The idea behind my major project at Ravensbourne is to create an experience that enhances a childs enjoyment of a museum throughout; this is to say, it doesn’t rely on a single space or object (such as activity rooms or interactive tables). The goal is to find a way to allow the child to interact with the museum as whole so that they can enjoy everything the museum has to offer as opposed to just what is ultimately targeted for children.

The direction I’m moving in is to provide the child with a camera which they can run around the museum with, taking photos of what ever captures their interest. Creating interaction through observation (I guess this is something photography essentially boils down to). Having taken their photos, the pictures are then uploaded to the museums website, where they will be tagged alongside information about the exhibition piece as well as photos others have taken. Photos can be commented on and favored by others providing a sense of community on the site.

In addition photos are uploaded to a ‘photo wall’ which displays photos children have taken along with their name and age. Having photos on display like this provides the gallery with a new and constantly changing exhibition piece, and also gives the children something to be proud of.

I have more plans for the camera as well as the photo wall, I’ll post more on that as it develops.

The two term major project for our third at Ravensbourne is upon us, and whilst I’ve neglected this space for some time, it’s about to change. I have a few posts lined up for the next few days, and from here on in I’ll aim to keep this site updated with the latest goings on. So the major project, what is it?

The goal of the project is to, in some way, enhance a users experience in a museum or gallery. From my point of view, I see many problems with the way museums are laid out and how they function. Some are too stifling, there is very little interaction between the environment and the user. In others there is a lot to be desired when it comes to the way the museum is laid out; users can often become confused as to where they should go next, often finding themselves needing to retrace their step to get to the next exhibition. The goal of the project is to discover these problems and design solutions. Due to the scale that this project can take, I am currently in the process of research in an attempt to discover a target audience I wish to work with, as well as the type of museum I think would be ideal for whatever my solution may be.

Yesterday I took my two younger cousins to the Science Museum in an attempt to experience what it would be like to be responsible for children, whilst at the same time trying to enjoy the museum for myself. I have to admit that whilst I had anticipated what the experience would be like, the actuality of it was far more than I would have expected. Looking after the children takes all of your concentration, and I often found myself being dragged away by them from whatever it was I was looking at. I’ll post a full write up of my findings, along with images over the next few days.

I found this whilst browsing around Design You Trust just now. I love it.

So after a rather long afternoon/ evening of working on the presentation boards for the RSA project. I took a break and decided to have some fun with Photoshop. Craig introduced me to an incredible website that goes by the name of Abduzeedo (go there, it’s amazing), so I headed there for some tutorials. In a continued attempt to improve my work with typography I came out with this:

I’m really pleased with the outcome of it. The textures came from Jocosity, Lailomeiel and Cloaks. The sexy swirly awesome vectors are from jlwDesign. So with these newfound techniques, I’ve got some great ideas for this site!

Meet Cyber Figure Alice, for all your otaku needs.

Actually I think this is a pretty impressive example of virtual interaction and augmented reality. It reminds me of a flash project that ran along the same lines I saw a third year student present for their final presentation; in which they used black and white shapes to trigger an animation on the screen. Different combinations of shapes made different animations. This seems to work on a similar idea, but it works through a webcam rather than a projector, meaning you can run the programme from your desk at home.