November 24, 2007
Reading for November 27th, are now posted. Enjoy!
October 2, 2007
To upload your thoughtless acts, create a new assignment page like any other lab. You'll see "Thoughtless Acts" listed as one of the assignment options.
May 24, 2008
This site has been archived and is no longer editable. Stay tuned for the next version, coming in the fall!
Whether marveling at the size of a sting ray’s
wings at an aquarium or admiring your own pet goldfish in its simple
round bowl, fish tanks are wonderful things to observe. Specifically,
the varied colors, shapes, and textures of fish and other tank life are
aesthetically pleasing and positively contribute to the ambiance of a
room. While traditional fish tanks are designed for observation rather
than interaction, in our tangible user interface midterm assignment we
hope to design a fish tank that also supports interaction.
We have come up with three ideas as to how to create a fish tank
that supports interaction as well as traditional observation. They
include:
Idea 1: A miming fish
This fish tank consists of two identical fish, one that is interacted
with outside the tank and the other resides within the tank. The former
acts as the interaction input: people play with the fish and it
remembers and transmits its movement to the other fish. The later acts
as the interaction output: the fish receives the input and replays
these movements of the other fish. While this idea is similar to the
curly bot-esque
fish, its advantage is that people don't have to continuously place it
in and take it out of the tank. And this fish token resembles a distant
embodiment, rather than the full embodiment token of a Curly Bot toy.
Idea 2: A "smart" fish
This
fish tank consists of one smart fish (as well as a smart tank.) The
tank acts as the interaction input and the fish acts as the interaction
output. For example, someone might tap on the tank and the fish will
hide in its home (such as a shell or castle accessory.) Or someone
might say the fish's name, the tank will recognize it, and the fish
will swim to the top of the tank. Other environmental inputs might
include light, movement, or other forces to the water or tank.
Idea 3: A curly bot-esque fish
This tank consists of one fish. This fish acts as both the interaction
input and output. For example, someone might remove the fish from the
tank and move it around. The fish then remembers this movement and the
person places the fish back into the tank, the fish will replay this
movement. Because our third idea resembles the Curly Bot interaction
and output, it might not be as ideal as ideas one and two.
We are open to any suggestions regarding other interactions and features
and are considering combining different features of the proposed
ideas. Also, it's important to mention that our different fish
variations utilize fake fish.
And it might be necessary to use a non-conductive liquid instead of water
for the fish tank. This presents additional problems, the properties of
the non-conductive liquid may very well be different than that of
water.
Materials for the tank
Materials for the fish
