our idea to our class peers and some of the teaching staff but our idea’s lack of originality and uniqueness caused a lacklustre response. They gave us helpful feedback on the idea but ultimately brought us to the conclusion that we need to go back to the drawing board. 

Admittedly, I was taken back a few steps at first. It was discouraging to be told an idea you were so passionate and excited about was actually not that great. I knew that what I was feeling was valid and reasonable but I also knew that it wasn’t productive to be stuck feeling like that. This whole semester, our studio and ICT lessons have told us that failure isn’t a bad thing and I have come to realise that more. 

The Lemonade Principle especially resonated with me. I thought to myself, instead of seeing this as a failure I should see it as a challenge. The main feedback given was that our idea could easily be reproduced with equipment that everyone already has so our idea wasn’t very practical. So, instead of changing the idea completely, I am going to challenge myself. My next step is to further develop my idea into something that cannot be reproduced so easily. At this point in time, I don’t know if that is possible but I have hope that it is. This form of thinking is actually applicable to the other principle, Bird in Hand. I am taking action based on who I am and what I know and have been told as opposed to going back to the drawing board and looking for some new inspiration. 

How is my creative process changing?

My original method of thinking was very solution-first thinking - I would think of a product and then think about what it solved afterwards. This was helpful in the sense that it got me thinking about some innovative ways to utilise some of the technologies we already use but often the end result would lack proper purpose.  I know this is a different way of doing it but it gives a bit of context to how much my creative process has changed just 6 weeks into this course. 

Last week’s task for our studio was to develop an idea for us to pitch this week. We were first given a brief and then given the freedom to choose our own problem. I slowly narrowed my topic field from Mental Health to seasonal depression (also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder). Using systems thinking, I was able to see all the effects the disorder has on a person, ranging from personal issues to problems in the workplace. This way of thinking helped me to develop a realistic solution for my project. Thinking this way was almost the complete opposite of my ‘solution-first’ technique  but I feel like it lead to a much more developed and realistic end result with a proper purpose.

Experience of having an idea in my mind and growing it in the real world.

As seen in my recent studio projects, such as the horror sound instrument and ‘hack a board game’ project, I have little experience in growing my ideas in the real world. However, I do know it is a learning process and I can see from my reflective posts that I am aware of the next steps required which is definitely a nudge in the right direction. From practising developing these little ideas, I have the opportunity to develop my practical skills which will further benefit my creative process.

What topics am I developing more nuanced views on?

My views on practical learning is slowly changing as this course progresses. Throughout high school and even in my first attempts at university, I have been practising mostly theory-based learning and was lead to believe that this form of learning is far more superior to practical. As I get more hands-on experience while developing these ideas, I am able to better strengthen and understand some of the theory and ideology behind it. As mentioned above, by using systems thinking in a ‘real-world’ scenario where I’m developing an idea, I am able to think of and answer questions that I would have otherwise not thought about.

What are some things I learnt this week?

Technological Determinism was introduced to us last week but discussion carried over to this week. This is the belief that our society, beliefs and habits are shaped by the technology that surrounds us - practically taking the power away from the people. In reality, it is the people that hold the power as we are the ones that create such technology to suit our needs and habits that already exist or are preferential. 

A way to think about this is, the technology created is no more than the person/group that created it. An example of this was mentioned in class today where it was found that most facial recognition technology has a bias to where Black females would be less likely to have a successful recognition rate. 

I can now see the ethical issues behind...

Today’s lesson was definitely an eye-opener. I want to start this post by mentioning the fact that I have not been trying my hardest when it came to ICT. I would come to class, listen and not do anything with that knowledge which ultimately caused me to forget almost it all.

In all honestly, I thought I didn’t need to know any of it, I didn’t understand the purpose of the knowledge in terms of my future and my career. Don’t get me wrong it all seemed interesting (and it very much is) but I thought, we’re not being tested on this specific knowledge therefore I don't need to retain it. It wasn’t until Ricardo called us out, that I realised that is a terrible way of thinking. Though, I guess I can take some of the blame away from myself as the current academic system only really taught us to cram information with the sole purpose of passing a test rather than using the knowledge in practical ways. 

This post to me will serve as a type of contract that I am signing. A contract with the purpose of keeping a promise to myself as my behaviour and habits directly affect my career path.

From here on, I will ensure to put in the necessary time each week for this course. I will take how ever long it takes for me to understand the terminology and ideology mentioned in class through readings, videos and notes taken during the class discussion. Most importantly, I will ask questions as asking questions will help me better my knowledge and can spark discussions which can benefit the class as a whole.

The topic for this week was sound and its emotional power. We were instructed to create an instrument that utilises sound to invoke emotion. For this, we used the Makey Makey and Scratch. Scratch is a block-based programming language with a visual interface.

We chose to create an instrument which was a soundboard for horror films. Horror films heavily rely on sounds to immerse the viewer in the universe it creates and to heighten the fear of its viewers. We tried to find sounds that represent the three types of auditory icons: Iconic/Nomic, Symbolic and Metaphorical. We landed on the following sounds;

- Iconic sounds: Metal ‘Shing’, Knife scrapping, Insects, Blood spilling, creaking door

- Symbolic sounds: Ghost breathing

- Metaphorical sounds: Startled bells

The final product was intended to be used like a soundboard/piano type instrument where you press a key, and it would make a sound. Unfortunately, it was not very obvious how to use it. As we got people to test it, they were unsure how it was meant to be used as there were no labels or obvious buttons. In future, I believe it would be more intuitive if, along with labels, there was tactile feedback when a button was pressed as opposed to the flat surface we had used.

Our first task was to create a basic paper circuit to power a single LED. The materials we used were a paperclip for the switch, conductive tape as a connection between the components, a button cell battery and an LED. This was an interesting exercise as it showed us some of the limitations of a paper circuit; the limitations being, the underside of conductive tape is less conductive than the top due to the glue and sometimes the bending of the paper can weaken the connections. We did find that these issues can be rectified by reinforcing the paper to make it stronger as well as double stacking the tape (which we used in the next exercise).

We were then introduced to Makey Makey which is a kit that allows for creative electronic inventions. After being introduced to this kit, our next task was to ‘hack’ a pre-existing board game and to make it more interactive. After looking at the possible options, we chose Jenga as it was a basic game that allowed us to be as creative as possible and interpret new ways to play it. We decided it was best to stick with the materials we had already practiced with as we were aware of the weakness and with the given timeframe, it was most practical. We collectively agreed that to make the game more interactive, we would need to add more steps to the game to allow for more user input and a more gratifying endgame.

To make the game more interactive, we decided to use the blocks as switches to complete a circuit and win the game. Our original idea was to use LEDs as an indicator that the correct piece was placed, but after further experimenting, we decided that was less efficient and did not utilise the Makey Makey. We finally settled on having a program that prompts the user to input their ‘password’ as this allowed for instruction in case the user was not clear on the process.

We realised that simply using blocks to complete a circuit may be too easy, so we introduced different types of blocks (as seen in the picture) and made it so they needed to be put in a specific order. We labelled each switch and its coinciding place in the circuit with matching colours and shapes. We believe that the matching elements would serve as good entry points for the user to better understand how to play the game.

Our first assignment was to create a 4 minute vlog explaining my path to creative technology and how I envision my future within the industry. This was my take (Which ended up being a bit longer than 4 minutes but I had a lot to say and 4:30 minutes was the best I could do hehe).

Transcript:

This week we were challenged to start practicing Systems Thinking. Our task is to take a more holistic view towards some of the technological systems we encounter in our everyday life. In order to do this, we must take all the elements of a certain system and see how they are linked and react with each other to create a whole functioning system.