Our Design

The year is 2124, and Shanghai stands as a beacon of technological advancement. New media and technology have revolutionized the city, enhancing everyday life with breathtaking innovations. While the city thrives with cutting-edge technologies and interconnected networks, there exists a stark divide between those who have access to  these advancements, and those who don’t. This disparity perpetuates social and economic inequalities, hindering individuals from fully participating in the digital economy, accessing educational resources, and engaging in civic and social activities. We built our project on the concept of digital equity, hoping to bridge the gap of the rich and the poor. Providing the average citizen to experience top-notch technology just like anyone else.  An easy practical everyday use pair of glasses with functions such as built in WIFI, argumented reality, and even biometric security to keep your information safe, was built to provide smart technology equality. By using the same format as VR and AR devices we have now, our team built a prototype of what would be utilized by many in 2124. 

Prototype

Our idea of the glasses was something small easy to wear and would be looked through one eye. One eye would stay in the AR world while the other would stay in the real world. We got our first design idea of the prototype from this depicted image:

Since our prototype was made out of light material and cardboard we changed the design to be in the shape of glasses for easier wear. Our team split up to each built a prototype of what we image the glasses to look like, then sharing our finished products to decide on whose to use.  Some of the designs were to unstable and would break or be unwearable because of the wrong dimensions. In the end we decided to use my design, which I edited later by creating a second prototype that's bigger in size and added a lens, as well as copper tape for aesthetics. Our project showed the dangers of mass producing digital products, but could have focused more on a certain aspect that we covered. One thing that I would change would be making our prototype much more sturdier. As well as, touching on the aspect of the government utilizing these forms of mass production to gain more control and gather more information of there citizens.

Below are the materials used:

• Black hard foam

• hot glue

• super glue

• cardboard

• copper tape

• clear tape

Reflection: Our prototypes made in the wrong size many times so in the future I would put more thought into getting the right size before committing to cutting.  Also using the hot glue gun often burned the material itself and left residue, so having more practice with the hot glue gun and using less glue would be better in the future. The prototype could not fit on everybody's head, so I've learned to not take measurements from yourself but others too.

Planning

Our team planned out to finish our project in three days, first day we each spent time to brainstorm ideas of what interactive design prototype we wanted to create. Second day we sketched out our prototype and built the final. The third day was performance day where we practiced our script before performing. 

Reflection: Our planning was not the best for this project because of how unfamiliar we are with each other. We could have started the project earlier and communicated more during the process. Unproductive planning caused us to not be able to finish our script and didn't have enough preparation for our performance. Next time for a better final product I will try to start communicating between members earlier and plan out our work for each day accordingly.

Performance

Script

Personally, I believe their project shows the interaction between people really well, but could improve on their world building and message. Their performance was a good idea to perform people using their prototype. I could understand how to play the game and how the cold air is obtained. However, the prototype was successful because there is already a connection between the users. If it was only exposed to strangers it could have not been as successful. They could improve their idea by perhaps providing a prize or reward for the game, so people would be more likely to interact.