I’ve known I wanted to be a designer since I was a little kid, although the exact field has varied over the years. I’ve been exploring the field of design, in related interdisciplinary fields, for almost ten years. For the past year in DT, I’ve been exploring how technology as a tool can aid my design process, and how it can be used to express myself. I have been building my knowledge base by trying different things I can do with design and technology.

I went through many trains of thought in the development of this project - interactivity, artistry, engagement, visuals and sound. The project ended up being an exploration of creation and the sense we get when engaging in the act.

I got very insightful feedback on my final presentation, from guest critics Jonathan Soma and Colleen Macklin.

Preparing for structure and order of final presentations.

Fine tuning visuals, gesture tracking, and reactions.

For this next prototype, I focused on refining the experience of the system by adding interactions, and connecting different gestures, visuals, and sounds.

The goal for this prototype was to refine the visuals and sound into something more organic, that users could have fun engaging with.

For the first round of user testing, I used an Azure Kinect, ml5.js, p5.js, and tone.js to create a generative piece whose visuals and sound were affected by user interaction.

Formulating goals for the first round of user testing.

Practical questions to keep in mind through the course of the next couple of weeks.

Primary research documentation for second set of research activities.

Based on the CPS exercise we did this week, I categorised the feedback I received by priority, theme, and type.

I tried to imagine and sketch out a variety of interactions I could map out and what kind of effects they would have on the behaviour of people who were engaging with the project. For this part of the process, I disregarded what kind of technology I would use to map gestures and what kind of visual output it would produce.

This week in class, I attempted to answer broad questions about the context of the project.

For this week’s 5-in-5, I explored different aspects of my project through different prototypes to narrow down a direction for the project.

I am exploring how I can affect and direct people’s gestures and behaviour as they interact with each other in a public space.

Different research and prototyping processes lead the way for thinking about different aspects of the project.

Primary research documentation for first set of research activities.

I am exploring how common behaviour can be translated, viewed, and understood in uncommon perspectives.

Exploring research intentions led me to come up with a list of potential research topics/sources/starting points.