Making Toys

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  kierbarr 8:46 pm on May 13, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  Buzz Toy – Final Documentation 

  KJ Barr  |  Buzz Buzz – Wireless Toy

  Buzz Buzz is an interactive toy that uses sound and vibration to indicate location. With Buzz Buzz a child has the opportunity to play hide and seek style game with a toy interaction.

   

  This toy takes a spin off of the classic warmer warmer, cooler cooler, game. By using RF communication I was able to create Buzz Buzz. This toy is a bee hive and bee that contain two Arduinos. When the bee gets closer to the hive, the hive send a signal to the bee causing it to buzz and vibrate. This buzzing and movement is intended to be an indication to the player that they are getting closer to the hive. If they do not hear the buzz or feel the vibration then they know that they are not in the correct direction.

  Check out this short video about Buzz Buzz

  

   

  Iterations and Prior Art:

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  
  

   

  Future Directions: I feel that buzz buzz could be a very fun and exciting toy. In the future I would alter the toy slightly first by making the demographic much larger. I would address this first by changing the enclosure design for a more mature but still well designed enclosure. Secondly, I would add another element for a group dynamic. This element would communicate with other players bees creating a different swarming noise.

   

  KJ Barr  |  Buzz Buzz – Wireless Toys

   

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  kierbarr 7:53 pm on April 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  RF Documentation 

  VirtualWire-1

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  kierbarr 10:04 pm on April 16, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  Another Round of Prototypes 

  Buzz sound prototype (A) – 1

  

  Buzz sound prototype (B) – 2

  

  Vibe sensor prototype – 3

  

  Hive paper prototype (A) – 4

  

  Hive paper prototype (B) – 5

  
  Bee paper prototype – 6

  

  Bee fabric prototype puppet – 7

  

  
  

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  kierbarr 1:45 am on April 6, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  7 more prototypes 

  Role Prototype 

  

  This sketch illustrates the play experience of a 3 year old child. I imaging that this child would be enjoying a play environment by themselves in which they would still be able to experiance the excitement of finding the object that was hiding. In this interaction the child would be holding the cheese and it would vibrate as they got closer to the rat. The rat would also start blinking at the child approached closer.

  

  In this role prototype a group of children ranging between ages 3-5. These children would interact in a hide and seek style play in which they would all contribute in finding the hidden mouse. In this interaction the mouse would make noise as the children approached closer.

  

  In this role prototype an adult would use the sea otter and clam to display the interaction between the two objects for a class room of 5 year olds. I see this interaction as a play / learning environment where the children would be exposed to the lesson threw play.

  Look and Feel 

  paper prototypes – Here I designed and constructed 3d paper prototypes of possible interactions that I would like to use for my final project.

  Sea otter and clam

  

  

  Bee hive and bees

  

  

  Other

  Implementation and Integration

  Here I did light testing to display the specific interactions that I would like to see when the participant is a specific distance away from the object that they are trying to find.

  

  http://vimeo.com/39866951 

  

  http://vimeo.com/39867146

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  kierbarr is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    kierbarr 7:21 pm on April 10, 2012 Permalink | Reply

    In Class Free Write:

    • Did any surprises come from this round of prototyping?

    I was surprised by the unsolicited feedback that I received while prototyping in the D12 space. It was
    helpful to see what projects resinated with my peers.

    • What was the hardest thing from this round of prototypes?

    The hardest thing was determining what hardware to purchase for the next round. I am unsure of all of
    the things I’ll need to make my project work.

    • What was the easiest thing from this round of prototypes for you?

    The easiest part of prototyping this round was creating the 3d shapes. Although they were just mock-ups
    I found that the tactile aspect of prototyping was fun.

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  kierbarr 3:31 pm on April 3, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  10 prototypes 

  

  Domain Map

  Implementation – Examples of Prior Work 

  

  Iron Man Motion Detector Movement Snoop Alarm Detect

  This toy is similar to the idea I have but its altered slightly differently because it deals with motion detection from one end only.

  

   Hide and Seek Safari – Monkey 

  This toy is similar to the toy that I  would like to make but I would like the object to react not the detector.

  

   Hide and Seek Safari – Monkey  Jr. 

  This jr edition is more along the lines of what I would like to make because it is soft and I feel that children would react more positively to it.

  

  Caterpillar Butterfly puppet 

  Is a 2 in 1 puppet and I think that my egg could also be a 2 in 1 toy.

  Cubelets

  http://vimeo.com/19712586

  Look & feel 

  Color

    

  Easter color pallet

  Material 

  

  I would like to use this fuzzy material for the inside of the egg and for the outside I would like to use the fabric the Yuri provided

  Weight  

  

  After weight testing this week I decided that 1/2 is a great weight for the egg and detector.

  Role

  A.)

     The first role I envision my toy in is during an easter egg hunt. This would allow a younger child an easy opportunity to find the egg.

  B. )

     The second role I envision my toy in is during a scavenger hunt. This could be used as group activity during a birthday party or other event involving children.

  C. )

     The final role I envision my toy in would be an education setting. Because the toy will be a 2 in 1 puppet it can have the ability to display to children how an egg hatches.

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  kierbarr 2:20 pm on March 26, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  Final Concepts 

  

  This first idea would be another monster in the love is a monster series. It would be called I love my career. It would ideally be a desk toy for those who are in a cubicle office setting. The two toys would communicate wirelessly with a garage door opener technology. These toys would be used during those times when you strongly dislike your job. You would then be able to communicate with other employees you empathize with a similar situation.

  

  This second idea is would be for children. I have a 5 year old brother and my favorite thing to do with him in the spring time is the easter egg hunt. When he was a toddler he enjoyed the easter egg hunts but had a difficult time detecting the oversized eggs even when they were hidden in obvious places. This toy would hide a light in an oversized easter egg and would light up with a switch allowing the child to locate the egg easily.

  

  This third idea would be for reading. When I read print books that are not on my tablet I have a difficult time finding a balance with the lighting. If I turn on the room light its too bright and if I use a snap on light the l.e.d. is not diffused and it hurts my eyes. This idea would use lights in a pillow to allow a person to be able to comfortably read in the bed. 

   

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  kierbarr 2:44 pm on March 25, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  Date Monsters 

  Theses are the Date Monsters from my Love is a Monster Series. These toys are supposed to highlight the awkward qualities of a first date. The concept behind the toys is that the couple would wear the bow tie and hair bow on a first date. Threw the use of a pulse sensor the couple would be able to see if their heartbeats sync to determine if they should go on a second date. This is more of a conceptual design/geek chic.

   

  

  

  

  http://vimeo.com/39140624 http://vimeo.com/39140651 

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  kierbarr 2:24 pm on March 25, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  I only have EYE for you 

  Here is a photo and video of a monster from a series I called Love is a monster. I created this to express a playful take on the awkward and qualities about love.

  http://vimeo.com/39140582?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cliptranscoded&utm_campaign=adminclip

   

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  kierbarr 9:44 pm on January 31, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  UFO toy deconstruction 

  Here are some photos from the deconstruction that we completed in class. 

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  kierbarr 9:37 pm on January 31, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  Kierstie KJ Barr 

  My name is Kj Barr. I am from the Bay Area. This is my first year in DT. My favorite toy growing up was teddy teddy roxpin

  

   

  This toy came with a book. I was able to place a small tape into the bum of the teddy bear and its mouth would move and he would read to me.

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