Map of field trip April 16, 2009
Posted by yunyintsai in Exercise 5: Psychogeographics, Uncategorized.add a comment
Walking and Maping! April 16, 2009
Posted by Priya Bedi in Uncategorized.add a comment
I have no idea whan I am doing.
Route
Cricles don’t have any meaning yet. The colours in the cricles are what I saw or felt. That’s all folks!
en route to Kensington April 16, 2009
Posted by Milica Guberinic in Exercise 5: Psychogeographics, Uncategorized.Tags: Designed, Emergent, Kensington Market
7 comments
Hi everybody. This is my map. I was going to explain the meaning of the different objects but I think I will leave it up to you! Route to Kensington
Wait! I just realized something about my map that I thought was post worthy. The many little things sold in china town are designed effects, while the stapled telephone pole is an emergent effect.
Visual Map for our Field Study April 15, 2009
Posted by emilysoo in Exercise 5: Psychogeographics, Uncategorized.Tags: china town, dundas, gallery, kensignton
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The Best Worst April 9, 2009
Posted by Wenhao Jian in Uncategorized.add a comment
For the best project, the hair cutting one has my vote. The setting for the project is to pretend a hair salon, and we are the customers. First I signed up for the list and waited for my turn. And when I entered the private room, they took a picture of me. Two barbers were serving me. They just acted like cutting my hair for real, but I believe that they were cutting some fake hair. But the cut hair were dropped so that it gave a feeling that they are cutting my hair. The project has some advantages in making the participant curious and exciting. And they also take a picture of me when they finished the cutting. So they also provided some feedbacks. The project has potential and could be more elaborated.
The worst one for me is the Happy Box, which most of you voted for the best one. I waited at the line and finally entered the interesting looking black box. I could not tell what happen when I entered. Suddenly I heard a voice counting down from 10 to 1. And many eyes shown and stared at me. I was a little suprised, but mostly questioning. I did not know what the hell was happening and I did not like the atmosphere. Then a cake sent to me and I left. In summary, I don’t even know what is the significance of the thing! Too little communication confused the participants a lot, and I think that’s the main problem. I think the prototype has a lot of potential but those guys need to develop it much further.
ActiGREAT! April 9, 2009
Posted by sarahtompson in Uncategorized.Tags: acti, Activate, alice in wonderland, Friends, fun, Happy Box, Mimes, school, visceral
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Da Bomb!
Feedback: Happy Box
I was attracted to this experience because it was visually appealing as it was a big black structure in the middle of the main entrance area. I waited in line to enter the Happy box. Outside a class mate was standing at the entrance getting people excited to for their experience and controlling how many people entered at a time; three people being the limit. I entered the experience by myself. When it was my turn I was guided through an entrance, which was cloaked with black plastic bags. The inside was also black and was shaped like a cylinder. There was nothing for me to look at as the space appeared to look the same from all angles. Once I was settled an audio track started which started a countdown. As the count got closer to one it started to slow down and become a bit distorted. This started to raise feelings of anxiety as I anticipated what was going to happen. At the count of one, eye slots opened around the cylinder and I found myself standing in the dark room with about a dozen or more pair of eyes staring at me. This made me feel uncomfortable because I didn’t know how I should act. After a couple seconds of staring, a drawer popped out from the wall, which had a small cupcake inside. I took the cupcake and then exited the room through another black plastic bag. The overall experience gave me an over all anxious and uncomforting visceral reaction which is what I believe they were trying to create. After exiting, another classmate was waiting on the outside to guide me over to a table where other members of the class were recording reactions from the experience.
Da Not So Bomb.
Feedback: Alice in Wonderland
As I approached this experience I saw a lot of construction paper; cut out shapes of flowers and grass. I was greeted by members of their group welcoming me to Alice in Wonderland. It seemed unorganized because they were not confident in their experience. I was lead to a table, which had some snacks on it and was decorated like the tea table from the movie. Just from seeing the movie I assumed that I would be seated at the table and they were going to attempt to recreate the tea party seen from the film, but unfortunately it was only there for visual appeal. I was told I could play with a croque game they had made with paper or get my picture taken with a cardboard cut out of the queen from the movie. I enjoyed the tactile aspects of the experienced, that they had parts where I could touch and move things. Overall it wasn’t a HORRIBLE experience, but loving Alice in Wonderland a bunch, I found it to be kind of a let down. I failed to find a use of metaphor or any other tactics that were used to create an awe factor.
The goodie and the shitty April 9, 2009
Posted by Eric Chan in Uncategorized.add a comment
I think one of the best that beside OURS was the one that’s call We Art Toronto. It was a pretty creative idea. First of all, the theme is about art, which related to OCAD. It was started by a people painting on a triangular box. After awhile, they will put the triangular box together. I think it brings back a really nice feedback when you see how nice it turns out to be. The only thing is you have to stay there long enough to see they put the box together.
The worst one was the starring contact. At the beginning, i think starring at a person you don’t know is kinda awkward. It doesn’t has any feedback cept feeling awkward. You would get a cookie if u win, and thats about it.
Best and Worst of Activate! April 9, 2009
Posted by emilysoo in Exercise 4: Documenting Activate!, Uncategorized.Tags: Activate, affordances, alice in wonderland, experience, feedback, hairdresser, makeover, Project, visceral
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After seeing all of the first year projects for Activate, I think that our class had the best project, but since we can’t pick ours, I think that the Makeover Project inside the Room next to the Butterfield park was the best. It was a great experience as it made the participant scared as you were getting your hair cut. They had real sounds that created great feedback, when they had scissors cutting your hair, and also the buzzing of the razor. Their experience also had great visceral components to the experience, because you could see hair falling onto you as you had your hair cut, and also the hair colour was the the exact same as your own. Not only that but before they started cutting your hair they took a picture of you before you had your makeover. Also they spun you around so you couldn’t see what was being done to you in the mirror. This created an element of curiosity for the participant as they didn’t know what they would look like in the end. The experience was somewhat tactile, because of how you could feel the hair falling down, and also the way the hair dressers were pulling on your hair, pushing against it. In the end of this experience, they provided you with your end result picture, in which someone photoshoped a wig on your head, and it was funny to view in the end. Not only that but they even sent the image to our emails, once the activate event was over. This was a good idea to take the participants email, so they would be able to receive something even after the experience was finished. Overall, this experience was really fun, and it was one that i remembered most!
The worst experience I think of Activate was the Alice and Wonderland project. As I walked into the entrance of the installation, I thought that I would receive something amazing, as it was alice in wonderland. However when I entered, all I received was a group of people saying “Happy Birthday” , sitting down on at a tea party table, with decorations. They also asked us to play a ball game with a stick, and that wasn’t really fun, as there was no real feedback to that game. They asked us to take some cookies, and asked us to play that ball game, that was about it. There wasn’t really anything to experience, and I think they could of done alot better, with this particular theme. Overall this was a bad experience, and I didn’t receive any good feedback from that installation.
Our project however created great feedback, and the affordances were really strong because of the video and sound created when the ball was put into the whole. The participant was able to place themselves in 6 different experiences which were extremely fun. I think it worked our amazing!
Best and Worst Documented! April 9, 2009
Posted by forrestvieira in Uncategorized.add a comment
So I spent about 10 minutes arguing with my mother about which installation was best because she wouldn’t listen to me when I said I had to chose an experience other than the one our team did. In conclusion, and not to be bias, I would say out of every group I saw and installation I experienced, ours definitely had the best response and most interactive and fun experience.
Besides ours, I guess I would have to choose the “Happy Box” in the main lobby, straight ahead when you walk through the entrance of the main building…although I wouldn’t exactly consider it a “happy box” when you first walk in because I felt slightly uncomfortable with so many eyes staring at me. Also, when the automated countdown came on, my initial thought was at the end of the countdown a bunch of arms would launch out at me from under the eyes…and I really did NOT like the thought of that. I don’t think the experience itself was very interactive, but after seeing the cupcakes, it did make me smile (it also made my mom squeal really loud). I did feel however that the survey at the end was too long (there were too many questions) and it took away from the experience. In them doing that, it made it feel like what we had just experienced was merely just a school project that they needed feedback on. (….I think I gave a lot of critical feedback considering I’m saying this was the best :P)
As for the worst…I found the “Predator Vs. Prey” to be quite boring and unenticing. Although it was going on all through the building, I didn’t feel engaged the the game. I felt the buttons were a waste of money and I actually just ended up putting mine down somewhere because I didn’t want to pin it to my clothes. It seemed like anyone who actually was playing got annoyed with having to pin and unpin the ribbons and then repin it onto their clothing. I found many buttons on the ground which just lead me to believe that I was not the only one that found this experience less than uneventful.
ON A SIDE NOTE!
I think we did great as a class in putting all of this together and a super special thanks to the set team for their work on the structure building.
I think we definitely had the most successful installation and the feedback I got from audience members (including my mother who I’m sure everyone could hear laughing and screaming everytime something happened) was the same.
Thanks to Greg and Ruth for being so involved as well! (as I’ve heard a few stories of other teachers who decided to leave it all up to the class and not bother with them at all :P)
Cheers!
Forrest
My Experience at Magic Grow and Happy Box April 8, 2009
Posted by Milica Guberinic in Exercise 4: Documenting Activate!, Uncategorized.add a comment
These were the only two experiences that I did during my break time at Activate. I am going to write a few pros and cons for each experience. I enjoyed the Happy Box more.
Magic Grow
My first instinct when I saw people huddled around a box of dirt receiving fruits and veg was that they were digging for the items. As it turns out he veg pops out after a seed is inserted into the soil. There were seed holders, people who handed out the seeds and told the user what to do. Because you were told what to do the experience was not as rewarding as discovering it for yourself. One of the seed holders almost did everything for me. This was very irritating. There are too many vocal constraints or rules in this experience and too few affordances. The seed holder told me how deep the hole should be. Why couldn’t I just figure that out on my own? The wait time to get the veg was not too long or too short. This was good feedback. There is an element of surprise because the veg doesn’t appear right away. I was talking to another girl about her experience and she told me that her veg popped out of a place far from her seed. This is a behavioral problem of the design that I did not experience myself but I felt it was noteworthy. The visceral component of the design was good because the feel of the dirt was cool and out of the ordinary (we do not touch dirt daily unless we garden). And the reflective aspect was good as well because you got to take something away with you and tell your friends where it came from. My main critique for this experience is that it would have been more interesting if the user had to do more work through discovery and play. This would make the reward more enjoyable. Also, I feel like there is some message, but I am just not getting it. Perhaps it is about food growth and bio engineering since you get many different fruits and veggies from a sunflower seed.
Happy Box
Surprising, exciting and emotional are three words I would use to describe this experience. These adjectives and a cupcake were a great reward and made the wait in line well worth it. The actors were good because they were not phased by me and Dario staring back at them and talking to them. The countdown was exciting but anticlimactic, as I do not remember what it was counting down to- the cupcake, or the end of the experience? The entire experience was a bit too long. This was a problem because the line was very long. They tried to remedy this by letting people in two at a time. This decreased the quality of the experience because it made the space even smaller and it gave the user more power, changing their reaction to the staring eyes. As a result, the metaphor of the global panopticon got a bit lost. But it was thought provoking, which I liked. There were several affordances and only a few constraints. We could not leave the box, but could do anything we wanted to inside it. The space was too small. This could’ve been improved by making the box bigger and white on the inside. The groups attempt to document their project was good. Although some of their questions did not allow for my answer, it was interesting that they were doing a study (ethnographic perhaps) on the user.
Final Cast List & Break Schedule April 2, 2009
Posted by Nhi Tran in Uncategorized.Tags: Activate, cast list, schedule, service blueprint
2 comments
Giant Cheque
|
Cheque model |
Fran |
|
Interviewer/reporter |
Nhi* |
|
Cameraman |
Ayesha – |
Confetti – broom,
sweeper! – Microphone – Group Break
Love – Speed dating
|
Dater # 1 |
Milica |
|
Dater # 2 |
Dario |
|
Dater # 3 |
Alissa* |
Nametag – Martini
Glasses
Rockstar
|
KISS! |
Adam |
|
Gene Simmons!!! |
Forrest |
|
KISS! |
Sandi |
Mime
|
Mime # 1 |
Sarah |
|
Mime # 2 |
Brenda |
Group Break
King for a Day
|
Peasant # 1 |
Emily |
|
Peasant # 2 |
Lin |
|
Peasant # 3 |
Julia |
|
Peasant # 4 |
Yunyin |
I’d Like to Thank
|
Presenter |
Alissa* |
|
Dresser # 1 |
Wenhao |
|
Dresser # 2 |
Eric |
Group break = Mime & Cheque
Bouncer/Cast Duty: Daniel,
Nhi, Priya
(List of what
we’re supposed to do)
Love: Ring a bell
for speed dating, every minute
Projection: Yinan,
Daniel
|
|
2:00 – 2:40 |
2:40 |
3:20 |
4:00 |
|
Cheque |
Nhi*/Fran/Ayesha |
|
|
|
|
Love |
Alissa* |
Milica |
Dario |
|
|
King |
Julia |
Yunyin |
Emily |
Lin |
|
Mime |
|
|
|
Sarah/Brenda |
|
Award |
Alissa* |
Eric |
Wenhao |
|
|
Rock |
|
Sandi |
Forrest |
Adam |
|
Projection |
|
|
Daniel* |
Yinan |
|
Bouncer |
Nhi* |
Priya |
Daniel* |
|
I switched Lin and Ayesha seeing as Ayesha is handling the publicity and will be recording the event, so now Lin is part of King for a day.
If there are any conflicts please let me know!
Update April 1, 2009
Posted by Eric Chan in Uncategorized.6 comments
This is what we have so far, we will probably get it done by tomorrow before class.
And just want to say thank you to Dario and Yinan for coming to help the set team today
The frame is done! April 1, 2009
Posted by Eric Chan in Uncategorized.Tags: Frame
1 comment so far
Hi, this is the set team, we have just finish building the frame of the JukeBox, here is some picture of it.
We are now working on the interior.
Publicity Team – Facebook Event page April 1, 2009
Posted by forrestvieira in Uncategorized.add a comment
Hey guys,
here’s the event page i made on facebook. If everyone could just take some time to
go through and invite all their friends or whoever that would be great.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=62483502461
Posters are going up tonight!
Suggestions for putting icons on to the balls? April 1, 2009
Posted by emilysoo in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
hey class , which method do you think is more effective for putting the icons onto the balls?
1. Pasting a printed version of the icons on to balls?
2. Painting the icons onto balls, photo transfering onto ball first ..
Building The JukeBox March 31, 2009
Posted by Eric Chan in Uncategorized.Tags: Building, Juke Box
2 comments
Hi, this is the Set team. We will be building the jukebox on wednsday and hopefully could get it done by that day, however, we would want some volunteers to come help us because the set team only has two guys, and its heavy wood work. Sorry for the late notice. Here is some of the picture that I have during the working process.
As u guys can see, the Juke Box size is pretty big, Yinan and Wenhau will be helping at the wood shop tomorrow, if u guys want to come, just go to the wood shop at OCAD. thx
SET Team March 30, 2009
Posted by emilysoo in Uncategorized.5 comments
hi designers,
Our group visited fabricland today and bought lots of fabric that would help to cover up and decorate the jukebox. The fabric is actually very pricey, and so we did not buy black fabric, because we were wondering if anyone would have some?
If anyone has any fabric, cloth, blankets?? we can Borrow?, doesnt have to be black,
its has to be bigg enough to cover the sides of the jukebox …
Message ASAP if anyone has any, so we don’t have to go out and buy it!
We have already spent $50+, and were hoping to cut down because we have to still pay for the large pieces of wood and nails for Box frame of jukebox , foam core boards ,to build the jukebox, and foam balls for placing into the hole.
Hope someone can help, thanks
SET TEAM
Jukebox ideas and sketches March 30, 2009
Posted by Wenhao Jian in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Hey classsmates, this is the SET team. Here are some sketches that Eric and Wenhao did for building the JUKEBOX. Click on the images to see the enlarge. Please look at the previous post by our team as well. Thankyou
Fran’s Juke Box Poster March 26, 2009
Posted by Franchesca Dongha Kim in Uncategorized.add a comment
Franchesca Kim’s Juke Box Poster
had some difficulties finding where and how to post. lol
Activate Poster Idea March 25, 2009
Posted by Milica Guberinic in Project 3: Activate!, Uncategorized.add a comment
POSTER idea March 25, 2009
Posted by Gingy in Project 3: Activate!, Projects, Uncategorized.Tags: Activeate, poster, project3
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Ok so according to Greg’s email the title is Juke world but… I think the juke box idea dosent really workas well anymore since were not sticking to the live song performer. I saw it more of an alternate universe timewarp type experience so I thought Warp World would be a more appropriate title. So here is my poster idea with the new title, the text on it is limited because i wasnt sue what we had to put on it also the limited text ads to the mystery and suspense.
Payment Reminder March 23, 2009
Posted by Priya Bedi in Project 3: Activate!, Uncategorized.add a comment
Hey Guys!
This is just a reminder to bring your $20 to me (Priya).
Remember no money, no mark!
Jukebox + Presidential speech March 19, 2009
Posted by Ayesha Ijaz in Project 3: Activate!, Uncategorized.Tags: advertisement posters, Jukebox, presedential speech, rags and thrift stores!
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Reading all the posts, it’s great to see all the creativity being worked around! Wenhao’s post about combining the two separate ideas can be fun. I think that as some other posts point to this idea as well, it would be good to have a variety of themes and created “atmospheres” within the jukebox idea, and so we could incorporate the presedential theme as one of the choices. As Forest suggested, I also think it would be better if there’s a curtain, a small set up stage perhaps, behind which are the “performers” and they come out as the selected song starts to play. Also, I believe that it is almost a unanimous vote that it would be better to have a variety of themes/songs than just songs for the jukebox.
I haven’t taken any drama classes, or haven’t acted, so to say, but I would still love to give it a shot, although I’m not sure as to what everyone else might think! haha. And as Adam and Sandi said…rags and Thrift stores!!! What we do [ i.e. costumes, set ups etc.] don’t have to be extremely professional I believe, in fact, a little “sketchiness” might add to the creativity if everything’s well put toegther. Someone with a little bit of sewing experience could put atleast a part of a costume together, perhaps…maybe someone’s mom could help? !! =D
The jukebox itself could be made with cardboard, as Dario’s idea, or with foam core, and then painted over easily. We could also have the LED light for the songs as Nhi Tran mentioned. I think it’s a really good idea, because without it it would only look like a “box”. We could have plexiglass cover for the top of the jukebox, where ‘glass’ would be for an actual juke box. The wiring for the LED might be a bit complicated, or atleast would need a little thought, but I’m sure it shouldn’t be of the biggest of concerns! I think that we should have atleast 6 different themes/songs for the jukebox, if not more, considering the roles that everyone in class would be assigned.
And the posters! Maybe for the ‘advertising posters’ we could use…lyrics or lines from some of the songs we decide to put into the jukebox.
Excited for this! The class effort will bee greaaaaaaattt!
Jukebox March 18, 2009
Posted by Adam Brace in Exercise 3: User Scenario, Uncategorized.Tags: Activate, Costume, Dance, experience, Jukebox, Music, Performance
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I think some of the ideas that are circulating around at the moment are really cool. The 50’s aesthetic would look super rad for a start, though I feel that there should be balance between retro and contemporary.
My idea would be to bring a variety of different styles from times throughout history as a timeline of musical movements. What should be presented in my opinion is flamboyance. I think we should choose musical influences from different styles that have really outlandish costumes, glam rock for example with KISS style costumes, elvis costumes would work, with even more contemporary things like a gangsta rap type fashions etc. Really stereotypical things we can pick up on that would be comical would be a really fun way to approach this. I feel like the emotional aspect doesnt really do as much for me. Something that would be funny and more interactive with the veiwer would work better, the emotional aspect to me would feel more like a performance then an expierence. To make something by invovling the veiwer in some way, with choreography for example would be a better experience.
Finally, for the sake of question I am totally up for dressing up and making a fool of myself! Ill whack on some make up, a wig and some tacky costume for sure! I’m no stranger to the drama thing and I went to my friends 18th birthday party dressed in drag that was made up of my moms old clothes but thats a little too much information!
JUKEBOX March 18, 2009
Posted by sarahtompson in Uncategorized.Tags: and good time!, betty boop, burgers, checkered floors, Coca-cola, pals
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Looking over the two ideas, I think the jukebox one would be more successful. In order to receive the proper feedback from the podium experience we’d have to have everything work out perfectly, if we miss the experience will be awkward and unenjoyable. With the jukebox we can measure the success before hand because it is electronic, also the addition of the 50’s diner is a good idea because the entire class will feel more relaxed getting involved.
The 50’s diner dance party can be linked to the different song selections. If there is a slow song we should all have predetermined dance partners and maybe for the fast songs we can have some hip dance moves ready. Also, it would be neat if we could control the lighting…maybe more sensual lighting for the slower tunes?
Some bright red stools and a betty boop poster, don’t mind that!
R U Experienced? 