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September 13, 2005
Aquarium brainstorming...
Things I thought about...
1) Physical range of interactivity. One thing that I noticed at the aquarium was how easy it was to get drawn in to the living stars of the exhibits. For so many of the kiosks or windows with some electric (audio) or electronic (computer app) interaction, the person had to be right next to the thing in order to elicit anything of importance out of it. The sea otters were drawing in people from 40 feet away. The nearby touch-screen plasma needed people to be a foot away for them to begin to realize that it was the interactive companion to the mural immediately next to it. Ideally, the connection leading to interaction should happen as soon as it’s within sight: as soon as they round the corner.
2) Broad range of input. Back to those otters. Kids were clapping. Kids were smacking the glass. Kids were flying their hands over the glass and pointing in all sorts of directions. Whether the otters did things in direct reaction to their motions is a moot point; they felt that their input in all of its forms was meaningful. Whatever we make has to be ready and willing to do more than just accept tapping on a particular area of a 2d plane. (Might also want to think about how input gets changed thanks to the prejudices brought to the computer screen…)
3) Size and shape are key. I couldn’t help but think: Damn, we have to fit in THIS? I think a lot of the brainstorming we did previously had us thinking very square or cube when it looks like we’re going to be thinking lines or sheets for our project…
As for what to spend it on? $5000 doesn’t feel like a lot right now, but I think a lot of it is going to be developing the look and feel of it. Materials over software. Of course, who really knows what we’re going to be doing by the end of tomorrow…
Posted by diamante at September 13, 2005 12:09 AM
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