Airloom
The Airloom sits on the family table and captures memories through photos and audio clips. It ubiquitously captures pictures and audio in a individual photo style documentation. For every picture there is audio recorded for that exact moment, so you can relive the experience in the future. You can view your memories through a 360-degree touch projection interface, projected from the Airloom itself. The Airloom is designed to be passed down through a family’s generations, so it can record a family’s history and share it with the generations to come.
We continued to think about our focus and why we had chosen the dinner table as our project setting. The dinner table was chosen because it is one of the few places that a family can come together, in a natural setting and create memories.
After design iteration, we developed an interface touch point that was suitable for our goals. The projection can be viewed on any flat surface, but preferably at the dinner table. The goal behind capturing dinner moments and sharing them again, around the family table is to create a shared viewing experience. Having a shared experience promotes family interaction even more, evolving more people in the viewing experience. The 360-degree projection allows for a table touch interface as well. This idea simulates looking through photos, like you would if you dumped a shoebox of photos on the ground. It lets you move the pictures around with your hands and sift through piles of photos just like the old days.
We created a basic wireframe of the interface show the granularity of the system, and the filters available to the viewer.
We created a user journey to show a specific use case for the Airloom.
We began experimenting with ways that we can engage our audience in the picture browsing experience. We decided that once the projection started, all the pictures that the Airloom has taken would fall onto the table. We thought that this promoted serendipitous exploration of family’s memories. We began to mock up this idea using paper, and trying to get a feel of how the experience really comes across. This idea also helped support the nostalgic notion of searching through many photos.
To actually get a projected surface on a table, instead of using H.L.P (Holographic Laser Projection) technology, developed for the Light Touch by Light Blue Optics We simulated this idea with a projector mounted to the ceiling in a downward direction.
We connected the projector to a computer running a functional version of our designed interface with actual sample data to simulate data captured. Designed in Action Script 2, the interface was fully interactive. The trick was to figure out how to navigate the interface through the use of the projection with your hands.
In combination with the Wii Multi-Touch Program created by I.D.E.O. Labs ,some flash programming, and these infared rings that we created, we were able to actually control our flash demo from our fingertips, successfully creating a effective experience.
My Role: Concept Development, Ideation, Prototype Creation, Movie Actor & Filming, Interface Development, Sketching, & 3-D Modeling.
Airloom: SVA Interaction Design Final Project from Evinn on Vimeo.
*This is a fully functional interactive demonstration of the Airloom experience. A concept created by SVA Interaction Design Students: Kistin Graefe, Gene Lu, Russ Maschmeyer, Evinn QuinnOur Idea
The concept was sparked by a talk at Interaction '10 by Richard Banks. He spoke about the concept of memories and the things that trigger them. Ultimately asking what will this be like in the future? Will the documentation methods that we have now such as twitter, facebook, and blogs mean anything to us later? These thoughts sparked the idea to create the Airloom. We wanted to address these issues with the creation of a device that can have meaning. Research
We wanted to know what was most important to families, so we interviewed families and asked them for their thoughts on capturing memories. We organized our findings into high-level task flow diagram; listing all tasks we needed the device to accomplish. Once we had a basis for the design, we prototyped the interactions with paper and created a screen cast to demonstrate how it would work. Our initial concept was to have the user interact with the system through a touch screen photo frame. Form Factor Exploration
For the form development, we centered our thoughts on the dinner table. We wanted to create a form that was inviting and encapsulated the idea of something that can grow old with the family. Being that it will be placed on the dinner table, we also wanted the form to look elegant and suitable for multiple occasions. We developed a vase like structure with soft curves as to make sure it wasn’t too aggressive. The vase symbolizes a vessel, holding a families memories. The Airloom’s purpose is to carry memories through the generations. How It Works
The Airloom is a vessel of families memories. The Airloom can capture photos from its series of cameras around the neck. It can take photos in 360 degrees, to make sure it captures everything. The way to view these photos is to lift up the upper half to reveal a 360 degree projection system that projects the contents of the Airloom in the round. This give the Airloom the ability to share photos around a table in a family setting. Interface
We continued to think about our focus and why we had chosen the dinner table as our project setting. The dinner table was chosen because it is one of the few places that a family can come together, in a natural setting and create memories.
After design iteration, we developed an interface touch point that was suitable for our goals. The projection can be viewed on any flat surface, but preferably at the dinner table. The goal behind capturing dinner moments and sharing them again, around the family table is to create a shared viewing experience. Having a shared experience promotes family interaction even more, evolving more people in the viewing experience. The 360-degree projection allows for a table touch interface as well. This idea simulates looking through photos, like you would if you dumped a shoebox of photos on the ground. It lets you move the pictures around with your hands and sift through piles of photos just like the old days.
We created a basic wireframe of the interface show the granularity of the system, and the filters available to the viewer.
We created a user journey to show a specific use case for the Airloom.
Airloom: User Journey from Evinn on Vimeo.
We began experimenting with ways that we can engage our audience in the picture browsing experience. We decided that once the projection started, all the pictures that the Airloom has taken would fall onto the table. We thought that this promoted serendipitous exploration of family’s memories. We began to mock up this idea using paper, and trying to get a feel of how the experience really comes across. This idea also helped support the nostalgic notion of searching through many photos.
Final Physical Form
For the form, we wanted to create something non-intrusive, but we also wanted something that can travel through the generations. We thought about material choices that were suitable for idea. Wood was the obvious choice. Wood is a classic material that ages well, we thought it to be the best choice for our form. We started to create the form with a cedar block and a wood lathe. How The Prototype Works
For the final deliverable. We wanted to produce a full blown experience using the Airloom. We decided to prototype the 360 degree touch projection element of the product. Encapsulating the experience of going into the Airloom and retrieving a memory. To acomplish this, we had to divise an idea for creating a touchable, augmentable surface. Since we were unable to the obtain the technology to efficiently create the experience, we simulated it by using a projector, Wii Remotes, a specially designed Wii Remote program, and Infared L.E.D.'s to make a simulation of the experience.To actually get a projected surface on a table, instead of using H.L.P (Holographic Laser Projection) technology, developed for the Light Touch by Light Blue Optics We simulated this idea with a projector mounted to the ceiling in a downward direction.
We connected the projector to a computer running a functional version of our designed interface with actual sample data to simulate data captured. Designed in Action Script 2, the interface was fully interactive. The trick was to figure out how to navigate the interface through the use of the projection with your hands. In combination with the Wii Multi-Touch Program created by I.D.E.O. Labs ,some flash programming, and these infared rings that we created, we were able to actually control our flash demo from our fingertips, successfully creating a effective experience.
My Role: Concept Development, Ideation, Prototype Creation, Movie Actor & Filming, Interface Development, Sketching, & 3-D Modeling.