Currently I am studying a Masters course at the University of Limerick. The course examines today's technology, how it is implemented and new ways of creating interaction. This blog space will be used to map my research and new findings daily and what thoughts that I may have on the development of my design projects.
A multi-touch coffee table based on FTIR technology. Software on the table replicates real world properties of finger painting, allowing therapists to set up un-supervised sessions for people with dementia. The coffee table is similar to the Sage project, but includes a compliant surface and infrared camera in the unit. Software written in C#. Further information can be viewed at Tom Batindale's blog page.
Patrick Olivier's blog space was the main resource page that led me to todays findings. It can be found here, Patrick Olivier.
Hand crafted of solid oak and walnut these multi-touch artists easels are fully adjustable and include a high resolution, super sensitive multi-touch screen based on FTIR. Built for various projects involving gaze detection and un-supervised therapy. Three of these systems are currently on trial with real clients in Toronto, Canada. You can read further at Art Therapy Easels.
I was on the website of Cultural Lab Newcastle researching for articles that are associated with my end of year project when I came across the BinCam project. It is a project that aimed to increase individuals' awareness of their food, waste and recycling behavior.
How the bin works is that photos are tagged using a crowd sourcing service and uploaded to the BinCam application on a social network site. This is to encourage playful engagement and to make a reflection upon a user's personal bin data. Another interactive element is that people can review and share communications about the bin-related behavior of themselves and others.
Today me and Conor came up with an interesting proposal to deal with the rubbish problem out side the spar shop in the university court yard. I have sketched some new proposal ideas that are very different to my original ideas as a result of the responses from the care taker. Tomorrow I will post my new video explaining all the ideas in full detail and hopefully I will get my sketches uploaded.
Today we had another interesting development using Flash. I came across a very good tutorial that shows you how to build a website using action script. It is presented by Paul Trani on the Adobe TV website. I used his tutorials before to help me build my first website using html and I find his method and approach to teaching very easy to follow. Thanks Paul for the great help and all the tips that I have learnt form your tutorials. I haven't actually finished his tutorials using action script however its coming together bit by bit. Have a look at the link above, it really is worth the while to take the time to go through some of the things he suggests.
Also today we were discussing in more depth the world of digital media and ethics. I have got my hands on Charles Ess's book, "Digital Media Ethics". I have only started reading this book and each week we will be discussing each chapter in class as the term progresses. I have dipped into a few pages and it seems to be a very informative read.
Last thing to mention for the night, I have been doing some further thinking on what path my final project is going to take. I'm confident of the general area of research as I mentioned last week, however I have been thinking which group of people would be best to engage with to do my study. I have a meeting on Friday to discuss this with one of my Tutors and hopefully between now and the weekend I would like to be on a clearer path so that at the beginning of week three (next week) I can commence my observations and gather as much data as possible to help inform my design decision.
Between now and the weekend, when I do get a free minute, I will post all the drawings and sketches that I have been working on this week. Some really interesting developments on the Litter bin project. So many ideas, yet no money or resources to build, so it comes down to what's available financially and within the time frame because you could look at this project in terms of a final year project. All very exciting : )
Today I met up with the main University of Limerick care taker for a chat about the litter issue around the campus. This was very informative because it reshaped all my original ideas surrounding my initial designs. It turns out that the living bridge is very clean in comparison to other hot areas around campus that have a very severe litter problem. Tom Flaherty was very helpful in explaining in great detail the main concerns on campus. He took time to walk me about the campus to highlight certain issues that would go unnoticed to the everyday student.
In our discussion he explained that the living bridge is cleaned twice a day and that there is next to no litter issue there, only for cigarette buts and the occasional dog droppings. However he did go on to explain that the main hot areas are firstly the courtyard at the students union were the shop is. As we walked around the court yard he explained that the area had been cleaned only within hours and he pointed all the litter that had generated in such a short space of time. He even pointed out all the bins and showed me how much litter there was in them. I asked the question what he felt was the percentage of rubbish in bins compared to litter found around the campus and he explained that at least 20% is found around the campus in various locations and that 80% is actually bined. He went on to further explain that it was the new students that were starting in year 1 that littered the most and that as they progressed through the years they actually got cleaner. When I asked him about foreign students, he said that in his experience they were very good at disposing of their rubbish.
I questioned him about his concern of what litter was of the biggest concern. He explained that it was general waste and plastic around the court yard and the pavilion. Also another issue was glass and cans on the Thomond bridge because of the large number of students that live near by that socialize.
He explained that a bin that takes general waste which has a compartment for plastic would be helpful. When I asked about other recyclable materials he explained that there was not enough time for him to individually go through the materials for recycling. In the court yard he explained that there was not a concern about glass only litter and plastic. When we talked about the Pavilion and how there is two cigarette disposal bins at the doors of the concert hall he explained that people still prefer to use the ground to dispose of their butts. He felt that around the Library, all though there was litter about, cigarettes were the main problem.
We had a chat about the most appropriate bins that would help promote students and staff of disposing their rubbish and he explained that the on the Clare side of campus they have implemented a double bin that takes plastic and general litter. This he felt was a great idea because when the bins are emptied, all that is needed is the plastic to be bagged and tagged and the rubbish to be disposed off. However he was concerned about the size of the bins and felt that they would need to be emptied more than two or three times a day so that they don't overflow with rubbish because of their size. The good news was that he said within two weeks the University would be implementing these bins in the area of the students union and shop. However as I mentioned, he felt these were too small to deal with the heavy flow of rubbish. He explained that his day is over loaded and indeed the team of workers around the campus with just cleaning, starting early in the morning to get rid of Glass before college starts for health and safety issues to late in the evening to clean up the end of day traces of litter. Furthermore he said that Friday mornings he would always get a lot of glass because Thursday evening would be the busiest night out for students.
When I look through my notes from the meeting, he did mention that the areas of most traffic of walking were the areas of most litter, and the areas of less traffic like the living bridge would be cleaner. To finish off the meeting Tom showed me the tools he would use and the quantity of rubbish that would be gathered daily which really was huge. When I asked Tom would he like to see newer ways for people on campus to become more aware to dispose of their litter, he welcomed the idea. Furthermore when we chatted about the prospect of an interactive bin in the court yard were the shop is, he defiantly felt this could help students to dispose of their litter, however the main concern was the location of bin.
Considering my initial observation, I felt that the bins are easily enough to miss, although they are big, they are not exactly inviting or on the main path of heavy traffic. I feel that further research would be needed to understand the flow of people better in the court yard so that bins could be properly placed strategically to help encourage the disposal of rubbish and two, making the bin more inviting and engaging to the public.
Today we got into groups for the class of contemporary art in the public realm. As I mentioned on the last post from Saturday, the main theme is recycling with the fun factor. I had an idea of a kinetic moving bin that would rotate using the wind and would generate small voltage using an alternator. This in turn would power the LEDs that would be mounted onto the side of the bin to give an optic effect or illusion of arrows moving upwards to the top of the bin to suggest and encourage people to put rubbish in the bin.
I was excited about the prospect of using light as opposed to sound. The reason for this is because there seems to be a lot of research out in the public realm that supports sound in the use to promote binning rubbish. From my research there seems to be little use of light and I feel the element of using the wind could be very productive, depending of course on the location.
This leads me on to the final point. The project has to be situated on campus. So this had me thinking of what locations would be great to study the element of recycling and rubbish. The living bridge that links Limerick to Clare got me thinking of light and movement. The bridge moves and is also a spectacular sight at night because of how it is illlumanated. This is what triggered my initial idea of a kinetic moving bin that could be illuminated. Whoa! I have been exploring many different design ideas but this I think might be the most engaging and encouraging to help focus peoples attention to bin litter. The bridge is also an excellent location for a source of wind as it is directly above a strong moving river (Shannon) so there is always a mild degree of wind even on the calmest of days.
Bellow is some initial links that has helped me develop my ideas on the kinetic moving bin idea. I have drawings to explore my theory but I shall scan them tonight and upload them tomorrow when I get a chance and explore them in detail of how each part will operate. I have planed to have the Alternator inside the bin so that I don't have to play around with a slip ring for getting the DC voltage inside the moving parts. This week I plan to look at the research of how people use the bridge, where are the nearest bins to the bridge!!! And interview the caretakers who look after this department to see what is the most common rubbish to be found on this beautiful piece of engineering other than dog poop (which believe me you is no laughing joke!!!).
So for tonight, if your looking at this the link above, it gives you a good inside on how the mechanics of the bin could work and the link bellow will give you an idea of how the lighting of the LEDs intend to work as night fall descends upon the bridge with kinetic bins (The Turbine Bin) spinning.
Also the music in this video is also quite beautiful, traditional crossed with celtic, could be fitting as you cross the bridge into Clare to the Irish World Academy of music, and just imagine, spinning bins with beautiful patterns of light.
Sorry, I just keep posting amazing things that I come across. I find alternative forms of creating energy to be interesting and below is a great link to alternative wind turbines.
This link had me also thinking about an alternative design that could utilize this concept to make the bin Kinetic and more engaging to the idea of binning litter. A good website to check this out further is a company that develops these vertical wind turbines. It is called Wild Nature Solutions. This is a good link to understand the physics behind how a vertical wind turbine works.
Another Name for the project that came to mind, "The Bin Winder".
