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This site has been archived and is no longer editable.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!
Background
Whether marveling at the size of a sting ray's wings at an aquarium or admiring our own pet goldfish in its simple round bowl, fish tanks are wonderful things to observe. The varied colors, shapes, and textures of fish and other tank life are aesthetically pleasing and positively contribute to the ambiance of a room. However, because fish tanks are primarily designed for observation, they support limited interaction.
Design Goals
We have designed a fish tank that naturally encourages a more active interaction between the observer and the fish tank. Our goal is to make the fish (and its tank) feel more a part of the household, bringing it out of the background and into its owner's life. Our design emphasizes two of the common elements found in tanks: sound and light. Our fish tank design reacts to the natural movement of the fish, illuminating the tank when the fish is active and darkening the tank when the fish is at rest. When someone notices the fish is active and touches the tank, a pleasant bubbling sound is emitted.
Active Aquarium
Please find the attachment for a bigger image.
| Attachment | Size |
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| finalPoster_small.jpg | 292.11 KB |
Comments
Feedback
You've had a good evolution in your project proposal, and your midterm presentation was much better than your original proposal. It seems like you really thought about how to augment existing interaction with real fish rather than to replace or simulate interaction with artificial fish. It's still not completely clear how the interaction of "touching fish tank -> magnification of communication" would work -- I.e. what sounds exactly would you here? would there be any direct stimulation of the fish, or just output presented to the pet owner? As we mentioned in class, considering temporality and presenting some record of activity while the owner was gone is a promising (but of course not required) direction to explore.