Outcome

Problem Statement

The idea of working in a group is to create a collaborative environment, learn from one another and build off of each others ideas. Unfortunately more often than not one finds themselves in a scenario where they are in a group that is dominated by one voice in the room. In way this completely dismisses the reason we work in groups. That being said it isn't always obvious to people that they are dominating the conversation and may need a nudge or a subtle reminder. This project focuses on providing that nudge.

Goal

Using visual and social cues, we believe we can make people more aware when they are dominating a conversation and thus potentially not being as productive as they may have intended to. #BalloonHead is such a solution where the balloon inflates behind a persons head based on the percentage of time they talk in comparison to another user. 

Process

1. As a class we brainstormed a number different of ideas. We did quick rotating ideas exercise with rotating partners

2. A team of 3 of us brainstormed on a number of different of ideas and shortlisted 3 areas: parental needs, community building through potentially food and crime.

3. We came back with an idea of crime for backpackers. A sensor that would be attached to their arm under their sweater and tighten as travellers walked into areas of higher crime. Unfortunately we were out of the realm of the project since it wasn't personal data being displayed. So we explored other areas such as fashion as wearable technology, show watching habits, traffic behaviour and group conversations. 

4. We finalized on group conversations and broke down our parts and started building

5. We tested the mics and couldn't find much information on them so it took us a while to figure out the workings of the analog and the digital. We also decided looked for different ways we could pump the air. 

6. We tried with an Alexa, but we couldn't get an appropriate library. We finally got the two mics to work.  

7. We used duster compressed air to blow up the balloons with a servo, which is triggered by the percentage a person talks which is the result of counters in the code. For the purpose of the video we wizard of oz'd it with blowing through a pipe. 

Overview

The project took 7 different steps. The majority of it being brainstorming. The design is appropriate for the matter and hopefully will facilitate more collaborative brainstorming sessions. 

Materials

2 mics 

8 wires 

2 balloons

2 hats 

2 servos

1 breadboard

1 photon

Mic code

Servo Code

Reflection

It took us a while to get going, we went brainstormed for a little too long. This project brought around interesting questions in our mind about society and the implication of such design in society. This project also has a lot of scope to be iterated on.