Introduction

I'm inspired by things around me. I find it easy to further build off the ideas of others, which is why I enjoyed working on projects with my peers. I tend to believe that more can be achieved with more people in the team, hence the ability to come up with more bizarre and concepts that are hard to achieve. Most times, it backfires.

We end up aiming for something less crazy instead, but I don't take it as a setback. It would have been amazing if we manage to achieve what we wanted - would have felt amazing going further - but it's okay. Failure is a part of learning anyways, and it spurs us on to achieve it next time, when we are an improved version of ourselves.

Workshops 1 - 4

Over the semester I participated in 4 different workshops covering topics such as Creative Coding, Projection Mapping, Making, and Physical Computing. Here you will find some of the process documentation and deliverables that were created in small teams of up to 3 people or individually.

1
Coding
Model Viewer.

An interactive exhibition. Artists or designers would be able to put their art into a space. It would be an exhibition anywhere, allowing users to create interesting pictures and memories with different environments. The process of looking for the art around the room also makes the experience fun and interesting. Users can also interact with the art by moving it to different spots in the space.

We found all the activities listed very interesting, but I decided to go with model viewer. I thought it would be cool if I could turn my designs into an augmented reality one day. We mostly had fun trying to create shapes on blender, since my teammates and I all haven't done it before. We learnt that it is very tedious to fine-tune the objects you put into a space. Maybe one day someone will have a solution for this, or maybe we could be the ones coming up with one. Other than that, seeing our sculptures existing in the same space was interesting.

Done with Li-Shya and Tania :)

2
Screens
Kaleidoscope.

Casting interactive lights on a plane. We brainstormed the outcome we wanted before coming up with a shape to make and an image/video to go together with it. We agreed that we would want to try something the users can interact with, creating a more personal bond between them and the projection.

Our original idea was to have them directly draw a kaleidoscopic pattern on the plane, but it turned out that it wasn't possible. Users could still draw on the plane, but it had to be saved as a separate video file first before it could be projected onto the plane.

Done with Wynne :)

3
Making
Palette.

It started out with wanting to create something different. I realised that most people thought that blunt, rounded objects were more boring-looking as compared to objects with sharp edges. I decided to try my best to incorporate both features into my

Thing. It produced interesting results. The blunt side of my Thing produced an interesting palette of red that went from light to dark. Its shape ended up reminding me of a paint palette.

Done individually

4
Play
Tatooine Sunset

As a result of an honest mistake, we created an interactive circuit modelled after the Tatooine Sunset from the film Star Wars. LED light bulbs are placed at the multiple focuses in our circuit, and they can be turned on and off with a simple touch. This was purely accidental.

We realised that our battery wasn't flat on the surface, and would only turn on if it were pushed towards one side. We could have taped it down flat, but we decided to make use of this and turn it into a switch, since it would turn off if it were pushed down on the opposite side.

Done with Jiayi and Tania :)

Process

Most Tedious: Screens; Most Physically Draining for my Back and Neck: Making; Most Frustrating: Coding; Most Confusing: Play
We had to overcome something in each workshop. It's always tiring learning new things, but the end result is rewarding, and I enjoyed all of the workshops in the end. 'Play' was my favourite.

Conclusion

What have I learned over the course of this semester? I've learnt that coding sometimes requires the help of another software to make our lives easier. We can also communicate our ideas in numerous ways, not only using a computer screen. I think these forms of design are better suited for me, actually, since I'm more of a hands-on person. ( When I'm not too lazy to do things )

Some of my most interesting findings this semester are: The existance of arduino in visual communications. I find a lot of joy in making things come to life, creating things we can interact with. If we were to use coding in something, I would try my best to make it interactive. If not, what would the use of code be? Arduino in visual communications make it much easier to achieve this.

What are some of my achievements? I think getting my ideas across to my groupmates is one of my biggest achievements. I tend to have trouble communicating my ideas with words, finding it much easier to just do things. We can't work like that as a group, however, and I'm glad that we all got to chip in with our ideas as a group.