Group presentation

Today the group presenting were discussing the work being developed in the domain of AI. They discussed how computer games are studying real world experiences and finding new ways to represent this in the virtual world. This was a very exciting presentation because I was unaware of the many new developments within this area. Computer simulation is a field which is growing extremely fast with such developments which allow close to real world experiences. In Japan, it seems that enormous amounts of money is invested into making the user experience closer to that of the real world. 

I found the class activity very enjoyable. The group programed a set of tasks/puzzles that had to be solved to get the prize at the end. There were different levels to the game and once you passed each level, you got to the next stage. What I feel was important was the group allowing the class to experience AI within the one of the puzzles. This reflected well within the formal presentation and their topics discussed.

For me this was very enjoyable and clever how the activity was put together, great fun and the class really enjoyed it. Well done guys.  

The final touch to Geocaching

Today me and the group put the final touch to the Geocaching presentation. We typed up the core elements to the presentation and how we felt the group activity went. It is all in a pdf file at the moment so when I upload this to my website I will put a link to it here. Also, we a putting the final touch to a video we made on the presentation, so I will upload it here over the next few days, with a .mov file of the presentation we done. So the Geocaching presentation comes to a fun but enjoyable end. Cheers guys (Conor and Grace) for being such a great group to work with : )

Dr. Gabriela Avram's class on Research Methods

From analysis you draw conclusions, research is done systematically. My background is an artist which is very important to state at the beginning of my thesis. I have confidence in this area... which allows the reader to understand the angle in which I present my argument.

Research has to be done ethnically, I have to follow a code of conduct, respecting the opinion of the people being studied, respecting the data to be honest about my findings and results.

I should decide on a hypothesis and try to prove if it is right or wrong, conclude why I was wrong and what improvements I could make.

Getting to know the world is called epistemology. In my research I should take this approach to understand the user, so that my decision is informed from this primary research. An example of a good argument  for a thesis would be, 'My Masters Thesis focuses on participatory design techniques that would engage older people with dementia in design of digital technologies. I recruited and worked with numerous older adults and people with dementia and developed technological prototypes in response to the needs they articulated.' This would be a good example of designing technology to support mental well being.

More on the Arduino

So today we soldered up our potential meters and connected it to the arduino board. This allowed us to control the brightness of the LED however the most interesting element is that you can print this to the serial monitor which allows you see the resistance that you have the potential meter at. Interesting tool which allows you to monitor the input of a device. Below is a short video showing the serial monitor in action and what lines of code that you need to create a reading from your device.

In this video I outline the code that is needed to control a LED with a potential meter. I also show you what happens when you change the resistance and how the serial monitor prints this on the screen. Very handy device if you are not sure you are getting output data. The fun of using an Arduino.

Sketches From Diary

Finally we have the measurements for the bin that will be our prototype. We could not get a bin at the university to modify, however I feel that making the bin will allow us to make it more appealing and attractive to put rubbish in it. We have also been exploring different ways of creating sound to come out of the bin and different voices that would be most humorous and exciting to listen to. I will up load some examples in the coming days. Below are the height, breath and width measurements for the prototype that we got on the site location yesterday. 

    

Page 8 from Diary 

Sketches from Diary

Page 4 + 5 from Diary

Page 6 + 7 from Diary 

Social Media Art Therapy

Presentation on Social Media and Art Therapy 

This presentation by Gretchen Miller and Cathy Malchiodi looks at the potential and benifits for art therapists interested in learning more about social media and on-line tools for professional networking, including how the Internet can promote art therapy and build community worldwide.