Reflection on our design

"Your task this term is to use any specific boardgame as inspiration to create a novel interactive experience"
So lets review. As a group we decided to take Hungry Hippos board game and apply it to an interactive experience. In the game the hippos consume spherical objects to gain points for the players. We took the first part of the logic of this game and applied it to our project. We wanted the hippo to move and look the same way as it does in the game and obviously consume something.

The Final Product

Another Alteration

We have faced another problem.

When Jon made our small prototype  we were pleased to see how the idea would work and once attaching the motor it worked really well. 

However the problem we're faced with is that the motor is not very powerful.

Change of Plan

So we had a change of plan.

After buying a recordable message card we found that we no longer need to connect a relay switch to the speaker. 

Purchases

During the development of the prototypes and final designs certain purchases were made. Also, some resources were provided by the university that would have to be purchased if the project where to operate outside of the prototypes and final models.

The hungry hippo is alive !

How our research aided our Design

From our previous study research we decided that a hippo which can be put on top of an ordinary bin would be more popular to consumers.

This was particularly evident with the projects in which people painted their bins and transformed them into pieces of art.

Context Analysis

From studying the context of our playful space, I felt I could carry out a thorough context analysis. This is shown below...

Environmental Survey

The information below defines our  chosen space for our project.

Our chosen space to implement our idea is the University. We feel that this is the best environment for an installation like ours because it has varied ages and interests and a large number of students everyday. It would be a good opportunity to implement our recycling message and gain feedback. 

Sound Activation

One of the aims of our project is to have sound play in recognition of the user recycling. Think of it as a reward.

The difficulty we were first placed with was how we go about doing this.

Previous projects

After looking around for previous work done with bins and recycling there are fewer than was expected.
The simplest ideas to make recycling fun are to paint existing bins and turn them into art.
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in singapore had thier volunteers paint the bins as part of a special activity for volunteer appreciation day in 2008. 

Looking at Companies

When researching for our design it is important to look at companies that currently manufacture what we are looking at producing. In our case these are recycling bin manufacturers. It could also be beneficial to look at the designers and manufacturers of the board game, Hasbro.

Academic Research

Recycling has been researched by a variety of groups and individuals over the years and documented in various ways. Natural News.com is an online facility comprising of articles surrounding this topic. 

http://www.naturalnews.com/recycling.html

Specification

Drawing up a set of requirements for installation - 'a stepping stone between the problem and the solution'

To be able to write 'good requirements' and make them atomic, measurable and clear we thought we should refer back to our aim for our installation. The aim is shown below:

Our aim for this project is to use any specific board game as inspiration to create a novel interactive experience.

After considering our initial aim for the project, we had a group brainstorm session and came up with the following requirements:

The following is our design specification. These requirements have been gathered from the information we have found in our contextural and environmental studies, and from our research on other technologies which have been used in similar areas

Customer needs and goals 

• An installation that provides a fun, simple to understand and interesting experience which incorporates some intelligence or educational purposes

Environmental and contextual constraints

• Large area
• Possible wet conditions

Influence from existing work

• Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in singapore had thier volunteers paint the bins as part of a special activity for volunteer appreciation day in 2008. 
• Seattle,2007, decorative bins as part of a children's festival. 

Technical limitations and constraints

•    Lighting conditions 

•    Needs to be accessible by many users at the same time 

•    Equipment needs to be covered/secure

Personal needs and goals

          

             •     To successfully develop and install the interaction and gain positive feedback

             •     Develop personal skills and teamwork communication

             •     To work successfully to a specific brief and complete on time

The prototype

With the idea now in place, and a rough drawing of how the mechanics should work to make the hippo work, Jon decided to test the plans on a small scale to make sure it will be possible. He used card to create the hippo shell, and a mixture of card, cocktail sticks, and a paper clip, to make the mechanism. We are pleased to say it all worked fine, but was driven by turning an external stick, not a motor, but the principal was the same, and the motor will be attached where this stick currently exists.

The new idea

After deciding not to go with the original idea we needed to break the game down to pick a specific element to use. We broke it down to the interaction with the player, and the actual mechanics/motion of the hippos. Then whilst looking for inspiration we noticed the recycling bins placed around the campus.

The concept design

The first years within the groups were tasked with coming up with an initial idea on how to use the boardgame with the technologies and skill sets we have. They knew that they wanted to use motion tracking, so after some brainstorming and refinement we came up with the idea of tracking movement throughout Plymouth, using North Cross roundabout as a location, and the literal game play mechanic of 'Hungry Hippos'. Below is a mock up of how we wished it to look.

Timetabling

Our plan for development is to work through a fairly standard development cycle. A model which includes research, studies and post reflection among other things. To ensure that all of these could be completed correctly within the project timeline we drew up a timetable that that we would try and follow.

Presenting a concept

Before proceeding further we have to present an initial concept and have it approved.

We decided that rather than using the game in its literal sense we would use the visual basis of hungry hippos and use it to visualize data.

History of Hungry Hippos

The board game we have chosen to draw inspiration from in Hungry Hippos.


Hungry Hungry Hippos is a tabletop game made for young children currently produced by Hasbro. It was published in 1967 and introduced in 1978. The purpose of the game is for each player to collect as many marbles as possible with his or her 'hippo' (a toy hippo model).

Board Games

For this we went straight to google to look at our own favorite board games. These included classic board games like monopoly, trivia pursuit, cludo etc. 

As these games seemed too obvious to use, we looked at lists of board games.

Amongst the lists was hungry hippos, which we thought could be a fun game to use. 

The aim of the game is very simple, basically you have to get your hippo to eat the most balls. To do this you simply have to hit the hippo, which makes it extend its mouth.
We chose this game because the principles of the game is very simple and can be broken down into easy to understand points. 

Justifying selection of the technology

In terms of introducing technology to the game, our initial ideas where to make an online version of the game. Players could be from anywhere in the world and all they needed was a wii remote to play. On the screen would be the ring of balls, and in order to make your hippo eat the balls you'd have to rock your head back and forth (whilst the wii remote was strapped to your head).

Essentially you'd be banging your head on the table. 

Decomposition of the Brief

OVERVIEW

-design an interactive version of your chosen board game using your chosen technology.

-appropriation must be considered. i.e the realisation of the technology. Don't do something which is impossible to do

-Should encourage people to engage in the technology whilst keeping the essence of the original board game.

-Avoid function design and remember to involve artistic design. Think about aesthetics, think abstractly. 

Our Thoughts on the Brief

In terms of the brief we're happy with the openness, which allows us to be fairly free in our ideas. 

Our favourite part is being able to choose which board game we base our idea from.

Our Brief

"Your task this term is to use any specific boardgame as inspiration to create a novel interactive experience"

Basically, use an existing boardgame as inspiration for a digital piece which isn't a game itself.

Lets elborate...