Module 1 Activity Research

Weekly Activity Template

Tina Ye

Project 1

Module 1

Throughout this project, I explored various interactive technologies such as Arduino sensors, Touch Designer, ProtoPie, and MakeyMakey, and learned how these tools can be connected to create interactive experiences and visual outputs. The main goal was to understand how physical inputs can influence digital responses. By experimenting with Arduino sensor and Touch Designer, I learned how to build circuits, interpret sensor data, and visualize that information in creative ways through real-time graphics.

Additionally, I explored WGSN website, which is a website that many designers will use to discover new ideas and getting new innovations by looking at different categories of articles. This helped me by researching current and future design trends related technology. This research guided me to think critically about how physical computing can be used to improve everyday life and emotional well-being.

Through these activities, I developed a stronger understanding of how hardware and software interact to form engaging user experiences. Moving forward, I aim to create an interactive project that visualizes human emotions or physical states. This direction will allow me to combine both creative storytelling and data-driven design, making technology feel more personal and expressive.

Activity 1

Discovering how Arduino Sensor can be used to connect one small light bulb.

The code that we have to edit through Arduino, we still need to connect the Arduino with our laptop to make it editable.

Trying to discover how this sensor can be used to control two light bulbs by editing code and adding more connections.

Adding one button onto the kit, and edit the code to make the light bulb shine when pressing the button.

Having no kit connected, putting the light bulb on Arduino Sensor and it can light up immediately.

Activity 2

Adding new connection lines with MakeyMakey and other objects, so we can control the imageries through the connections.

Using this connections to control the wireframes made from ProtoPie.

Another ProtoPie file that we have tested by connecting this using Arduino connection, and we can spin the button to change the number shown on screen.

This image shows how ProtoPie, phone, and Arduino Sensor are connected to each other.

A close up view of how Arduino Sensor look like, the green light meant that it is connected to our laptop successfully.

Activity 3

Starting by connecting the Arduino Sensor with laptop via USB, we start to try how this can work with phone and the wireframe made from MakeyMakey.

Learning how to make a new file through Touch Designer and how to add more sensor on Touch Designer to make different interaction and effects.

Showing the connection between different controller and sensor on Touch Designer, it changes more as we move on.

Adding new effects and shapes to make the final view of effect that we should make.

The final effect should look like the background, and we can change the size of the circle by using Arduino Sensor by spinning the button.

Research Activity

WGSN Consumer Trend Research

Researching the consumer trend is important because it helps designers to explore new ideas throughout the whole process and understand what are the products that they are looking for to help them in daily life. There are two categories that I had interest with when looking through WGSN website. Below are the attached photos describing the impacts, and why I chose them as the inspiration for this project.

The categories that I chose are Enhanced Ergonomics and Human Centred Offices. Enhanced ergonomics refers to technology and product design, and Human Centred Offices are workplaces intentionally designed to prioritize people’s physical comfort.

Here are the examples that are relevant to the categories, these examples are useful and has the function that solves user's requirement.

This picture helps with explaining the reason about why I choose the category with some data analysis, this is useful to understand number of users who need to solve the problem.

WGSN Personas Research

Personas helps to understand the target audience that we might need to discover with, by knowing their requirements and questions about the category, which is also helpful for our research section. Based on the selected categories, we found two types of personas that we want to focus with and made some summaries. Below are the attached photos that are relevant to the personas we chose, and answering about their hevaviours and impacts.

There are two personas that I chose for this section. Conventionalists are people who prefer a slower, more intentional lifestyle, and Energisers are people who believe that joy, play, and laughter are powerful ways to relieve stress.

Here is conventionalists' impact and behaviours. Impact is about having grown up surrounded by technology, and behaviour is about making conscious choices about how they spend time.

Here is energisers' impact and behaviours. Impact is about becoming core parts of adult life, and behaviour is about play as a healthy and meaningful way to learn and connect with others.

HMI Research

According to the categories, I wrote some HMI statement to question myself whether if the category is useful to design for or not, this process is useful because it helps me to think about the problems that users are facing and what they want me to solve, it is also useful by questioning myself which can help me generate new ideas while thinking. Attached photos are the problems and considerations that I thought about.

Here describes the problems that each category might face and needed to solve with.

I discovered the HMI statements that can help me with thinking more innovations ideas that can be used to understand user's requirement.

I also wrote some considerations about each category and thought about whether if the category is easy to make new projects or not.

Project Path

We are working in a group of three, and had a discussion about what we could make for each path, but we thought that a design path might be better by making something that is functional and can help users in their daily life. Also, the categories that we researched about are all towarding with design path, therefore we decided to make the project with a functional setup. The photos are examples of design path products we can make for this project and how the product might look like.

Project 1 Concept

This project explores how real-time biometric data can be transformed into visual and auditory experiences that reflect users’ physical and emotional states while doing exercise. We are planning to design a wristband that detects heart rate, the system creates a sensory bridge between the body’s inner state and external media feedback.

When the user engages in calm activities such as yoga or stretching, the visuals may become soft and fluid, accompanied by slow, ambient music. During intense activities like running or boxing, the visuals shift to dynamic, high-contrast patterns and fast rhythms. If the heart rate rises to an abnormal level, the system triggers a gentle warning, this help users maintain awareness of their health and limits.

Beyond exercise, this project also investigates how heart rate changes can express emotional moments in daily life and how music or visuals can act as emotional mirror to the user’s inner world.

A wearable object that can be used to monitor user's real time heart rate while doing exercise, there will be a projection of visual that can be used to reflect user's heart rate, such as calm and excited exercises will have different visual effects.