Dsdn112 - Interactive Technology. Blog Post One.

Class Reflection

Today in class we had to bring 5 objects for each of the senses. These are the items I brought along:
- Hearing: Two 50 cent coins. Rubbing them together creates a very distinctive sound because of the material and engraved texture on them. Also dropping them creates a very distinct sound that most people will associate with money. The sound is part of the luxury of owning currency.

- Taste: Dairy free chocolate. As I can't eat chocolate, yesterday I was sent some dairy free chocolate that I could eat. It was the first real tasting chocolate I'd tasted in years. To people who normally eat chocolate it may have tasted average but to me it tasted insanely good. It has a very sweet taste and a very smooth texture. Smell is also an important factor in chocolate as it contributes to the indulgence experience.
- Sight: Batman Arkham City PC game. The cover is so original to any other of a pc game. It has a metal case with an ink stained picture on it. Combining only two colours with the black, green for Joker and Red for Batman. The silver of the metal is used as the 'white' or 'skin tones' which is also very stylistic and original. It's just surprisingly detailed and classic for a pc case which I like.

 - Smell: Our Mate, the British version of Marmite. It's a yeast extract so has a very strong smell. As of the taste, you either love it or hate it. I would describe it as possibly being a very salty sort of smell. Despite it being strong, if you love the taste, the smell will probably have you craving it. 

 - Touch: Playstation 2 controller. It's designed very specifically to be held in your hands. Everyone loves the feel and texture of the analog sticks and the feeling of how knobbly and smooth they move. Touch a ps2 controller, overall, is just a very enjoyable and user friendly experience, which is what I like. 

Some other things that people brought along which I found interesting:

For touch someone had brought a type of Plasticine. Before touching it, you expected it to feel like putty. However, the feel was very light and had a type of wet texture. I found this really interesting.
For sight, I find the kaleidoscope really fascinating and distorting.
For sound, people brought high pitched noises and alarms. I find this digital sound to be very irritating, especially at such a high frequency. I prefer acoustic sound to digital sound. 

Mind Maps

We got into groups and made a mind map for one of the senses. The group I was put into was Hearing. We brainstormed many different aspects of hearing. Such as materials, how size and weight effects the pitch of the sound. How people perceive music differently. Different sounds create different atmospheres. Acoustic sound versus electronic sound. Rhythm versus endless drone. Rattling, sloshing and tensions create different sound - movement. Vocals. Instruments. Layering. Distance.

No one chose to go into the smell group. People must see it as a hard one to do. Not many people seemed keen to do taste either. That would be hard as you'd have to think of a hygienic way of doing it and it may require more resources to be refilling things or replacing things for people to put their mouth onto. I'm unsure of which sense I will do yet. I may stay away from smell ans especially taste unless I got an amazing idea for it. I'll look more into sound, touch and sight for now. 

Next week we have been asked to bring along two more objects. One that is functional and one that is fun. I will have to have a good search to bring something interesting. We can't bring the same thing as we brought today. I also might so some research into the senses and some research into materials, just to get some inspiration for this project and begin to think of some ideas. I need to commit to one of the senses and that way I can move on with the project more quickly as not committing to an idea has held me back in the past.