E Studio IV Spring: Designing Environments for Social Systems

1/21/22

1. Molly Steenson Video Reflection I found this very cool because I never knew that AI had history. I’ve always thought that AI was something very new in our world and it only emerged a few years ago. However, I soon realized that the concept of AI was existent but the technology to provide AI wasn’t ready in our world. According to Molly, she says that “AI is a matter of architecture, infrastructure, and design.” I think this is very compelling because I believe AI was able to be created and introduced to our environment today due to the combination of all these 3 areas.

2. Anatomy of AI I feel pretty overwhelmed after reading this article. There are so many different technologies involved in AI systems. However, AI enhances our life to be more convenient, beneficial and it will definitely take more place in our lives in the near future. Enchanted Objects Enchanted Objects was a very cool reading. I especially enjoyed (Objects that learn). I find this very cool because I realized the importance of collecting data and how useful it can be. Mcdonalds using data to increase customer satisfaction, cameras using data to monitor things, Ikea app designing an empty space using the data of the user just seems unreal and fascinating.

3. Diagram of Potential Interaction in TCS

Research Question

How could CMU utilize data collected from IoT to make a better university or What kind of data collection is the most useful and what kind of predictions could CMU make out of this?

Related articles to research question

How can universities be modernized with IoT technology? | Libelium IoT technology entered the world of universities years ago in many different ways. The application of wireless sensor… www.libelium.com 3 Ways Universities Are Utilizing IoT Applications In 2015 alone, there were more than 13.4 billion devices connected globally, which is almost twice the human… edtechmagazine.com The Internet of Things Has Arrived on College Campuses In the previous post, we discussed the importance of mobility in higher education, the IT-related challenges created by… www.axiomhighered.com https://www.igor-tech.com/news-and-insights/articles/creating-smarter-schools-benefits-and-applications-of-iot-in-education

Max Shim

1/25/22

1.Audrey Desjardin Desjardins Reflection

It was very cool to learn that so many home-dwelling devices utilize IoT to make a better environment. Until now, I have not realized that even the smallest things in our house contain IoT devices and it is constantly receiving data. I was especially appalled about "As home dwellers, we might imagine these data are only in the home, but in reality, data flow out to IoT service providers, are stored in the cloud, are sold, reworked, and become the central currency of a data economy." I soon realized that information and data are powerful in our society today and something that could affect our lives greatly.

2. Data materiality Episode 4 Reflection

This was a very complex topic and many different areas of data were explained in the podcast. All in all, it stressed the importance of data and how everything in our world is connected to data. Data gives great potential in making our world better and it is so useful in analyzing key problems.

Concept 2

Lost & Found

During 4 years of College, I can assure you that many students have either lost an item or misplaced their belongings. In my experience at CMU, I have lost a DSLR and a bracelet before which were very pricey. After I realized that I lost these items, I was already too late to trace back and there was very little chance that my item would be in the Lost & Found box. (L&F boxes are also very dirty and poorly conditioned most of the time).

Therefore, I thought of a new concept where a sensor could be set at each workspace at TCS (either in desks, chairs) where it scans a student's belongings. After the student leaves the workspace and there is a belonging left behind, the sensor would react and notify that there is something missing.

Borrowing and Lending

College is a very busy environment crowded with very busy students. There are times students forget to bring their computer charger, phone charger, pen, notebook, etc. This puts everyone in a very awkward and overwhelmed position. Its very tricky to ask a stranger for a charger and nobody enjoys this moment.

Therefore, I thought of a concept where a student could notify nearby students that they need to borrow a charger by using a color sensor installed on their desk space.

EX. mac charger (blue), phone charger (red), notebook (green), pen (black)

Once students are alert that they need one of these items, it could notify nearby students and maybe someone will be there to lend you their item. Once someone lends an item, this data is inserted in the history database so it would also avoid stealing and enhance interaction between students as well.

1/27/22

Designing the behavior of Interactive Objects

I think it was very cool to use personality as a method to design consistent behavior for interactive objects. I have always thought that it is very important for designers to analyze and study user behavior and their design out of this. This also reminded me of the importance of human centricity and how many different companies also utilize human centricity in business consulting, marketing, and production.

Data Imaginaries: Between Home, People and Technology

It was very cool to see many different projects that Audrey has worked on. She also stresses the importance of human-centered design and as designers, it is crucial to always remind ourselves who we are designing for. I also realized that it is important to be innovative but it is better to be effective yet realistic.

Top 5 learnings for visualizing data in Augmented Reality (AR)

After reading this blog, I learned that AR is a great way to visualize complex data which makes it easy for viewers to understand and perceive it more comfortably. I believe that since AR is a fairly new technology that has been introduced to our world recently, I am wondering to what extent AR will have an impact on our environment in the upcoming future.

Three Personalities

Playful

Calm

Lovable

Concept

After getting numerous feedback and reflecting back on my ideas, it felt like my ideas were too realistic and I wanted something that had more interaction and playfulness to it. Therefore, I went to TCS to get a feel of what the building is like and how I could utilize the Mites in creative ways.

The TCS hall has many classrooms, individual private cluster rooms, and many sharing spaces. There are many students engaging in various activities, such as doing group work, studying individually, having meetings and even playing ping pong. I was thinking of ways that could promote an optimal studying environment for such students.

After taking another look at the sensors of the Mites, I realized that I could utilize the Microphone and Motion sensors to fulfill this goal. I want to help students in TCS in two ways.

-Alert students of "loud" noise levels so that they won't distract surrounding people

-Remind students every 2 hours, if any significant motion had not been detected within the time period, to take a break to increase productivity and health

Thus, I came up with the idea of installing a hologram (3-dimensional projection) of an animal on every desk that behaves accordingly to the current "status" of the associated student. The animal's behavior will vary depending on the decibel level and the length of which the student has been sitting in front of the desk.

When the noise level exceeds certain decibels, the animal will wake up from its sleep. The animal will also alert the student if he/she has been sitting in front of the desk for 2 straight hours.

2/1/2022

Giorgia Lupi

Out of all the readings and videos that we have previously watched, I thought this was the most concise and well-explained video that talked about data and how design could be applied to data. According to Giorgia, she says that "Sometimes we need to translate data into accessible and even engaging forums so that people can see, and design plays a crucial role here". As a designer, I thought this was a very inspirational thing that Giorgia has said.

Isha

Based on Isha's talk, I am planning to include awareness into my concept. The main theme of my concept is to let students in TCS be aware of their behavior and react towards it. Currently, people in TCS are not aware that data is being collected 24/7 whether its their motion, temperature, or sound. My goal is to visually let people be aware that data is being collected and that they should act accordingly to it.