original_assignment.md

Staging Interaction

Lianne Bisch(lb854)

Assignment Detais

In the original stage production of Peter Pan, Tinker Bell was represented by a darting light created by a small handheld mirror off-stage, reflecting a little circle of light from a powerful lamp. Tinkerbell communicates her presence through this light to the other characters. See more info [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Bell).

There is no actor that plays Tinkerbell--her existence in the play comes from the interactions that the other characters have with her.

For lab this week, we draw on this and other inspirations from theatre to stage interactions with a device where the main mode of display/output for the interactive device you are designing is lighting. You will plot the interaction with a storyboard, and use your computer and a smartphone to experiment with what the interactions will look and feel like.

Make sure you read all the instructions and understand the whole of the laboratory activity before starting!

Prep

To start the semester, you will need:

1. Read about Git here.

2. Set up your own Github "Lab Hub" repository by forking the Interactive-Lab-Hub repository. To get lab updates, simply use GitHub's "Sync fork" button when new content is available.

3. Set up the README.md for your Hub repository (for instance, so that it has your name and points to your own Lab 1). You can learn how to organize and format your README.md here. Make sure to include links to your submissions so they are easy to find.

For this lab, you will need:

1. Paper
2. Markers/ Pens
3. Scissors
4. Smart Phone -- The main required feature is that the phone needs to have a browser and display a webpage.
5. Computer -- We will use your computer to host a webpage which also features controls.
6. Found objects and materials -- You will have to costume your phone so that it looks like some other devices. These materials can include doll clothes, a paper lantern, a bottle, human clothes, a pillow case, etc. Be creative!

Deliverables for this lab are:

1. 7 Storyboards
2. 3 Sketches/photos of costumed devices
3. Any reflections you have on the process
4. Video sketch of 3 prototyped interactions
5. Submit the items above in the lab1 folder of your class [Github page], either as links or uploaded files. Each group member should post their own copy of the work to their own Lab Hub, even if some of the work is the same from each person in the group.

The Report

This README.md page in your own repository should be edited to include the work you have done (the deliverables mentioned above). Following the format below, you can delete everything but the headers and the sections between the stars. Write the answers to the questions under the starred sentences. Include any material that explains what you did in this lab hub folder, and link it in your README.md for the lab.

Lab Overview

For this assignment, you are going to:

A) Plan

B) Act out the interaction

C) Prototype the device

D) Wizard the device

E) Costume the device

F) Record the interaction

Labs are due on Mondays. Make sure this page is linked to on your main class hub page.

Part A. Plan

1 - Temp Raise Detector

Setting: Inside a home where an elderly person lives.

Players: The elderly resident. Other people living in the same home. Friends or family members who are authorized to receive notifications.

Activity: When the device detects that the room temperature is becoming dangerously high, it alerts the players through a lighting signal.

• The elderly resident can turn on the AC themselves.
• If they don’t notice, others in the household or notified family members can step in to ensure the AC is turned on

Goals: Elderly people sometimes do not realize when the environment has become uncomfortably hot, which can lead to heat stroke indoors. The goal of the device is to use lighting as a clear alert to prompt someone—either the resident or others—to take action and cool the room.

2 - Loudness Detector Setting: A library or any room where people are expected to remain quiet. A loudness detector device is placed on each table.

Players:

• Individuals or groups sitting at the tables
• Other people present in the quiet space
• Individuals who will set the color for the loundess.

Activity: The device monitors sound levels at each table.

• If the noise level exceeds a set threshold, the device alerts the group by changing its light (e.g., glowing red or pulsing).
• When the group lowers their voices, the light returns to a calm state by dimming.

Goals: To gently remind people to keep their voices down, helping maintain a quiet environment for everyone in the space.

3 - Cry Analyzer

Setting: At home, or in public places such as a subway station or restaurant, essentially anywhere babies may be present.

Players:

• Baby (or multiple babies)
• Parents
• Other caregivers (nannies, grandparents, relatives, etc.)

Activity: The device continuously listens for baby cries.

• When a baby starts crying, the device analyzes the sound to infer the likely reason (e.g., hunger, discomfort, tiredness, needs a diaper change).
• If there are multiple babies, the device differentiates which baby is crying and signals accordingly (e.g., through distinct light colors or patterns).
• Caregivers notice the light and respond to the baby’s need.

Goals: Babies cry for different reasons, and it is not always easy for caregivers to immediately recognize the cause. The goal of the Cry Analyzer is to provide a clear, light-based signal to caregivers, helping them quickly understand which baby is crying and why, so they can respond appropriately.

4 - MoodLight

Setting: Inside the homes of our characters, including our main character, friends and family.

Players:

• Individuals who want to communicate their moods.
• Individuals who will set the color to indicate their feelings.

Activity: When the user wants to share their mood with another they can add their friends/family member and alert them of their mood via light signal. Prompting the receiever to reach out.

-When person is having a mental health crisis -When a person receives good news and wants to share their joy

Goals: Some may want to share how they are feeling with others during a mental health episode, positive occasion or celebration. To provide a clear, light-based signal to the reciever so they understand what the sender is feeling and if they need help.

5 - AirQuality Detector

Players:

• Individuals or groups at home.
• Other people present a space.

Activity: The device monitors air quality in a room.

• If the air quality exceeds a set threshold, the device alerts the room by changing its light (e.g., changing glow from green to orange or red plus possible pulsing). -This can prompt someone in the room to turn on a fan or open the windows/doors.

Goals: People sometimes do not realize when the environment's air quality has dropped. The goal of the device is to use lighting as a clear alert to prompt someone—either the resident or others—to take action and get good air flowing in the room.

Storyboards

Temperature Raise Detector

Loudness Detector

Cry Analyzer

Moodlight

AirQuality Detector

Feedback

Temperature Rise Detector:

The goals and the activity of the temp rise detector was clear. They think it's good idea especially after the grandma not noticing the temp raise. However, they are a bit worried about what if the gradma is not noticing when the light is turning. Also, they are worried whether the detector can tell if any action is taken or not.

Loudness Detector:

They think the scenarios are relatable. It’s easy to imagine this at a library or café. They like how it's in the every table so that the users can notice the loudness very easily. Also, they like the idea that the sers can customize the setting. They ae concerned about how to prevent people from ignoring the light.

Cry Analyzer:

They like that you showed multiple contexts, and they think the color-coded signals make it easy to know why the baby is crying. They wonder how it behaves when the two babies are crying at once. Are they going to show the same color for the same reason? Also, they were worried about depending on the number of reasons, it requires a lot of memorization for caregivers.

Moodlight: They like the multiple contexts, and they think the color-coded signals make it easy to know how one should react when notified of a mood change. It helps when one self isolates due to mental illness and can make one feel less alone. The gradients of color are fun and can encourage people to put specific words and colors to their feelings.

AirQuality Detector: They like how the airquality drop can be caused by multiple sources external or internal to the home. It is good to show a gradient of colors to indicate if the air quality is poor but not a danger and can help others monitor the air quality in the home. The notification to others helps if the monitor's alert is ignored or not seen by someone in the home.

Part B. Act out the Interaction

Try physically acting out the interaction you planned. For now, you can just pretend the device is doing the things you’ve scripted for it.

Color might not be enough to clearly understand what's the need from the baby needs. Users are required to remember all the associated colors. We realize we need an app that displays the details of why the baby is crying. We decided we only have hungry, tired, wet diapers, and others. Also, we decided that we want to have different flushing for emergencies/loudness of the baby’s cry. Low flushing for the low urgency, and high flushing for the high urgency.

Also, we realized that when the baby is crying, we do not want the light to be very bright, which will wake up the baby more. We want the light to be dim when the surroundings is dim.

When I try to hold the baby, I do not want to have anything that can harm the baby, so the something on the wrist might not be a good idea. It may be better to have the cry analyzer on the table or hang it on the side of the baby’s bed. Or the cry analyzer has to be made of a soft material like silicon.

When holding the baby, don't want it going off constantly if the baby is inconsolable, may want a feature that says the notification was seen and is being addressed. If a baby is crying for a reason addressed, such as trying to sleep, the parent might want to “snooze” the alert to see if in x minutes the baby is still restless.

As we discussed, we realized this would be helpful, especially for people with hearing disabilities.

In summary: Cry analyzer Detects only 4 types of cries (hungry, tired, wet diapers, and others), and details of others will be shown in the app Analyzing the baby’s cry: Green Hungry: Red Tired/Sleepy: Yellow Wet diapers: Brown Others: Purple Users can customize the four types of cries depending on the baby’s reasons for crying Dim when the surroundings are dark Snooze after x min Soft material / place it on the desk, or hang it on the crib’s side