#finalconcept

During our crit on Monday this week, we got the advice to stick to the motion and develop this idea according to the insights from our interviews. The Milestone 2 is approaching fast and we really need to make a decision what movement would be optimal for us, our users and the plant.

We decided that we won’t specify any narrow target group - our product is suitable for all the people who feel like connecting more and caring more for their plants and since the movement is crucial in this concept, they shouldn’t be afraid of their plants moving. At the same time, we aim for a natural, almost windy-like rustling of leaves, so this kind of movement neither is disturbing for a user, nor should hurt a plant.

We also figured out that the most optimal solution would be to create a moving pot - a plant’s stem wouldn’t get hurt while prototyping and on the other hand, we still can effectively create a specific and explicit motion.

Video Prototyping Workshop

Tuesday’s workshop was very useful - we were acknowledged with some techniques and tips regarding video making, but what is most important, it speeded up our decision-making. We started to share our visions of how our video and particular scenes should look like. We got to know our limits and possibilities and that was when I started wondering if we are not complicating things and exaggerating a little bit with the functions of our concept. Using different types of plant’s movements for communication would not only make it more difficult for a user to distinguish between them and memorize what they  mean, but also it will be more difficult for us to prototype the movements. I started the process of implementing this idea within our group.

After a long talk, we decided to stick to one type of motion, swaying, but with changing speed. We left this idea to sink in until Wednesday:

Happy state (slow movement)

Sad state (medium movement)

Alert state (very intense movement)

We also started writing down what situations we are about to show in our video. They have to be very explicit to specifically show the functions, possibilities and values our product has to offer.

We also agreed on the value that our product would hold for its users:

An owner of a plant gets to know plant's needs and mood and receives feedback from a plant. It develops a relationship between them. A plant draws a user's attention, so it is less likely for a user to forget about watering it.

= PLANTS ARE BEING TAKEN CARE OF AND USERS THINK OF THEMSELVES AS BETTER PLANT OWNERS

Engaging Others Workshop

I found the workshop very interesting, because we were working on each others’ projects. We could get familiar with what other groups are preparing and it was insanely interesting to listen to their insights about our project. The other group (7) gave us some nice ideas about how to prototype the experience of using our product and I believe we helped them a bit, too. I think the workshop left us with a pretty decent script for our experience prototype!

Wednesday, 17.02

Today we were playing scriptwriters and we started writing down and sketching the scenes for our prototyping video. As we learned on the workshop, we wanted to make an experience of using our product very feasible to an audience, without using narration, text or any vocabular explanation whatsoever. We also needed to stick to the time limit of 2 minutes, aiming for 1 minute or a little more in total. We had a lot of ideas and the work went very smooth. Some people had problem with the time limit, but for me it was convenient. I must admit I like to know my limits as much as I like to know my potentialities.

These are the scenes I sketched on our Miro board. They were very helpful while making our video and they were crucial when we were starting to record the scenes.

Friday, 19.02

Today we met at school to finally do some serious movie making! Me, Carlo and Patrycja found a cozy study room with a piano at Orkanen, while Sanna was recording her part of the video at home. We had so much fun!

I brought a tripod and my iPhone, as it has 3 lenses and the most possibilities to offer. I also 3d printed two pot-supporters, which we called ‘tits’, designed to enable an easier swaying of an inner pot within the outside pot. Patrycja brought two plants and Carlo was our leading character. There always occurs something which doesn’t go according to the plan. This time, I forgot an outside pot, so we needed to improvise - Patrycja found a transparent container in one of the university’s fridges and we adapted it to play a role of a pot.

I edited our video during the weekend using the InShot phone app. I had an option to add some animated effects and since we weren’t allowed to use narration or captions, I figured that such animation will make a terrific support for visualizing plants’ reactions. Carlo as an actor did great too and in the end, we were very satisfied with the outcome. I also showed the video to my family and they had no doubts about what we are trying to convey. I guess we can call it a success and

VIDEO

Meet Guru! an app to empower parents of children with Developmental Disabilities to facilitate education by providing a tailored support and guidance platform through child development experts.

While this is made keeping children with special needs in mind, it is not limited to them and can benefit any child

How it works:

The parent enters their Child's details

The app provides a child developmental milestone assessment plan according to the child’s details in form of a simple progressive questionnaire

The output of the milestones is generated as a report which is reviewed by experts(educators, therapists, health coordinators)

An analysis report is developed depending on the needs and abilities of the child and discussed with the parent.

The parents/facilitators constraints, preferences and availability are are noted to generate the daily action plan.

Activities and goals are set on a daily/weekly basis which is tracked through the app.

The app provides resources, support and guidance to facilitate the activity.

The child’s progress is constantly recorded and tracked by the app, this helps the specialist to monitor child activity and tailor the plan accordingly on a rolling basis.

Apart from a mandatory monthly session with the special educator the parent can seek support through a call or message through the app at any point of time. The app would recommend specialists based om the need,  language and location preferences of the parent.

This would translate into a continuous process in the child’s development that can be facilitated by anyone from anywhere while empowering the caregiver to engage the child in a positive and effective way.

Whom it impacts:

Empowers parents by providing them with adequate quality resources to help facilitate development for their child

Allows Specialists to understand the needs and abilities of the child to provide a tailored plan with high impact ability

Fosters a safe and engaging learning environment at any point from any place for any child to develop

After testing the different concepts we have decided on one final as our solution to the brief. We have kept the interactional qualities from “Tag” and combined it with the conceptual conflict between reality and computer mediation from “Spotlight”.

Our final concept called “Ghost” extends on the explorative qualities from “Spotlight” by providing options for interaction between visitors. This is done through feedback communicated in the same way, as we did in “Tag”. Furthermore Ghost enhances the conflict between the expected behavior and the actual behavior of the system by showing persons on the screen, that are not present in reality. Instead of having a static image as background like in “Spotlight”, we are now using a pre-recorded video of people walking around at the entrance area.

With the concept “Ghost” we are trying to encourage curiosity by letting users explore through interaction. This interaction holds a conflict between users’ expectation and users’ experience, as it draws a connection between the digital and the real world. Together with the peephole principle for engagement (Dalsgaard & Dindler, 2009) this conflict is what excites users’ curiosity and encourage them to explore the system’s perception and reaction. The idea is, that puzzling visitors provoke reflection on the computer as a medium for representing the real world.

The concept as a solution to the brief Our goal was to demonstrate a novel interactive experience, that provoke visitors to reflect on digital technology as a medium for perceiving reality - focusing on the relation between human and computer.

The field of IT is about representing and enhancing human reality and everyday life through information technology. ITU as a university seeks to explore, understand and develop this field. It is a process driven by curiosity and knowledge generation. Some main focuses within this area are the relation between humans and digital technology, and technology as a medium for representing reality. Our concept invites visitors at ITU to explore this relation between humans and digital technology.

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