'How's the Weather?' And 'Can you hear me now?'

Proposal  1: How's the weather?

The weather terrarium aims to mimic a certain city or region’s weather to inform users about current weather situation in a fun and interesting fashion. Why wait for the weather forecast on TV or go through the hassle of reaching to your smartphone? With the weather terrarium a quick glance up will tell you if its cloudy or sunny and touching it will give you an idea of the temperature.

Our ideas play off of current plant notification systems. Our idea is not only about watering plants, but also notifying a person of the current weather outside or the weather of another city. The question, “how’s the weather?” is often in the conversation when talking to family members who live far away. Now, an individual can keep track of their family’s climate via these terrariums.

We are working with terrariums because they not only hold plants, but can double as a diorama, thus allowing us to depict a scene of a city. Depending on weather conditions, the terrarium will simulate that condition(s). For example, if it is cold and foggy or rainy, the system will output raindrops and the glass jar itself will become cold. The user will not only be able to see the ‘rain’ in the jar, but will be able to touch the glass to see how cold it is. Moreover, users are not only informed of the weather condition, but the plants will get watered as well. The diorama will give an individual a visual of current city life during various weather conditions.

Besides creating one terrarium that would simulate all weather conditions, we were thinking of having 5 various terrarium, each depicting hot, cold/snow, windy, rain, cloudy/fog. Each terrarium would contain plants and double as a diorama, each containing a different scenery (e.g. people ice skating for cold conditions). Additionally, just as in the above description, these terrariums will also simulate weather conditions. If the weather is cold outside, the terrarium conveying cold will actually get cold, so that users will be able to feel how cold it is before going outside or know how exactly cold it is in NYC, during a blizzard.

Lastly, for both ideas, the terrariums output will be based on the input of a location. Before using the terrariums, individuals will have to input the zip code or coordinates of the place they want to monitor the weather. Since weather can change throughout the day, the terrariums, too, will also change in outputs.

Lizzy will take the lead on creating the terrarium(s) and scenery.
Rami will take the lead on simulating weather conditions.
We will both work together with the programming and connecting the weather simulators to the terrarium(s).

Weather conditions we want to simulate:

• Temperature: Glass of the terrarium will have the same temperature of the city being simulated.
• Wind: When windy, a flag on a building inside the terrarium will wave
• Cloudy: A miniature fog machine will pump fog into the terrarium to simulate clouds
• Rain: When it rains, droplets of water will drop on the plants
• Heat: A miniature swimming pool will light up
• Cold: Snowman will light up or hot chocolate shop
• Fog: Fog machine will pump extra fog
• Snow: Styrofoam to simulate snow

Sketches:

(see below)

Materials:

Terrarium(s)
Glass bowl(s)
Pebbles
Soil
Plastic figurines (e.g. people, houses, buildings)
Moss
Wood platform

Weather Simulators
Miniature fog machine (We are not sure if we are going to buy one or make one)
Miniature fan (made from DC motor with wood connected to it to make fan)
Styrofoam
Rain System (We are not sure if we are going to buy one or make one)

Bright light (from LED lights.)
Arduino(s)
Breadboards
Jumpers Wires
Resistors
Power supply (or wall socket)
Servo to possibly control our rain system.

Inspiration:
http://www.spoon-tamago.com/?s=terrariums

Proposal 2: Can you hear me now?

Traditionally, one places a seashell to one’s ear to listen to the ocean. We are playing off this idea by creating shells that will allow strangers and friends to record and listen to messages.

We envision these shells as being scattered all over a beach. People visiting the beach can pick up the shell and hear what messages people have left for them. Additionally, they in turn can leave a message. We want to play off the spontaneity, as well as allowing strangers to be connected to each other through these shells.

Additionally, we also envision these shells can be used to bridge the distance between 2 people. Unlike a phone, where people talk in-real time, individuals will be able to record and play back intimate messages that are not often expressed during a real phone conversation. Phone calls, we feel, capture the day-to-day, and are not as intimate or personal as these shells can make conversations out to be. Phone calls require both individuals to be awake at the same time. Perhaps Person A and Person B are in different time zones, where Person A is awake when person B is asleep. When Person A misses Person B, they can listen to a personal message on the shell, rather than waking Person B up with a phone call which may be missed anyways. We image this project to bridge communication in a way that a phone or the internet can’t. We hope to delieve a more personal experience.


Materials:
Conch Shells
Speakers (ear bud-like)
Mini mic
Sensors
Arduino
Xbee to communicate with the computer to open up Quicktime, which will be used to record and play back messages.