Our concept up to this point has seen a number of changes. After discussing the viability of using a projector for our installation we produced a decision matrix with 3 concepts to clarify the best direction we can take. The three concepts we focused on were:

• Concept 1 – LED strips inside Hex Box cavities with controller
• Concept 2 – Projector from inside MHB onto Hex Box with controller
• Concept 3 – Projector Point down onto table with controller

A materials list was produced for each concept to give us an idea on the costs of building each concept. Additionally, a number of requirements we wanted to abide by were listed. A comment and score (out of 5) was given to each concept on how well they fulfilled the requirement.

• Interaction that encourages ludic play and a moment of escape from study
• Makes use of the Hex Box structure or parametric design aesthetics
• Can be used if raining
• Can influence more than 1 person
• Doesn’t cost too much
• Doesn’t require too much additional learning or technical competency outside what we learn in the course
• Low risk for things to go wrong
• Not too laborious to build 
• We’re confident we can achieve a desirable outcome 

The verdict from the activity pointed towards Concept 1 – LED-based visual feedback – being the most viable. Concept 2 did obtain the same score, however, we opted for concept 1 as it was cheaper.

Developing Design Concept

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Following this decision, an LED strip was tested on site to give us an idea of how well the cavities would light up. The photo above shows 10 LEDs being used to light one cavity. This raised some concerns over the number of LEDs we would require. For 20 cavities we would need over 200 individual LEDs. In any case, installation here would be difficult as drilling would be required through the cavities. Therefore, we thought it would be more prudent to use a net that would be hung on the structure with a number of LEDs attached. This would reduce the number of LEDs we require and would make the installation simpler. In any case, there was a consensus that the windows at the MHB would need to be blacked out to allow LEDs to be seen better. Nonetheless, both concepts were visualised (below) to give us a better idea of what the installation would look like.

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A gyroscopic sensor was tested to confirm our design decision. We confirmed that employing this type of interface is in line with our aim to provide ludic play. However, as we wanted to also provide a calming experience, we felt adding an audio component would be appropriate. Rain sticks emerged as a particularly interesting object we could employ. The sound of rain – a type of white noise – has been attributed with the ability to calm people or help them sleep (Spencer, Moran, Lee & Talbert, 1990; Afshar, Bahramnezhad, Asgari, Shiri, 2016; Stanchina, Abu-Hijleh, Chaudhry, Carlisle & Millman, 2005). A fairly simple object that children often play with, a rain stick coupled with visual feedback has potential to provide that moment of escape we aim for. Angular movements of the rain stick – pitch, yaw, and roll – would be used as input formats

Next Steps

• Produce block diagram for code base
• Prototype code to map gyro movements to LED strips
• Design rain stick to house gyroscopic sensor
• Create GIF to illustrate the concept

References

Afshar, P., Bahramnezhad, F., Asgari, P., & Shiri, M. (2016). Effect of White Noise on Sleep in Patients Admitted to a Coronary Care. Journal of Caring Sciences, 5(2), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.15171/jcs.2016.011

Spencer, J., Moran, D., Lee, A., & Talbert, D. (1990). White noise and sleep induction. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 65(1), 135–137. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.65.1.135

Stanchina, M., Abu-Hijleh, M., Chaudhry, B., Carlisle, C., & Millman, R. (2005). The influence of white noise on sleep in subjects exposed to ICU noise. Sleep Medicine, 6(5), 423–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2004.12.004