Reflection 1: Study 6
Study 6 was designed to encourage students to discuss and reflect on the work of another student in our class. For this process, I chose Yuhans to draw inspiration from. Yuhan used voice recognition and “aka.listen” to make specific words change the brightness on the output screen.
In today’s society, voice recognition is everywhere. The most influential and common example is that of Siri and Google Home. Both having advanced technology to recognise words and have actions which occur as a result.
On a simplistic level, this is what I have done with my project. I have programmed my patcher to change the colour tint depending on which trigger word is said. The key however with my design is that I have chosen colours which corrolate with different meanings in the human mind. For example, we are trained to understand that the colour blue associates with sadness, red with anger or death and pink with love. Therefore I carefully chose each trigger word to relate to these emotions.
On a technical level, the process is as follows. Once turned “on” the microphone in my laptop will recognise any of the words listed, then moving through “aka.listen” each word is associated with 3 numbers. The combination of the 3 numbers are different areas on colour charts which combine to make a whole colour. This colour then appears on the screen as a tint over the viewers face.
My primary aim is for the viewer to connect emotions with colours and begin to understand the association at play.
Reflection 2: Study 7
Study 7’s criteria was that we must take an idea, concept, or technique used in a previous study, and develop it further. Focusing on keeping user interaction for 5-7 minutes.
During class a few weeks ago, we brainstormed things which can maintain our attention for extended periods of time. The primary thing I took out of this session was that we like to have a challenge in front of us to complete. We become “hooked” when we have a goal to achieve or a reward at the end. For me, doing a sodoku is both a therapeutic and frustrating activity. It provides a great sense of accomplishment when completed, however infuriating annoyance when you get stuck. This is what I hoped to achieve with my study.
I decided that the puzzle i would focus on was a maze. A simplistic, get from one end to the other type maze. The concept developed with the previously mentioned emotions in mind. I designed the study so that if you were to let go of the drawing when you hadn’t completed the maze, the computer would let off an annoying sound and the word “boo” would appear. On the contrary, if you were to complete the maze successfully, the computer reads “yay” and plays a funny, celebratory jingle.
On a technical level, I used “Loadbang” to make the setup automatic. When opened, the maze is immediately shown empty and the songs and triggers are turned on. The main difficulty i encountered was trying to have both sounds available to play depending on where the mouse was “unclicked”. The solution was found through the use of “gswitch2” which caused some issues initially, but was resolved.
Overall, my study “aMAZEing” successfully sustains user interactions for several minutes (depending on how quickly they solve the puzzle). When testing my product with friends, the fastest completion I saw was 3mins and the longest was 7.2mins. I would deem this study, a success!
Reflection 3: Study 8
Whilst study 8 may appear the most simplistic over all, i have a great deal of self accomplishment from it. I completed this patcher without any help from tutors or in class. The design whilst straight forward is meaningful on a conceptual level. It goes back to the first assessment from semester 2 I studied on Camille Utterback. Throughout the semester I have continued to develop the concept further. Whilst I wanted to originally put a simulation of rain on the screen to move around the body. This was something I couldn’t achieve so I did the best I could. I have used a recording of the sound of rain to add to the effect. I have also chosen a blue colour to represent the rain.
Throughout this semester we have learnt about messages, notes, buttons and formulas. Developing a sort of language to communicate with Max. It is knowledge that to me felt like it didn’t make any sense at all. However when it came down to it, I was able to combine all of the tutes to make something. Something small, but to me very symbolic.
Using threshold alterations to change the shape of the fill in, I have created a symbol which looks like rain. The study allows viewers to lift and move the rain when interacting with the piece.