Ideas, ideas…

Ideas for the mini-thesis. The question is: Which one should I go for?

1. Habit locker

The idea came from one of my previuos projects this semester, the cigarette box that tries to encourage you smoke less. I decided to expand the idea to habits we want to stay away.

Design question: Is social media powerful enough to effect personal agency? Can it be achieved through a personal physical device?

What if we have a box we put the habits we want to get away from, at least for a while. Let’s say it’s a cigarette, a chocolate bar, portable game console, remote control…whatever you want to stay away for a while. What if it’s in the form of a social game that also gets your friends involved. You announce a game in Facebook, ask your friend to play with you. You set the chellange, I wont open this box in 2 days. They can bet, they can support, they can try to piss you off with the comments they send. Can this input effect your personal agency?

2. Over Distance Pillows

You are in a country which is almost 6000miles away from your home. You miss your mom a lot but you can’t call her all the time there’s a 7 hour time difference. You are also tired of virtual conversations, you want to feel her when she thinks you or vice versa.

Design question: Can physical input-output over distance imitate real physical contact? Can it express emotions?

3. Interactive Fantasy World Experience

This is an interactive installation for kids. The concern is to create a virtual environment for the kids to explore/learn real life concepts through a fantastic world. For example, travel inside human body, underwater world, an ancient city.

Design question: How can we achieve learning through an interactive experience?

A virtual environment will be projected on the wall. There will be a mat on the floor which will create physical input. The kids will be walking on the mat to create new shapes inside that world, to rotate shapes. They will carry some shapes by hand to the blinking spots on the screen to get a pop-up screen that has information on what that object is.

4. Environmental News on the globe

Every minute there is an environmental damage going on in the world. Or some people do something about the environment that is on the news. Do you want your child to be aware of environmental issues and be more conscious about it?

Design question: Can we create awareness on specific issues by having objects that informs us about it without us having to search?  Can we also integrate learning about geography, time zones, climate as wells as contemporary issues?

A smart globe is sitting in children’s table giving him information about what’s going on in the world. It also tells more, time zones, climatic differences in north and south etc.

5. Save the World

Children are coming together to save the world. A physical game surrounded with technology. The projector reflects a lovely world scene on the wall. But, suddenly, the lovely scene starts to decay. Children has to pick materials and put them into appropriate places to prevent it. However, the time is limited, they got to be aware and act as quickly as possible. They should stop a water leakage, a trash to be thrown into nature, global warming burning a forest etc…

Design question: How can technology and games together can be used to create awareness?

This is a cooperative game and children will be working together to save the world. I believe this will also make them aware of environmental issues and needed actions to take. Also, this will show them the importance collaboration, the pleasure of achieveing something together. (Or blaming other for the failure! – that’s how is life)

Domain Mapping:

It was a challenging process for me to put all the concepts together in a readable way. Everything is somehow interrelated with each other. I put the 3 main concepts in the center and separated focus into 2 groups. Everything that touches the central 3 concepts are related with it.

1. Habit box
2. Over distance pillow
3. Interactive Fantasy World Experience
4. Smart Globe
5. Save the world together