#ctec501

Last week was all about crafting new prototypes for our new project as well discussing the details of our project with the other groups. We came up with two directions we could head in to fulfill our brief of crafting an easier option for gardening that was both more accessible and easier to use.

The first way would be through an injector. We’ve got many concepts of the injector with a hatch that opens up or a needle that injects the seed but the basic concept is the same. You have a pen like plastic injector that you fill with seeds, then pushing it into the soil before pressing the button or plunger on top to inject the seeds into the ground. The different concepts include the hatch, a needle like plunger, two containers for both seeds and plant growth stimulants. This would likely be fulfilling the accessibility of our problems need more than being a quick and alternative method to normal gardening. We made a cardboard prototype of the hatch option, shown in picture 1 and 2.

Our other design that we came with was a slip that had seeds imbedded into it, which you could then push easily into the soil. The slip would be made out of a biodegradable material so once in the soil, it would biodegrade within about a week to release the seeds, allowing them to grow. With also have different versions of this option, rectangular options, some with spikes to insert the slip easier, one with a container for both the seeds and plant growth stimulant. We made two prototypes of this option, one out of cardboard with a hard spike and one made out of recycled cardboard mixed with flour and water that actually had the seeds implanted into it. After various tests, the seeds in the cardboard slip would grow in some occasions. The problem was that due to having to cook the recycled cardboard paste in the oven to harden it up, this likely killed some of the seeds. This solution fulfilled our problem of being a fast and easy solution.

After talking to different groups and our mentors, there were a few things apparent. Neither idea was better than the other, rather they were more suited to different parts of the brief. The inserter would most likely be better in the case of older people, while the slip was a more fast and easy option. We were recommended that we continue to look into both before making an exact decision. So we will likely have to look into ergonomics for the inserter while we will need to look into bio plastics for our slip. We would have to test both the length and size of both the inserter and seed slip with multiple people to get a idea of what size we want to make it. We also need to send out a survey to gardeners regarding these two solutions and the merit they hold.

Just to make sure I’ve covered every base there actually is some points to be made with the creative reasoning stuff as well as some more general notes I’ve remembered, as well as some stuff I’ve remembered that actually applies really well here.

A super interesting concept I remember from Psychology/Sociology/Philosophy is the wisdom of the crowd. It’s the idea that when a middle ground of people’s opinions is found it tends to be the closest to the truth. The most common way it’s proven is by showing a large jar full of sweets and people are told to guess how many there are in the jar. Individuals tend to be all over the place and very inaccurate, but when their answers are averaged the answer is surprisingly close to the actual true answer of how many there are in the jar. And as more people’s opinions are gathered and are put into that average the accuracy increases. 

This I think can be linked pretty strongly with the “needs” of good creative reasoning. People approach problems in unique ways, applying their own balances of each type of reasoning listed and tend to have preference and skill favouring one over the others. So by having a group of receptive and precise people to bounce an idea off of will result in the wisdom of the crowd averaging that idea out to something significantly more effective than it would’ve been otherwise. 

As I said in the previous post our group has a surprisingly good balance in approaches and thought processes, as a result I’m confident that our iterative process with our Studio project will be a huge success. 

First Loopy - The relationship between ignorance and climate change

My first loopy was me playing around with the relationship between ignorance and climate change; and how that relationship initially sparks a global impact but finally through the negative outcomes of the impacts of this relationship, ignorance around the issue of climate change decreases, sparking change and hopefully allowing us to manage climate change.

Unfortunately western culture accommodates significant levels of ignorance to global issues that effect us today, a big one being climate change. This culture of “its not my problem”, “what can we do?”, “its barely happening”, fuels the western ignorance while drought, bushfires and rising sea levels are impacting people globally. Ignorance in large amounts are driven by political and economical reasons; for example, USA leaving the Paris agreement because the deal would kill jobs. 

As humans it’s our nature to form patterns of delayed and inadequate responses to issues. Hopefully, given that the impacts of climate change are already distinguishable globally, this time, we wont let it be too late and go too far before we take action.

- Stay safe, stay swag

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. 

What makes something biodegradable? As Kelly Oakes explains in a BBC article, biodegradable is a material that can be broken down by microbes and turned into biomass, water, and carbon dioxide.  In fact, most items are biodegradable, the issue is the time they take to decompose, where food waste might take a few months to decompose. Items such as plastic can take hundreds of years. Even items that claim they are biodegradable, such as the common coffee cup needs the right environment and equipment to decompose quickly and properly. You can’t simply throw your coffee cup into your compost at home and expect it to decompose at a quick rate. This opens a big question that if majority of materials say they are biodegradable but still needs this special environment and equipment to decompose. What happens when these items aren’t disposed of correctly or mixed with general waste that they don’t reach the correct destination? Are we going backwards where materials take years to decompose?

The next big step, materials that can decompose easier in-home compost, or creating an environment that simulates an industrial recycling/composting site. This would give consumers the confidence and satisfaction that their own waste is delt with in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

So why am I talking about biodegradable materials, well in our studio project the brief was to tackle a situation that impacted the environment or community. Our group decided to lean towards environmental impacts which leads us to sustainability. Asking questions like what can decompose, how long does it take to decompose, what are the requirements for materials to decompose. These big questions are to help us gain knowledge on creating a biodegradable packaging solution for seeds.

This Table shows a rough time frame of how long some common items will take to break down if left in the environment. The information in the table was sourced from Science learning hub.                                          

               References:

Oakes, K. (2019, November 5). Why biodegradables won’t solve the plastic crisis. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191030-why-biodegradables-wont-solve-the-plastic-crisis

Week 4:

- We present our instrument to the class.

- Summary of the instrument: our instrument contains 6 different sound, 3 buttons and 3 strings. The player will be given a ring that connects to the Makey Makey board, when they touch the buttons or strings it will play a sound. For the sound, our team decided to create an uncomfortable and scary sound such as sharpening knives, door closed or screaming cat...

- This is what we see during Wednesday week 4: +What goes well: our priority is to make the instrument works well. We have cables management so that it won't get tangled during use. +What did not go well: We have a problem with the strings, the strings are not very stretched. Also, our ring broke, but we got a backup ring. +User experience: users seem happy and uncomfortable (this is what we want). We make these sounds to stimulate the curiosity of the users. People dislike these sounds, but they still want to hear them. +What we could do to improve our instrument: This is a prototype, it is not completely complete in terms of materials and experience. If we have more time we will make a music box make out of wood, we will also research for more sound and provide sounder options (some more buttons and strings). We can add the light for every button, this means when we press the button the light will be on.

My first assignment for programming all done. From having zero experience with coding I’m superr stoked to see the outcome. Challenging to say the least but rewarding.