by Ricky ChenCarnegie Mellon University’s TRACES Lab (HCII/SOA) is exploring how to use emerging technologies to help spatially and temporally scaffold documentation practices in creative, constructive project-based learning experiences. Through a two-year co-design process with Quaker Valley High School educators and administration, the project team has generated multiple proposals for connected technologies solutions to support documentation practices for their sophomore year Self Directed Learning (SDL) project experiences. Quaker Valley stakeholders see the proposal for a Pitch Booth installation as being a highly promising way to try to foster ongoing student reflection and documentation of work products while increasing students’ self-confidence in presenting and explaining their final projects in a public Pitch Session. Design Brief: Problem: How can we construct an intimate environment or space that allows students to personally reflect on their work? How can the booth become a space that fosters and increases students’ self-confidence and skills in presenting and explaining their ideas? Audience: The main audience is the students who will use this space as a way to reflect, practice, and review pitches. By doing so, they can better articulate and explain the ideas behind what they are doing, and teachers can also use this as a way to monitor student progress and performance. Constraints: Booth dimensions must be 40" x 31" x 96"; name and branding should be clean, elegant, and simple; CMU logo somewhere; white exterior and black interior; needs a hidden space component that hides wiring and extra components; screen needs to face sidewall to make sure video background is a clean slate. End-Deliverable: Booth is reflective, intimate, and inviting to the student users; quality lighting to allow good video capture; height-adjustable stool inside; the curtain is not at full-length to provide a social signal when the booth is in operation; enough distance between the user and the screen; sound isolation to cancel out noise from the nearby bathroom as well as to prevent the recording of other students’ conversations. Research: User research and study to deploy, observe, and conduct evaluations on how the booth intervention is affecting learning outcomes; consistent revisions and updates from user feedback; research on the materiality of the interior and exterior components. Low-fi Sketches and Storyboard Starting off with the project, I began with sketches to help visualize the form and components of the booth as well as creating a list of considerations that might be important for the build process. This part was then later used to help quickly build a small mock structure out of foam. I also worked on a quick storyboard to visualize the process and interactions that would occur if a student wanted to utilize this video reflection booth. Currently, the storyboard is quite simple, so I will be working on a more detailed one later that focuses more specifically on the student’s interaction inside the booth and show how the space inside is one that feels inviting and intimate to the user. Pitch Booth Mock Model
After creating some sketches, I began to create a small mock of the booth’s physical forms with foam. At this time, there were three main components: the roof, three sidewalls, and then a sign. These pieces were then velcroed together so that they can be easily taken apart which allows easy transportation in the full-size model as well as being simple enough to have quickly resembled. However, one problem I noticed with the velcro is that since the surface of the foam is so inconsistent, the velcro does not stay on well and can be easily be ripped off if one is not meticulous and careful about the disconnection of the pieces. Furthermore, since the velcro is quite strong, I decided to only put them in increments on the sides instead of having them be at full-length. However, after assembling all the pieces together, the areas that do not have velcro leave a small hole which can be seen in the last image. From this, I had another consideration to think about: how can I effectively use velcro or maybe even other materials without making the booth feel low-budget, cheap, and messy? (insert photos) caption: First mock of the booth’s physical form Here, I have the second mock of the booth which has the inclusion of a side compartment that will allow the wirings and cables to be stored and hidden. The side of the wall compartment (left) is where the monitor and lights will be located on. Instead of being on the wall across from the opening, having the monitor and lights in this new direction will allow the video recordings to have a much more simple and clean background. Like before, since this material is still foam, I had to figure out a better method of using the velcro. Initially, I felt that using a full strip of the velcro would make it a little too hard for the disconnection process, but after noticing that some pieces would just fall off due to the inconsistent surface of foam, I decided to use full strips for better placement and durability. In the end, this also fixed the problem of the small holes between pieces in the last mock-up as now the walls are more clean and uniformed. (insert photos) Caption: Second mock of the booth with updated dimensions as well as a side compartment Concept Board, SketchUp Model, and Materiality This component of the project is where I became more specific. After looking at the notes from the Quaker Valley meeting with the teachers, a new list of requirements and considerations came up. For example, the booth had to be 40" x 31" and have a black interior and a white exterior. This was quite different from what I initially had planned out as now the size is much smaller from what I had mocked up before, and the different colors between the interior and exterior were going to be a challenge as well. From this, I came up with a concept mood board that helps visualize specific components and materials of the booth and how that will all come together. In this process, it also allowed me to come up with a list of possible materials to get which changed quite a lot over time. The most difficult materials to choose were the light system and the monitor stand. Due to the new size constraints, I had to figure out how to place a monitor that doesn’t feel too intrusive to the space while also finding a way to implement a light system that is also aware of the space limit. During the process of figuring out materials, one of the most important considerations was the material of the overall booth. We were looking for materials to fit the criteria of being sturdy, light-weight, easily manipulable. From this, we narrowed down with foam-core and gatorboard. However, after experimenting with gatorboard, we noticed that it is much more fragile than foam-core as any fall would result in the board chipping. The board was also much more expensive than foam-core and not as accessible. There was also a benefit to using foam-core instead of just foam as only the sides have foam with the main front and back being covered with a consistent flat layer. From this, the velcros that are attached here will not come off as easily compared to those on the inconsistent foam areas. insert photo Furthermore, in SketchUp, I create multiple iterations of the booth model with the final version being the one on the right. Here, it fits into the 40" x 31" requirement. Initially, I had 40 inches being the wall with the monitor and lights, but then I changed it to 31 inches and 40 inches for the width of the booth to account for the side compartment as well. From this, the space between the user and the screen will be just about right and maybe a little tight but better than the other options. For the top of the booth, I also looked at an IDEO guide and created this frame that will provide the booth with stability at the top especially since the rod for the curtain will apply some tensions to that area. In the guide, there was also a frame for the bottom, but in my model, I decided to exclude it as it would make the already limited ground space feel more cluttered as well as take away from the minimal aesthetic of the booth. (insert photos) caption: SketchUp Models Booth Dimensions and Cut Template After finalizing the size and dimensions of the booth, I created a dimension sheet of all the components of each piece as well as a template for how each piece will be cut from 96" by 48" pieces of foam-core. We initially had ordered 8 pieces (4 whites and 4 blacks), but I was not sure how well everything would cut from the first try in the woodshop, so I made outlined templates to help make the most use out of each board especially since they were quite expensive. Also, each piece was only 0.5" thick, which would be not as sturdy as we wanted them to be. To account for this, I decided to combine two layers together making it 1" thick, which also allowed us to check off the requirement of having the interior being black and the exterior being white. (insert photos) caption: Specific Booth Dimensions and Templates for Cutting Woodshop: Cutting and Assembly Our plan initially was to cut each board with just a blade, but I found that to be too inefficient as well as hard to cut neatly and precisely since the boards were so big. From this, I decided to transport all the boards to the woodshop in the School of Architecture where we were able to cut and resemble all the boards in just two days of working (around 6–7 hours each day). I’d imagine it taking much longer doing this by hand as the material is actually quite hard to precisely cut, and that there would more likely be errors and issues when cutting the material. (insert photos) caption: Cutting Foam-core to Booth Structures For assembling all the pieces together, the majority of it was done through velcro. In our first small mockup, I noticed that having increments of velcro instead of full strips would create holes that light could come in. However, in the full-size, it was much less noticeable, and since the walls are so big, I decided to go back to increments as it would be much easier to take apart in the end. For the booth framing, it was put together with hot glue then attached to the interiors of the booth through velcro. (insert photos) Assembly! First Iteration Assembly This is the final outcome of the booth. I am quite happy with how clean it has come out, but there are some areas that I could touch upon. I was also able to install the new stand with the light standing on a monopod. It works out perfectly as it is minimally installed into the space, and the distance between the user and screen is actually not as close as I expected. The current pole we have for the curtains work okay, but I am a little worried that it might fall off if any pressure or quick force is put onto sliding the curtains. For the next iteration, I will look at more options for the curtain as well as making the overall booth more durable with maybe wood framings that hold the exterior sides of the booth. (insert photos) caption: First Full-Size Booth Iteration Assembly with Interior Components Reflection Overall, creating a booth at this scale was not as easy as I expected. At first, it looked quite simple to cut and assemble everything together, but when everything is at such a big size, there are multiple considerations and calculations to make to ensure that everything comes together as you wanted. Here are some reflections of what I learned from this first iteration as well as how that contributes to what I might do differently in the future for the coming iterations. Transporation: 96" by 48" foam-core is actually quite big and heavy when you have 8 pieces of them. Initially, we had them delivered to the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Newell-Simon Hall. However, because we decided to use the woodshop, I had to transport it all the way to the College of Fine Arts, which is quite hard as I had to take the long way to do so since it wouldn’t fit in some areas with staircases and halls. So in the future, I think it is important to quickly decide where this is going to get build, where you can easily store it if you do not finish, and how can you transport this back and forth and have those plans ready for when you are going to build. If we find something similar to the adjustable panel trucks that Home Depot has, then this would greatly aid the transportation of the material. Cleaning Up: Another thing I noticed after I put the booth together was that I forgot to use sandpaper to clean up the side edges of the cut pieces. While the tools in the woodshop allow precise and clean cuts, there are still some rough edges as well as extra materials coming off, so in the future, I should sand all the pieces before attaching them to velcro and assembling them all together. Furthermore, because I only used increments of velcro instead of entire strips, it leaves some openings between boards. While it is not very noticeable, I need to figure out ways to make it much more cleaner which could be done through possibly gaffer tape or some other thing. However, methods like these would only work after the booth is assembled, so it would have to be taken off every time it is being disassembled and then added back on when it's being installed again which might be a hassle. Attachment: Lastly, I think this is one of the most important considerations as this is how the entire structure is held together. At the moment, we are using velcro on foam-core which has some components being flat, clean surfaces, and others being just foam. While the velcro sticks on well on the flat surfaces, it becomes a problem for the ones sticking onto the foam. When I disassembled the booth in the woodshop to be transported to the HCI lab, I noticed that some of the velcro pieces started coming apart. From this, I need to figure out a solution that can make the velcro have a stronger attachment to the foam areas or just create a careful method of disassembling the pieces to prevent this from happening. Also, during the building process, I noticed something else. By incorporating velcro, it adds a visible amount of material that needs to be counted when calculating dimensions. When I made the roof of the booth, I didn’t take this into account, so from that, I had a roof that was slightly smaller than what the booth needed. From this, I need to continuously remember that velcro will always add additional dimensions which can be a hassle to add into calculations but is necessary if you want the outcome to be accurate, clean, and appealing.
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by Patricia YuProcess
What troubles may students be facing in the documentation process? Problem Scenarios Camera 1. When soldering and you don't have the hands to document your work, using the cameras in this documentation tool set would help Button 2. Students may have completed a major milestone realizing that they did not take any process photos. The nudge button acts as a reminder in this case I would have wanted to do more research in this area by interviewing people in the Maker Spaces at CMU and asking about what are the different aspects that might be preventing them from easily documenting their work and what they think of documentation. However, due to COVID-19, I did not have enough time to do so. Instead, I had conducted more autoethnographic research. Based on my own experiences, observations, and asking friends on their opinions, I came to these conclusions for what students may be having trouble with and brainstormed different tools that could help students in those scenarios. The Button The Button acts as a reminder for students to take progress photos and also can act as check-in points for important deadlines or tasks. It can also connect with other devices via Bluetooth to capture long distance images with a Camera and more. The Dial The Dial acts as a poll taker and mood logger for teachers and students. Teachers can get the mood of the room with this device and students are able to use the Dial as a way to measure their mood along with their process. The importance of the self-reflection logger function for the dial is so that when students log their emotions at each step of the progress, they can look back and determine the pinnacle moments of their making progress from the intensity of their emotions. Memories are not always the most reliable pieces of evidence, but the Dial will be able to accurately tell the user at which parts of the process was the most meaningful. This not only adds another layer of depths into the reflection of one's work but also makes the documentation work very enjoyable being able to easily get personal insight on how you felt throughout a project. The Overhead Camera & Close-Proximity Camera The two types of cameras help students capture their work when their hands are full. Then the Camera can connect and transfer the data from that session to one's personal device. The Overhead Camera will be attached to the ceiling with clips. The Close-Proximity Camera uses a flexible camera tripod (such as GorillaPod) to attach to a stand for closer image shots. The Printer This tools can act as a medium to make sure all students wrote feedback for their peers and receive feedback from others as well. The Printer can also connect to other of the smart tools or personal devices via Bluetooth for more functions. For example, by connecting to your phone you can quickly print out any images that you need for more convenient documentation (to glue in your sketchbook or journal). With these concepts formed for how the tools would be functioned, I made physical prototypes from cardboard and chipboard. The form and size would depend on how much the space the inner components needed as well as how comfortable it would be to hold for users. How to create a versatile and friendly packaging? Starting with the Button and Dial I took inspiration from the Google AIY tools and wanted to keep the packaging for these documentation tools simple and friendly looking. Cardboard was a good medium for this because it create a more low-fidelity appearance in order to show that these tools could be used during a making process and not necessarily for a polished product. Research and concept sketches of how the package unfolds I wanted the touchpoint that unfolded the one-piece packaging to be at the bottom to preserve the cleanliness of the exterior. Sketches on how to lodge comportments inside I started with paper and cardboard to prototype the sizes for the first physical forms based on how the interior components would be placed. Then from this, I cut the one-piece packaging with a laser cutter to create a more refined finish. Getting the measurements of the comportments Difficult to align individual LEDs on the light ring to the laser cut holes Laser cutting the Dial Having the physical form of the Dial in front of me, I realized it was very difficult to place a LED light ring exactly aligned with the small holes I cut around the dial. Trial and error was a major factor that helped develop the form. During this time, I was also not able to use the laser cutters anymore due to the COVID-19 quarantine period. Instead, I decided to use chipboard because it was cleaner to hand cut and continue to prototype with that. LED light ring The cutout to show the changes from turning the dial made the top face weak to break. Attempting to use a circular design to show the LED rings Physical prototypes of Button and Dial Concept sketches I decided to test out another design to solve the issue of alignment with the LED lights. I used a circular shape cutout around the dial to show the LED light inside (showing the changes when turning the dial). However, I realized the dial was quite heavy and with the cutout around the dial, the exterior would break easily. I decided that the dial indicator would be located on the side. This way it would match the style of the of the other devices with a screen in the front. Next iteration of Dial By creating the actual form and using it myself, I realized that the dial indicator bar would be difficult to see as I turned the dial. Therefore, for my final iteration, I made the bar angled for the user to see as they adjusted the dial. Final iteration of Dial The Button would have a larger screen in the front to be able to have enough area to present to students key reminders (around the length of a sentence). Final iteration of Button Continuing with the Printer and Camera I kept the motif of having the screen on a frontal side of a rectangular form for the rest of the documentation tools I used, keeping the dimensions consistent and responsive to each other. The Button would have a larger screen in the front to be able to have enough area to present to students key reminders (around the length of a sentence). Printer prototype The prototype I made for the Overhead Camera has a hole in the center for the camera lens and a circular cutout around the hole for the LED light ring to shine through. This was first a simple rectangular form. However, I noticed that the circular design for the LED light ring cutout created a stark contrast with its exterior and was a little jarring. Thus, in my 3D rendering of the modified form, I decided to use an hexagonal shape to bridge between a rounded and geometric form. Overhead Camera prototype Exploring methods of communication between the devicesAfter examining each unique device's value for students and teachers, I wanted to look at the different ways I could combine devices and allow them to communicate with each other to expand the utility of the tools. I took into consideration multiple methods to join devices such as through banana plugs, velcro, and magnets. I decided not to pursue the banana plugs to connect with each other because I recognize that too many wires will only cause confusion. I prototyped what velcro could look like on the external of the packaging. The hook side (rough side) of the velcro would be attached to what could be considered the "transmitter" device where information would be sent to another tool. The "receiver" device has the loop side of the velcro (soft side). To connect more than two devices together, I imagine they could use headers to attach to a mini-breadboard. Experimenting with physical connections Recreating this I noticed that it could be very inconvenient assembling the tools to get to a function that you need right away. Therefore, that is why I decided to use Bluetooth to connect the devices using Particle boards. This way, students can simply use their own devices to connect the tools they want to use and upload/download information from their own devices into these tools (e.g. a photo to the printer to print). Ricky Chen is a multidisciplinary designer studying Design and Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. With a deep interest in the intersection of architecture, space, and technology, his work focuses on shaping both physical and digital environments to provide better experiences and interactions for its inhabitants. Through his work, he also believes in the power of design, where it can act as an innovative tool for teaching people to be more open-minded, to stay informed, and to create responsibility in a growing world of technology.
Hi there :-) I'm Miranda!
I'm a rising senior studying Design with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction and Physical Computing, graduating in 2020. I strive to create meaningful experiences that redefine our engagement with the physical world. I am always thinking, working, and exploring 2d and 3d technologies in order to build out these interactions. PORTFOLIO: mirandaluong.com I’m a rising junior at CMU studying Environments Design, with minors in HCI and Intelligent Environments. I thrive in ambiguous problem spaces that require creativity to push through challenges.
Past projects include: promoting individual agency toward sustainable behaviors, demystifying the design process through augmented reality, redesigning the public transport experience... and modeling a frog out of recycled detergent bottles! Check out my portfolio below: https://elizabethhan.myportfolio.com/ by Patricia YuOverview
Helped develop ideas for and prototype a set of documentation tools to better integrate technology, space, and education. These tools would connect students with their creative processes to strengthen and deepen learning. This was part of a research project to help us develop hypotheses for how documentation as a mediating process productively supports learning.To learn more about the research and my work visit the Smart Making Tools.Created for the teaching program, Startable in Pittsburgh. The Challenge How can we develop tools that can help students connect with their own learning process more?Documenting the process of creating a final product is something that many recognize as valuable to the overall learning experience because it allows someone to reflect on their decisions and evaluate how they achieved their outcome. This will allow one to learn and improve quicker. We understand that documentation is important, however, it is not always easy to be consistent with our documentation. We may forget to document and result to gaps in our stories. Thus, in this project, I sought to discover how could I design interactive tools to support students in their documentation but also engage them in using interesting products. TimelineFebruary to May 2020 (4 months) ToolsLaser cutter, cardboard, chipboard, plastic film, Arduino components (including dials, buttons, bluetooth...) SkillsPhysical prototyping, storyboarding, 3D modeling, sketching Eric is a Computer Scientist at Carnegie Mellon University who strives to contribute to the development of real world products and applicable research through writing code and applying his knowledge in the field of Computer Science. He is primarily proficient in coding in python, but also has knowledge in HTML and CSS, and some of his past projects include writing code for the Smart Maker Video Reflection Booth, as well as writing code for a python program that analyzes the performance of tennis players. Eric strives to broaden his knowledge in Computer Science, but also to apply his knowledge so that his code can have an impact on the community around him.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-gan-cmu/ Patricia is a product designer at Carnegie Mellon University, enthusiastic on designing interactive products and tangible experiences with user-centered hardware that will give people a greater connection with others and a memorable experience. Some of the projects she has done is making interactive toy mechanisms for children, inventing new packaging design, and prototyping products that bring a new experience to everyday familiar objects. Driven by a passion for learning and problem solving, she continues to seek for challenges and opportunities that will push her to develop skills as a multifaceted designer.
Patricia is a student at Carnegie Mellon University, and working on obtaining her bachelor degree in Product Design with minors in Human Computer Interactions and Physical Computing.
The way that students learn, use, and create technology has evolved dramatically in the past 10 years. Yet, the educational spaces we provide in libraries, schools, colleges, and universities for creative, project based learning have seen little to no innovation in decades. The introduction of Maker technologies like Arduinos, 3d printers, and laser cutters, enable students to create sophisticated looking artifacts, but they are often disconnected from deeper learning processes. The spaces and platforms need to evolve in ways that better support the children's creative inquiry and constructive learning. Drawing on arts-based practices of documentation and critique, this work will pioneer an integration of technology, space, and education to better connect students with their creative processes to strengthen and deepen learning. Ultimately, this exploratory project will not only develop an integrated set of situated documentation tools, but also will help us develop hypotheses for how documentation as a mediating process productively supports learning.
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