see a puffin eat a fish

This week in communications lab we did a whirlwind tour of iStop motion, flash and after effects. Angela Pablo and I worked in flash to animate a story corps story from Ronald Ruiz. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot along the way. The animation for the story but it’s also documentation for the process of us learning flash. We didn’t want anything too visual because the story is itself powerful over the radio, without any visuals.

Here is our movie.

For my universal design project I evaluated the following objects:

cell phone
watch
alarm clock
coffee maker
oven
ipod
thermostat
lamp
metrocard
bike
bike lock
pen
atm
iron
dvd player
doorbell
washing machine

As I was making my way through this list the first thing I noticed is how poorly informed my ratings were. I am considering the assistive usability of these tools through the lens of an able bodied individual. With these evaluations I am guessing what it may be like to be at a certain disadvantage but the only way to really find out what it is like to be disabled is to ask someone with the disability.

In the case of ‘without the ability to walk’, all my devices outside of the bicycle have an easy of use of one. The devices are localized. For example, in the case of the ATM, you don’t need your legs to use the ATM. You do need your legs to make it to the ATM but that would be the case for any tool. A tool is somewhere, if you want to use it you need to be able to get to it. How you get to it is outside the scope of this exercise. The device might be more easily used if it was closer rather than farther but that would involve making assumptions about where people keep their tools. The only way to find out the answer to those questions is to ask people.

My own prejudices about what it’s like to be disabled put a lot of fours and fives in the ‘use without the ability to use hands’ category. For me, hands are the most indesposable for any device and most devices become useless without the use of one’s hands. A major shift would have to be made to make most devices useable hands free because most devices assume the use of the hands. Hands are the most versatile in device manipulation and an interaction that device designers take for granted. Without the use of one’s hands, interactions are funneled through a single device, possibly a mouth that controls a straw or a system which monitors eye positioning.

We’re still working on our movie, they’re going to kick us out of the lab at midnight, but the most memorable image out of this process are the headphone splitters. The computer only has one headphone jack but since there are five of us we have to split the signal. Each split gives us another jack so we need four of them to get all of us plugged in or audio.

The image attached is a grainy cell phone camera picture but you get the idea.

For my outside activity I went down to the South Street Seaport to see the Cadavers exhibit. These are reconstructed human bodies, organs, muscles and bones encased and preserved. It isn’t something I really want to see but it is controversial and just very out there and I wanted to see it for myself, judge for myself. It reminded me of the time I came up from Boston to see Sensations. I was in town for a wedding but felt like I had a duty to see the show that had the mayor shutting down subway stations.

I didn’t see an cadavers. The show doesn’t open until the 19th, but i’ll come back.

The whole art scene on South Street was distancing itself from the event. No one really knew where it was or would talk about it. That’s not surprising since South Street is very touristy, with box stores and bland local food. Reminded me of Faneuil Hall. Ok, that’s enough self righteousness for one week.

This week’s assignment is to create an elevator pitch for our final project. My inspiration is Momento Transmission and being here at ITP. In answer to the questions:

What are the keywords to describe your project?

History, Folksonomy, Tapestry, Continuity, Memory

What is the general scope of ideas?

The general idea is to try to explore the space that is between a museum and a school as it reflects on ITP. ITP is short on space but not short on ideas so this exploration could happened in the space least used, the one above our heads.

What parts of the general scope are specifically covered by your project?

The project would metaphorically push older ideas up while newer ideas would exist on the ground level. The area above our heads would be a physical manifestation of the older blogs and projects on the itp stage web server. Older projects are catalogued in a museum type environment (above our heads) while the oldest projects are pushed out through the roof (disposed).

How to introduce your project?

The project gives a physical volume and dimension for all the work that happens and has happened here at ITP. It creates a concentration on the process allowing for new ideas to be developed from the discarded tentacles of older projects. A person experiencing this project would just have to look up. The audience would be anyone who is interested in what we do here.

What does your project provide that other similar projects do not provide or provide differently ?

There is nothing like this here right now because of the glut of information and lack of space. Stage.itp was hacked last year and all the data was lost. Our spatial projects are thrown out on a weekly basis. Using the (unused) space above our heads, we could create a history of what happens here, we could tell stories.

What are the resources available to you today for this project?

I’d need access to the ceiling and Red’s approval but other than that there are plenty of projects here that are never shown. If they are shown, they are shown to a select group of people or are shown very briefly on the floor. People would be happy to give their work to an elevated gallery.

What are the missing elements for your project?

Design. The projects above would have to be visible. It should be clear what is going on up above. The individual project authors’ vision should be clear.

How do you plan to provide these element?

I would work with others in our class.