Semester at a glance

This semester has really flown by. Things went really well, in my opinion. We got a lot done in the way of progress. At the beginning of the semester, we pitched our idea to the New Venture Challenge. However, we didn’t move onto the next round, we gained some valuable insights as far as needing to come up with a business plan for the future. This also allowed us to really focus in on ironing out some next steps as far as making a presence on social media, launching an Indiegogo funding campaign, and really start to make strides forward in our prototyping.
In our process of prototyping, we got some key pieces in place that really got us motivated to continue full steam ahead. At first wee prototyped what might encourage people to break their own social bubble and interact with something that they might not be directly associated with. We set up a puzzle in the middle of Pearl Street, an outdoor mall, and made observations of people regarding how they interacted with the puzzle as they passed by. We did a similar set up on Colorado University’s campus. Both tests did not go as we had thought they would, but nonetheless, we gathered some great feedback. The next prototype that we set-up was where we set up a bench with balloons, streamers, and other festive things in a high traffic part of CU’s campus and observed for about four hours. Many people interacted with it by taking pictures, stopping to check it out, however, no one sat on the bench. We took these findings and discussed what our next steps might be. After a lengthy discussion, we came to the conclusion that we really didn’t need to prototype anything else. We were determined to move forward with our initial plan of creating an interactive campsite which attracted people through its lights and sounds. Thus, began the more focused prototyping on the actual space.
One of our first tests was how we would go about demonstrating fire. We purchased about 20 tea lights, a fan, and some cheap fabric. The idea was to create a fire effect that mimicked fire. The first pass was fun but didn’t give us the desired effect. It appeared that either the fan wasn’t strong enough to blow around the fabric in the desired effect that we had hoped or that the fabric that we were using was too heavy to achieve any lift from the fan’s air. Either way, we needed to come up with a different method of creating this faux fire. That sparked the idea of having an acrylic that has formed flames that we would utilize LEDs to create an interesting experience visually. This was recently created and will be the first step on the trail of creating an experience that people will enjoy the campfire.
One of the bigger paths that we had to cross was the idea of sitting on logs. I personally had one vision of how this would work and there, of course, were other ideas. I think that other members were thinking about having logs stacked up horizontally and somehow getting lights to shine from inside the stack. However, I was under the impression that the user would sit on a log, or stump, that was stacked vertically. Like a barstool. Ultimately, I had a hard time describing the concept to my team, and they gave me their blessings to go ahead and make it happen. The truly hard part was finding someone who was able to cut logs and to drill holes into the center of them. After many Google searches, I was able to find someone local to cut the logs to size. Long story short, I spent spring break making it my mission to have something that we could build off of to move forward with that portion of the process.
Most recently we have really been putting the pedal to the metal. We tested and have a working version of the LEDs shining from out from under a log, we have a small campfire set up, and we’re so very close to having nature sounds playing for the user to enhance the experience. To say that this group has really pushed forward is an understatement.
I have been blessed by such a fun-loving, caring, intelligent, well-rounded group of ladies, that I count it my pleasure to be associated with them. They continuously impress me with their ideas, knowledge, and passion for this project. They are one-of-a-kind and am humbled by what they bring to the group. We each have our own unique style and that is why I think we have been successful in our process so far. Stay tuned for more exciting news at JoyDept.us.