OLIVIA SPAIN olivspain@gmail.com

RESEARCH

Our users included everyone that would walk down the Georgia Tech College of Architecture hallway where this finished project would be displayed. Our research group included 12 people - all differing in age, gender, profession, and interests.

Instead of a survey or interview, we collected different images of colors, landscapes, types of movement, animals, brightness vs. darkness, etc. We gave the same images to all 12 people and asked them to create a collage that made them smile. The goal was to see if any patterns arose from the order, placement, or frequency of the images in the 12 collages, and they did:

Movement of color
Light
Calm vs. Chaotic
Reaction to an action

I wish we had saved or taken a picture of one of the collages - they were all unique but when put together told a cohesive story. We hypothesized that the mountain and beach landscapes may overpower the cityscapes, but we found that the right combination of colors, movement, and city lights produced a delightful reaction. This lead to us focusing on movement of light and reaction to an action.

PROTOTYPING

All of the quick iterations above had a few things in common:

light
movement of color
feedback to an action

After presenting our concepts to the class we decided to prototype iteration 5. Iteration 5, or "Manipu-lasers" as we called it, allowed viewers to move mirrors on the installation to direct a laser along a path. At the end of the path was a light sensor. If the laser hit the sensor there would be audio and visual feedback. Our hypothesis was that the satisfaction of completing an obstacle would lead to the user smiling because of their accomplishment - action to reaction - all while creating their own unique piece of art.

BUILDING

Using Lego Mindstorm software I coded the gears to move as motion was detected by the motion sensor.

We laser cut pieces to make 4 octagonal shapes that were placed on the acrylic to create broader light reactions.

After laser cutting the backboard out of light weight acrylic to the form we got from the above light research, we mounted it onto a piece of wood that would hold and hide our Lego Mindstorm pieces.

On top of the acrylic we placed laser cut octagonal shapes in random spots near the center that were connected to each other by large gears underneath the acrylic that we laser cut as well.

The gears were connected to the motor. Lasers were placed on the corners of the acrylic pointing directly towards the octagonal shapes. Last but not least, a motion sensor was placed at the top of the acrylic.

DELIGHT: INTERACTIVE WALL INSTALLATION

PROMPT

RESEARCH

IDEATION

PROTOTYPING

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

FORM, CODE, AND CONSTRUCTION

BUILDING

FINAL EXPERIENCE

DATE: 2013