When you walk into the bar, you receive a badge with a number on it. You should wear the badge and sign into the system with the number printed on it as your ID. Signing in is optional but has advantages. By signing in you may send and receive private messages from other singles at the event. They’ll be able to identify and pm you by the number you are wearing, so users must be a little crafty in getting that number. This feature is more direct than the winking type feature (when a user receives a messaging stating that someone may have a crush on you, etc), but when a user is only at an event for a couple hours, winking can be a waste of time. Signing in with the badge number also qualifies users for random drink giveaways! Here’s a poster and a chart of how we use the system. Below are the different ways people engage with Love Machine.

The third component for the Spring Show application will be a visualization of projects. It will be a map with dots indicating a project’s location. There will be a yet undecided amount of information regarding each project in the visualization, but our text component includes a “Respect” field in which the user will enter a project identifier. The more respect a project receives, the more its corresponding dot pulsates on the map.

People have toyed with the idea of visualizing projects at the show in this sort of way. Some have challenged the idea claiming that it turns the show into a popularity contest. However people come to the show with a completely different perspective. There are so many projects, so much noise, and so very many people finding interesting projects may be a challenge in and of itself. If an excellent project gets stuck in the back corner behind 1000 patrons it may never be seen without a little help. Our visualization will help to democratize the projects in the show. And let’s face it, every project in the show is excellent.

The text component is a custom-made Twitter client designed for mobile devices. It will be available on the web on the night of the show. The client will act just like your current client, with access to your own personal content, but it also includes a special #itpshow feed. Every message sent from the client is appended with the hashtag, and our client will give you all Tweets corresponding to it. You can read what people are saying about the show and projects, do some networking of your own, or find out if any of your friends are around. You can follow anyone who tweets with the hashtag, so you are sure to make a few new contacts.

It is completely unstyled, but please see the prototype. Just log in to see what we mean.
http://itp.nyu.edu/~jkb315/bartalk/login.php

A RFID reader identifies the user as unique. Using Java’s serial library the tag is read, and a PHP script is called to enter the tag’s ID into a MySQL database so that the user’s choices will be remembered at subsequent kiosks. The working prototype used at the 2008 ITP Spring Show asked the user to select a project category. The software would display dots on the screen signifying each project’s location within the current zone, and the user could draw his or her own path directly on the map. When the user exited the zone (an area determined to contain the proper amount of projects to ask a user to interact with) another kiosk was strategically placed on the border of the next zone. The next kiosk suggested projects to see within its zone based on previous choices made in other zones. The system received very positive feedback and users were pleased with the ease of interaction and especially the artifact in the physical map.

• Conceptualize a navigation system to benefit trade shows, conferences, museums and large exhibitions
• Develop dynamic software that can easily be adapted and reused.
• Software built with Java and Processing
• Networked system achieved with PHP/MySQL

Map with RFID Tag
P = kiosk location

Interaction Plan

We set it up like this: one XPort was wired to a breadboard which was connected to an Arduino. The Arduino code sends 0s and 1s via a PHP request via the XPort to a PHP script online that signs into our Sensorbase account and logs the info. Here are some pictures of the result.

Each side is angled to give the bread proper rest while toasting. Hence it is an arrow pointing up, a direction in which we all wish to head in the early A.M. when we usually prepare this type of snack.

Modern toasters have settings for bagels. Revert to the old paradigm, and the toaster’s interface becomes much simpler. I’m willing to bet that a poll of people’s toasting habits will show evidence that such a toaster deserves a place in this millennium. Factor in those willing to test my toasted sandwich theory and those numbers may increase.

Modest toaster request: default setting of bagel/English muffin, flip if desired, two door design, maximum 2 buttons, and possibly a color wheel.

I mentioned that I have a toaster like this. I don’t use it anymore. The thought of my bread touching crumbs from the Wilson administration soured my appetite for toast. I don’t eat toast much anymore. I would if I could buy a newer model though!

The user approaches the device with relative ease and familiarity but sometimes must meet certain conditions in order to even approach it. These conditions include entering a foreign building, using a small plastic card to unlock a door leading to the device, and more and more commonly, walking up to a freestanding device right on the street. The device is ubiquitous.

Once facing the device, the user either sticks a plastic card into a slot or slides it through a card reader. The user must then enter a code on a keypad or directly onto the device’s screen which offers the user a series of options. The apparent user success rate for these types of devices is high. The user typically walks away from the device with his or her card, some green paper, and a white piece of paper containing a record of the exchange.

For most, this is a completely emotionless experience. The user’s countenance remains unchanged while completing the series of steps. Aside from the age old time killer consisting of anxious movements by the unused hand, there is not much physical activity between steps. Some users make the experience more fun by exaggerating motions – a sweeping arm throwing the hand to the card slot, rhythmic button pressing, or perhaps a fist pump at the sight of green paper.

However, some devices have a much lower user success rate. One such machine in Austin, Texas made for some interesting observations. Located in a rather desolate part of town, the device stood between two restaurants. The user that piqued this writer’s curiosity began scanning the neighborhood when he should have nearly completed is encounter with the device. Something about the encounter chagrined him. He took to the green paper, but walked away appearing confused and angry.

Other users expressed similar dissatisfaction with this particular machine. After reaching what appeared to be the same step in the process, several walked away without the success marked by the acceptance of green paper. A few had choice words for the inanimate device. An equal few called over their walking companions for what appeared to be reassurance.

It is interesting to note that the design of the machine, similar to the freestanding variety found on the street described here, is as close to human as any machine we encounter with such frequency. Its height is that of an adult. The card swipe, the ‘hand shake’ as it were, is the greeting that determines the future of our brief relationship with it. We stare at its face, and if we provide accurate information, it rewards us with green bank notes that we are all too happy to accept from nearly any human being.

Since I was due a trip to one anyway, I decided to try the device myself. The step that caused such a stir on this otherwise sparsely occupied street was one in which the machine would provide the service requested if the user agreed to give it $3.95 in return. I suddenly found myself exercising some of the same motions of those who preceded me. I looked around the neighborhood without another device in sight, and I certainly had a few choice words to offer it.

Alas, I needed the green notes, which I suspect is the reason why others decided to complete the experience as well. To the machine’s credit however, it was very friendly to use, and it issued the finest (albeit only) green paper I’ve ever exchanged for $3.95.

After trading Arduinos with Armanda (our Arduino’s would only work with the other’s PC), I went a wirin’. Here’s a shot of the product, which causes a light to blink at the push of a button.