Was aiming for an early start today but body said otherwise. Nevertheless, I’m on my way in now and am aiming to get a lot done.

Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time on freelance stuff and ignored my coursework. I’m kinda in a catch 22 as I have never been poorer and need to do work but at the same time can’t neglect my studies. sigh

Still, I suppose I’ve had time to passively reflect on things and, who knows, I may gave a brainwave today. At least that’s the plan.

PS: studio manager Ali reckons I’ve got it in me to make things much smoother in terms of my IR tracking. Great news as it means he thinks I’m capable. Bad news as it means starting my code from scratch = less sleep and more stress. Maybe he’ll help me…

Alexander Grünsteidl joined us in the studio today all the way from London. He’s one of the founders of Digital Well Being Labs, a company specialising in innovative consumer experiences through design.

Alexander talked to us in the morning about who he is and what he’s done (and how he got there); it was a very enjoyable presentation and gave me a lot of food for thought regarding the direction of my future but also in my way of thinking. He showcased many of his projects but emphasised his pilot store experiment in London; a store which was filled with exciting, cutting edge technology but to sell it as something else i.e.: technology didn’t need to be sold as technology.

Confusing? Well, here’s an example: a mobile phone with 1000’s of features is terrifying for some niches in the market (elderly, for example). So why not dumb it down or sell it as something else - don’t highlight it’s ability to tell the future or teleport you to Mars, but instead really listen to the consumer and sell it on how it can benefit the individual in question. On the other hand, my Granny (bless her) doesn’t understand the concept of a cordless phone so maybe there’s no winning.

We also had one on one mini-crits with Alexander about our individual projects. I’m still a little unsure as to what to take from my conversation with Mr Grünsteidl; he seemed to like the concept but felt that the rest of the user experience needed crafted a little more. Graham (and I) agree however that I do need to focus on a ‘story’ or ‘feature’ (a unique selling point, if you will). Still, I need to figure out exactly what that feature is. 

Alexander mentioned the ghost tracking feature of the Olympics (seeing other runs super imposed) so you can see what a 1/200th of a second actually looks like. Just an idea but could comparison work for me? People do love to rank themselves against other people; I’m worried this might turn into an unnecessary feature however - I slimmed my iPhone app down and need to be careful that I’m not adding weight to the project for the sake of adding features.

Hmm, stuff to think about…

PS: I’m beginning to like my project again - I think. I’ve tweaked the code a little and it seems a bit more responsive now. Really need to stop fiddling with the camera though and get the website done; this chat today highlighted that I think as I think it came across as a little weak in that area.

Also, the experience is quite nice with the monitor sat beside the unit. Here’s a photo of it, you can see me! How exciting…

Today I got the entire unit togther (minus a camera casing due to some issues physically accessing the wiimote to turn it on, doh! - new case is tomorrow’s task) and actually had my first go at using the unit and seeing video from it’s point of view.

Ignoring the rubbish quality of the camera (still to decide if it’s worth investing in a more expensive one) I was somewhat dissappointed by the results. Jerkiness, slow response rate and inconsistent movement really brought the whole experience down.

This is an experience prototype so this failing is a big deal and must be changed. I’m unsure to what degree the shittiness (pardonez moi) is hardware or software related but some time is needed fine tuning, or starting over, the code.

I shot a quick video and merged it with a screencast of the webcam - I’ll post it later tonight as I’m on my iPhone at the moment.

I’m really beginning to lose faith in both the project and myself. sigh cry me a river…

I hereby (embarrassingly) submit my Make Markl II blog post a few days late.

I don’t feel the need to write a short story summarising my Make Mk II phase as I have been continuously blogging my thoughts, experiences and issues from the beginning. However, nothing wrong with a few, short, points explaining the gist of things…

Mk I was very much experimental, I was toying with different approaches to try and find the one best suited to what I was doing. The majority of Mk I was a learning curve with a crude app and a failure of a prototype being the outcomes (in a good, “I’m learning” way). Mk II has taken what was learnt in Mk I and started again. I rebuilt the app from scratch and completely reinvented the pan/tilt unit using servos and the laser cutter. I also implemented a webcam and have connected the WiiMote to an onboard power supply therefore rejecting the need for batteries.

Mk II also saw the development of a project brand and identity. Time was spent crafting a visual language which encompassed many parts of the project and had some correlation with my design boards from People Design Technology phase.

The final products for Make Mk II

The purpose of this entry is to showcase the final products as they are at the end of Make Mk II. I have taken photographs of the camera unit and shot a quick video of the app in action:

And to demo my iPhone app, please grab a seat and enjoy this short video!>

Today I finished crafting the first iteration of the cardboard model of the pan-tilt camera unit. Yay! Unfortunately it was promptly broken (accidentally, of course) which means I’m begging to be allowed back into the laser cutter first thing tomorrow morning to recut the bits which snapped. Shouldn’t be a huge issue to fix and hopefully won’t take too long as I have all the files prepared and know what I’m doing this time around; that’s assuming I can actually get access to the laser cutter.

Here are some pre-disaster photos of the unit. Yay.

Anyway, I have much work to be getting on with; the app and website need significantly adjusted to take into account branding. Oh, one thing I managed to do (which I think is schweeeet) is to take my logo and pace it behind the WebView in PhoneGap so that when the user scrolls past the end of the page a logo in the snow peaks through - see photo below. It looks YUM! But there are still many issues which also need to be addressed, so I should do that now I guess… *sigh*

My thoughts of the progress of the project were well received; thankfully everything worked and I think I managed to give the work I’ve done justice! Phew.

We’ve still got a large proportion of the class to get through but most people’s presentations are very informative. It’s nice to hear about someone else’s project for a change and not having to focus so intently on mine!

We’re having a low-key presentation / crit session amongst ourselves tomorrow. Personally I think it’s a way for Graham to ensure that he is up to speed with each of our projects and a way to encourage us to think critically about our projects; more specifically, how we will explain (or ‘tell’) them in preparation for the start of the Tell Phase.

Either way it’s a good chance for us to individually reflect on our projects. Unfortunately I am definitely on the express train to panic town and am being a huge critic on myself and not getting as far as I’d like. I would have liked to have a more convincing pan/tilt mechanism to demo but no such luck there.

I did decide, however, that I really needed to get a move on with the branding and visual language of the project and have spent some time brainstorming with myself for ideas. I’ve found it particularly hard to define a name and visual style which effectively portrays the values and intricacies of the project; I’ve had names ranging from Snoopy (too childish) to Automated Infrared Video System for Snowboarders (or AVIRVSS - waaaay to complex).

However, I seem fairly settled on SlopeScope; short, sweet, has connotations of something watching you passively whilst being easy to say. I also enjoy (how do I say this without sounding pretentious) the aesthetic qualities of the two words side by side. I definitely sound pretentious there :/

Nevertheless, it gave me a starting point for some graphic design. A picture says a thousand words, so here is some mock logo design.

Click for a full view.

I originally played with the thought of a figure or head in the logo; I wanted something which I could have on its own without the text. The problem was finding a connection between the graphic and the concept which was obvious when viewed on its own. One thing which sprung to mind was the notion that this video all exists ‘in the cloud’, that is, online. I’ve gone for a ‘snow-cloud-internet’ approach here but I’m not sure how well I’ve pulled it off.

I also realise I’ve used my HelloPablo emblem thing in there but I figured it may be nice to have some form of continuity between my personal portfolio, my business identity and my final project. Who knows, will keep it there for the time being.

Next step for tonight was to make iPhone mocks taking into account and implementing the new brand identity I’ve done but as I’ve not finished / settled, well, it’ll just have to stay for the time being. Plus it’s late and I think I’ll perform better on as much rest as possible.

Well, sadly, this week has been a bit of a write-off with fundraising taking up more time than anticipated. I’m going to be in Manchester this weekend also which means I can’t be in the studio working away. *sigh*

I had a catch-up chat with Graham the other day which highlighted some issues; in a nut-shell I’m terrified at the amount of work that needs done and I’m getting slightly scared that I’m just not going to be able to cut it. In short, I spy panic town in the not so distant future.

Anyway, to summarise my chat with Graham, I am approaching my project more as a well developed proof of concept (I think). This is the antithesis of what I was setting out to do. In the early days of the project I wanted to create something which was very well executed, looked great and had a very specific purpose. I am now aiming to boil the concept down into it’s three main elements demonstrating them well and documenting them thoroughly.

I feel like I’m getting caught up in the product design element of the project now and neglecting my core skills as a graphic artist and interaction designer; many elements of the project still have a long way to go before I will accept them as anywhere near complete. As such I’ve made the decision to build my prototype camera/pan-tilt unit from card and ‘decorate’ it with the visual language and branding which will apply across the elements. This will bring a unity to everything while also making it very clear that I am not a product designer and hence not focused on the materials but instead the interactions (for lack of a better word) and user experience of the concept/service.

Regardless, I have mounted my pan tilt system onto an old tripod but in order to do this I had to seek the help of the workshop staff. No blog post would be entirely complete without photos so here goes…

Roddy preparing the cylinder which will securely hold the servo.

And a little wide angle shot to give an idea of scale.