Improvable Parts <feedback>
Although the final presentation is much better than the previous production, there is still room for improvement through on-site user feedback and personal experience.
- The filter effect not as obvious enough. It may be related to the fact that the sound samples are played for too short a time and users cannot quickly feel the filter changes.
- The range of ultrasonic sensors could be set more clearly. Although it has almost no impact in actual operation, it can be improved from the numerical perspective.
- The interactive connection between sound and vision could be stronger. For example, adding other forms of interaction between the sound part and the visual part in Max to improve this. But this may require a significant amount of time to resolve. I will continue to explore this point towards the end of the course. This will also be a topic worth discussing after the semester is finished.
Personal Reflection
During the production of this project throughout the semester, I found that I was not just doing a group assignment, but also absorbing a large amount of knowledge from various aspects through various channels. I have greatly improved both in terms of technical operations and teamwork skills. This was such a meaningful and worthwhile experience for me.
Technically, I had no experience with sensors before doing this project. Although I know that it is very challenging to choose a brand new thing to study and implement it into actual operations, I still want to try hard. As our project is an interactive installation, interactivity is something I always think about the most. At the beginning, my thinking was limited to optimizing this by modifying some codes in Arduino. This did have some effect, but after many discussions with Jules, Leo and Joe, I gradually discovered that there are many ways and angles to better solve the problem. For example, I can modify the sensor connection method, add some transitional objects in Max, and so on. It gave me more ideas in learning technical skills.
In terms of teamwork, our team has a clear division of labour from the beginning, which makes our subsequent work efficient. But we don’t just focus on the part we are responsible for. We will also help each other when other people’s parts encounter difficulties. My interaction part received strong support from Ruojing and Yuan in the early testing and rehearsals. This has provided me with great help, and I am very grateful to them.
I learned a lot during the making of this project. These 12 weeks of struggle have been a very beneficial experience on my learning path. In the future, I think I will continue to study interaction-related skills in depth and strive to create more creative interactive works.
Thanks to the teachers and classmates who have given us strong support. Special thanks to Jules, Leo and Joe who have been patiently guiding us in technology. And finally, thanks to my hardworking group members.
