11.11/11.13: Furthering Our Concepts

Over the weekend, we met to further develop our concepts—tweaking and even going back to the drawing board in some cases. We felt that we had rushed into our design decisions, so we worked to re-evaluate our goals. With the events of the election, our discussions shifted focus towards thinking about how the current political and social climate may effect our design.

Things we discussed:

• Similarity
• Temporality?
• Collective sympathy?
• Breaking the bubble by talking with strangers
• Fostering a sense of belonging
• Ages? Old & young? How would they interact?
• Stories?
• Depending on how much physical making we can do (do we need screens? etc?), it may be a constraint on what we do
• Photography… polaroids?
• Groups of people vs. singles
• Vending machines
• Dogs & cute things
• Emotional attachment

What we agree on:

• Physical output
• Situated physically within Pittsburgh
• Small but effective physical ‘things’

With this, we considered how we might create physical interfaces that encourage human to human interaction. Thinking of where they are situated, what a physical output may be, and what the affordances might be—we split off to work individually and bring together new sketches and concepts.

11.13—Synthesis Session

We came up with a few additional ideas based on our work session on 11.11.

Furry fake animal:

Here we would have a furry creature that if two people interact with the animal at the same time, something happens.

Pros:
Cute, allows for physical affordance

Improvements:
Fiber Optic interactions vs. animal embodiment
Uncanny valley?

Bus stop floor projection:

With this, the system would recognize when a user approaches the bus stop and is looking down at their phone. A circle projection would illuminate beneath them and do one of two things. If alone, it would indicate where the bus is in relation to their stop. If there are other people at the stop, their circles would connect by a dotted line, this would encourage them to follow the line and smile/wave/interact.

Printing messaging around the city:

Users would receive a printed card with a message of peace/love/unity/hope. Two people interacting with the system (activation unknown) can produce a physical artifact.

Different neighborhoods have different messages, a unique neighborhood visual on the message card to bring the installation back to the neighborhood.

People would be able to look up the different locations and submit messaging.

Bubbles of interaction come together within shelter:

A bubble follows a user, and if user gets close to another person and interacts, the bubbles merge and something happens.

What if the bubbles are shadows of people?

Pros:
Not static, always changes in response to the current environment

Improvements:
Provide prompts so that people would know what would happen if they did something (provide affordance)

Phones placed in different neighborhoods:

Phones located throughout the city where people can call different neighborhoods and talk to someone from that neighborhood.

Like “Call a Swede” campaign

Improvements:
Difficult to make sure two persons are calling at the same time.
Might have been done before?
Need an incentive to begin interaction?

Signage and lines to demarcate neighborhoods:

We are creating physical/small thing, space, and/or activity to provide an accessible platform across groups(neighbors/generations/newcomer and local/income/profession) so that they can share, and be aware of others thought on the city either negative or positive in the long run, people feel belonging to the community by participating in discussion(realizing that some have the same idea or some have totally different idea)

Pros:
Welcome sign is welcoming

Improvements:
Maybe the sign can be interactive — serve different functions rather than just welcome sign

Food festival:

We are creating physical interaction/interface that promote people to get together so that people can start a conversation in terms of ice-breaking within different bubbles and in the long run, this(interaction/interface) could develop by community itself to provoke change.

Cloud-based jukebox:

We are creating a cloud-based jukebox to share music so that strangers waiting for the bus can connect with one another over the shared experience (music), and in the long run, make the bus system less frustrating to use.
“Text your tune”

Pros:
Sharing your interest with a lot of people — shares your interest in a visible way

Improvements:
What if people don’t like the music you’re playing? Prescriptive
The sound of Pittsburgh — from it’s people

Facial recognition:

A photo booth that is activated only when 2+ persons are smiling at the same time.

We took a walk over to HCI and the human sensing lab’s Feeling Spector