Two weeks into my last year at the University of Michigan, I am starting this blog to record thoughts and observations, successes and failures of my Integrative Project. For the uninitiated, "IP" is the University of Michigan's Art and Design School's version of a thesis. Students work on a project in their own supplied studio space for an entire year, write a thesis, and exhibit in the end-of-year IP exhibition.
I am extraordinarily lucky to have two fantastic professors (let's call one John and one Roland for simplicity's sake) who assigned homework over the summer: each student had to create three proposals for projects and submit them for professorial critique. After receiving feedback, we had to choose a project, work out the proposal's wrinkles, and present it in front of the rest of the class. Here are my three proposals from the summer:
I am extraordinarily lucky to have two fantastic professors (let's call one John and one Roland for simplicity's sake) who assigned homework over the summer: each student had to create three proposals for projects and submit them for professorial critique. After receiving feedback, we had to choose a project, work out the proposal's wrinkles, and present it in front of the rest of the class. Here are my three proposals from the summer:
The feedback I received, while informative, did not point to any particular project. In fact, the endnote of the critique suggested trying to combine several ideas into one and create something similar to "mediated furniture" (furniture with embedded electronics and media). While I liked this idea, let's be honest--the world does not need electronic furniture.
However, the idea began to grow on me, and at this point, I am fully in love with the concept. So, as it stands now, my project is about comfort. A vague, first draft thesis statement for this project would sound something like "I am investigating the experience of comfort both mental and physical. I will do this by designing a piece of furniture that evolves for the user's health." This is, of course, very vague, and I intend to be more specific in the future.
In the most basic sense, I want to build a chair that is comfortable for hours at a time (but not something someone just sinks into for the rest of their lives) that has a built-in computer with speakers and a microphone. I will program a chat program like ELIZA, but hopefully more sophisticated. The idea being, that the chair can talk to the user and give therapy and advice, perhaps also playing music and telling stories.
However, the idea began to grow on me, and at this point, I am fully in love with the concept. So, as it stands now, my project is about comfort. A vague, first draft thesis statement for this project would sound something like "I am investigating the experience of comfort both mental and physical. I will do this by designing a piece of furniture that evolves for the user's health." This is, of course, very vague, and I intend to be more specific in the future.
In the most basic sense, I want to build a chair that is comfortable for hours at a time (but not something someone just sinks into for the rest of their lives) that has a built-in computer with speakers and a microphone. I will program a chat program like ELIZA, but hopefully more sophisticated. The idea being, that the chair can talk to the user and give therapy and advice, perhaps also playing music and telling stories.
The amalgam of sources bouncing around in my head at the time I came up with this concept included the Radiolab episode "Talking to Machines," in which ELIZA the therapy program, the Turing test, and Cleverbot are mentioned. Both professors John and Roland suggested that I read "The Most Human Human" by Brian Christian, which I am currently doing. Programmers Eugene Demchenko and Vladimir Veselov are quoted in the book as saying "When making a bot, you don't write a program, you write a novel." I am, as it happens, minoring in creative writing, and in retrospect, I have written two short stories with robot characters and the complications of communication between programs and people. Writing a convincing Chatterbot is the ultimate writing challenge, for one has to make a convincing character and design every response that character can possibly give.
"But Theo," I hear you cry, "how on earth can you make a chair that holds a conversation?!" Magic. And by magic, I mean technology. Programs that talk to the user have existed since the 1960s, and in the past couple years quite a few programs have passed the Turing test (meaning that more often than not [up to 59%], judges chatting with chatterbots think that the bots are humans). How can a chair have the necessary technology within it? Raspberry Pi, my friend, Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a tiny (credit-card sized in length and width, about half an inch in depth), relatively cheap, open-source computer that can hook up to a screen, SD memory card, keyboard, mouse, and audio jack. Its main purpose is for helping people learn to program in Python, but it can also be made into a media player (like an iPod).
Another challenge with designing a chair to be 'healthy' is making sure the user doesn't stay seated in it at all times. This needs to be done with encouragement and incentives, perhaps provided by the chatterbot, or "chairbot". However, I don't want to compromise the comfort of the chair and make a stool that no one will sit on.
"But Theo," I hear you cry, "how on earth can you make a chair that holds a conversation?!" Magic. And by magic, I mean technology. Programs that talk to the user have existed since the 1960s, and in the past couple years quite a few programs have passed the Turing test (meaning that more often than not [up to 59%], judges chatting with chatterbots think that the bots are humans). How can a chair have the necessary technology within it? Raspberry Pi, my friend, Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a tiny (credit-card sized in length and width, about half an inch in depth), relatively cheap, open-source computer that can hook up to a screen, SD memory card, keyboard, mouse, and audio jack. Its main purpose is for helping people learn to program in Python, but it can also be made into a media player (like an iPod).
Another challenge with designing a chair to be 'healthy' is making sure the user doesn't stay seated in it at all times. This needs to be done with encouragement and incentives, perhaps provided by the chatterbot, or "chairbot". However, I don't want to compromise the comfort of the chair and make a stool that no one will sit on.
CHECKLIST
At the end of each post, I will have a checklist of things that I have accomplished thus far.
ACCOMPLISHED:
2x Raspberry pi computers purchased ($70)
2x Power adapters purchased ($18)
2x 32GB SD cards purchased ($45)
2x VGA Monitors scavenged
2x USB keyboards scavenged
Found 40 precedents for research
Drawn 4 variations for research
Draft thesis statement
WORKING ON:
Reading "The Most Human Human" by Brian Christian
Learning Python Coding
Receiving 2x HDMI to VGA converters ($12)
Finding 50 precedents for the project
Drawing 50 variations for the project
Refining thesis statement
TO DO:
Studies in ergonomics/comfort
Reading Herman Miller's publications on ergonomics
Set up Raspberry pi computers (waiting for converters) and practice Python
ACCOMPLISHED:
2x Raspberry pi computers purchased ($70)
2x Power adapters purchased ($18)
2x 32GB SD cards purchased ($45)
2x VGA Monitors scavenged
2x USB keyboards scavenged
Found 40 precedents for research
Drawn 4 variations for research
Draft thesis statement
WORKING ON:
Reading "The Most Human Human" by Brian Christian
Learning Python Coding
Receiving 2x HDMI to VGA converters ($12)
Finding 50 precedents for the project
Drawing 50 variations for the project
Refining thesis statement
TO DO:
Studies in ergonomics/comfort
Reading Herman Miller's publications on ergonomics
Set up Raspberry pi computers (waiting for converters) and practice Python