The exhibition

They day of the exhibition was here! We did some last minute fine-tuning and checked that it all worked and went to prepare our table at the exhibition. Aside from over-heating batteries everything went fine and people seemed to enjoy and find the prototype and concept as interesting! We were quite happy!

Upper left: The prototype. Upper middle: Shachi and Johanna wearing the bracelets. Upper right: Our table. Below: Trying the communication out with visitors!

//Love and Johanna

The video

In this video we introduce our main concept, which is that of promoting interaction in public spaces. We see a sad person with one of our beautiful bracelets equipped with stunning LED-technology (Neopixel Ring) that displays that he has not been hugged enough today. A person who is more happy, spots this person and moves in to hug. When the hug is complete both receive "Happy Points" from the action and they are now both happy!

Created by Johanna Andersson, Love Larsson, Shachi Bista and Bálint Zsiga.

The final solution

In our final solution we used one phone to communicate with the rFleas through ANT+ protocol, without using a server. That's maybe not the best solution if we want to develop the concept further and let more players participate in the game, but that was the easiest solution with the resources that were available for us.

While there is no interaction between two participants, happiness level is indicated on the Neopixel rings. In every minute (it was 1 minute for the demo, but can be different interval), the reFleas are getting notifications from the phone to decrease the happiness level. Heart beat like blinking of the last LED indicates that there is connection between the phone and the rFleas.

During interaction the touching participant's RFID reader reads the tags on the other's back. A rainbow cycle animation starts on it's Neopixel ring, indicating that something good is happening. The rFlea sends a notification to the phone about the interaction, which forwards it to the other participant's rFlea, which starts the rainbow cycle animation on the Neopixel ring as well.

During a hug, different amount of happy points are gained by both of the participants, according to the duration of the interaction. The giving participant always gets half of the amount of points as the receiving, since we thought these hugs are intended to make the receiving participant happy but making a people happier causes happiness for the giving participant as well.

After the interaction the Neopixel rings are showing the new level of happiness.

Help can be found for the ID-12 RFID readers here. 

Source code

Last minute challenges

After soldering all the equipments, it turned out that the delays in the operation of our device are caused by power consumption problems. Because of this reason we had to regulate the Neopixel ring's power consumption. As we recognised this problem quite late (little before the demo), the easiest solution was to set its brightness lower. A better solution could have been to supply energy for the Neopixel ring directly from the battery. In this way we could have kept its brightness, but it would have required more soldering which we didn't have time for.

Another fast change what we had to make was the relocation of the RFID reader from the finger to the inner side of the wrist, because of the reasons which were mentioned in a previous post. As a result of this the concept has also changed. From now on the interaction was only limited to hugs, rather than allowing every kind of touch.

The last challenge was to find out where to place the RFID tags to sense the different hugs. For this we conducted a fast 'research'. We asked around 15 people to give a hug to Shachi and we signed the wrist positions on his back. It was really interesting as we got really different result than what we expected. So we had to relocate the already placed RFID tags :)

Video about some of the participants of our hug 'research':

Last days until the exhibition: Putting the prototype together

During the last days we made the bracelet for the wrist and incorporated the rFlea and battery in the design by using handicraft and soldering. We sewed small pockets for both and fastened them with velcro on the back of the bracelet.

Left: rFlea that is connected to the battery and the NeoPixel ring. Middle: Gluing the velcro on the leather bracelet. Right: Bracelet and the two rings (in blue leather for bracelet A and B) with the leather bands for hiding the wires.

 
It is worthwhile to mention that we made two bracelets with corresponding tech (bracelet A and bracelet B) since we wanted to show the communication and interaction in the game to a full extent. Sadly, the RFID-reader on bracelet B stopped working before the exhibition, leaving us with only bracelet A that could read the RFID-tags placed on the other participant. The cellphone still worked though and could send the data a reading from the RFID-reader on bracelet A gave to both bracelets and displaying the corresponding Happy Points on each NeoPixel ring. 

As stated before we wanted to connect the rFlea on the bracelet with the RFID-reader on the ring to make it all work. We hid the wires with leather bands going from the bracelet up to the ring on the finger and the NeoPixel ring, that would show the amount of Happy Points gained, was placed on the bracelet instead of the ring. By placing the NeoPixel ring on the bracelet it was easier to carry for the user than if having it on the ring.

Left: The intented design of the bracelet and leather band hiding the wires connecting the rFlea and RFID-reader. Right: Incorporating the tech, rFlea and NeoPixel ring on bracelet and RFID-reader in red.  

During the last days before the exhibition when we tried everything together we found a problem, we had previously tested and noticed that the RFID-reader could read the tag even if we had our hand inbetween them but now it couldn't read through the leather in the ring. We revised the design and placed the RFID-reader on the back of the bracelet making our bracelet/ring-jewellery into a simple bracelet. It both looked better and worked fine now. The prototype was ready for the exhibition!

Getting closer

So after failing with quite some options how we could implement the communication between the two rfleas, we finally found a working one. We had a lot of ideas in mind, eg. doing it with spacebrew or just with a stand-alone server. But usually faced problems, what we could not work around. This last one which led us to the final solution was that we still didn't have 2 phones, but the deadline is getting closer and closer. So we went with a solution where we only use one phone which communicates with the 2 rfleas.

At the moment the communication works. We have even put together another RFID reader with the second rflea. Unfortunately we are still having some problems with delays in the communication. We think one reason could be the bad connections on the breadboard. To make it work we always has to squeeze the cables to the reflea with our hands. At this point we think we can't really work further without soldering the cables on the rflea, as the bad connection is causing so many errors that we don't really know anymore if the problem is in our code or it's just the bad connection.

Shachi & Balint

Thinking about the design

We were thinking about the design a little bit and felt that if we were going to put the NeoPixel ring and RFID reader on the finger, there would be a lot of wires protruding the wooden box which would look a bit strange (Also, there was a problem of how we were going to solder them altogether). So in order to solve it, we thought maybe we could create a ring-bracelet hybrid. For inspiration, we took "Greek-styled" slippers (I don't really know if that's what it is called).

Possibly made of leather as well, the wires can then be made with conductive threads, which themselves can be embroidered as a design and will be much more flexible than copper wires. 

They can also be inside the leather bracelet hidden from view.

We were thinking of placing the RFID reader on the finger and the rflea and battery on the wrist along with the NeoPixel ring (hidden under the wrist bracelet below).

Creating the ring and casing for the tech

Today we've been working on designing the prototype-ring/casing, ideas were discussed on whether the NeoPixel ring should be placed on the RFID reader-ring or if it should be placed separately on a patch. Since the wiring would be too long if it where on a patch we settled on the prior option.

We've been measuring, sawing.. you name it! Now we have sketches on how it all should be placed as well as most of the parts for the RFID reader-casing (to put on the ring).

 

Placement of the tech

In the sketch the RFID tags are placed along the shoulder/arm of the player. We want to make all the communication work and once we're sure it will work with the motion of a pat on the shoulder/arm we can add more RFID tags for other motions (such as a hug etc).

What is sure is that each placement of a tag should be chosen depending on which interactive motions we select. To make the Happy Points work the RFID reader (placed on the ring) much be close to the tag which is why it is good think of potential motions before placing the tags.

//Johanna & Love

We have contact!

I am happy to announce that after many painstaking attempts, we have finally got a phone to connect to the jewelry through ANT+ communication protocol. We've previously had trouble with the server going down, incompatible driver versions and incompatible application versions that always got in our way.

Today we used Jordi's updated code for the arduino library to communicate with other devices through ANT+, updated the driver on the phone to the latest version, used the updated Android application for newer phones and installed a standalone server that we can put up and down at will. We could get the RFID tag reader to read a tag and send a signal when it is reading something.

We were also discussing whether we would need a server at all, since the operations on the "happy points" is pretty atomic, perhaps we only need to write some javascript code that runs inside an Android WebView. This would greatly simplify the technology, but is open to discussion.

There was some confusion about the concept of the game, but I think it's all cleared up ... I hope?

The Happy Points Game

The game

Our intention with this project is to spread happiness. How can we motivate people to be more interactive and social? Well, a game is a good idea! We want people to spread happiness by giving each other attention and social interaction in the form of a handshake, a pat, a hug, a high-five... you name it!

Basically each player has a:

• Patch/band on their shoulders (this is were the RFID tags are placed). 
• Ring with the RFID reader.
• Display of the Happy Points (HP).
• The Display could be implemented as part of the patch.
• ...or part of the ring.
• ...or part of a necklace. 

The different parts of technology used for the interaction.

 
For this project we have settled on implementing the motion of a pat on the shoulder to send Happy Points to the player.

• If you notice someone with a low happy-meter you can go to the person and start interacting with (give a comforting pat on the shoulder) her/him and in that way spread happiness.
• By making people happy you also get happy! This is why both the player getting the pat and the player giving the pat will each get a Happy Point (resulting in one LED lighting up).
• The happier you get or make people the fuller the NeoPixel ring will be (all the LEDs will light up if you have 100% Happy Points).   

 

To do

• Plan and make the design of the patch:
• Where should the RFID tags be in it?
• Which material should we use for it?
• Conductive thread to connect the NeoPixel ring to the other tech?
• Leather/other fabric for the patch.
• Should we, during the exhibition, fasten the patch with a band or sewing it on a shirt?
   
•  Plan and make the ring for the RFID reader.
• Wood?
• Other materials

Decisions up until now

Technology

We have settled on using:

• RFID-tags and readers to sense the interaction.
• rFlea and cellphones to connect and send info (so the recipient also gets Happy Points).
• NeoPixel ring to visualize the Happy Points.

 

Shape

The NeoPixel ring will be used as a jewellery-piece either:

• On a ring (Together with the RFID-reader)
  or...
• As a necklace (Separated from the RFID-reader which is on the ring) 

The RFID-tags will be implemented in a patch that we put on the shoulder of each "gamer".

 

The interaction

 

• We have defined the interaction to be based on touch, preferably a comforting stroke.
• When one of the users touch another user (thus reading the RFID-tag) both the users get happy (naturally) and receive "Happy Points!" :)
  
  More specifically...

• The interaction and interactive motion is limited (in this project and time frame) to patting the other person on the shoulder.
• On the shoulder is the RFID tag
• When patting and wearing the ring the RFID-reader can still read the tag.
  
  
  //Johanna & Love

Technological limitations and solutions

We have already revealed a very serious limitation of the makey makey board. To sense a touch interaction with a board, we have to close a circuit. To close the circuit one participant of the interaction have to be connected to the ground of the board and the other to the power of the same board. As a result of this, the participants of our 'game' would have to be wired to the same makey makey board, which is a serious limitation in our case.

Two other options we came up with to sense physical interactions between participants are the followings. We could use Hall sensors to measure the magnetic field of small industrial magnets. In this way, there are two options. Either, we could put magnets on a t-shirt and a sensor in a bracelet or ring, or the other way around. With the second solution (sensors on t-shirt and magnet in bracelet) we could even figure out the type of interactions as we would see which sensors are the closest to the magnet in the other participant's bracelet or ring. Although, this solution would entail much more difficulties in the implementation.

Our second option is to use RFID reader to read little RFID tags. In this way we could put the small 2cm diameter RFID tag discs on a t-shirt. Each RFID tag has a unique identifier, so we could also figure out the type of interactions in an easy way. One limitation what we discovered while reading about this solution was that 2 or more tags in the reader's range will cause it to not read any tags at all. However, there were readers and tags available in the lab on Friday, so we had the possibility to try it out. What we found is that the range of the reader is not to big, so tags can be placed quite close to each other without interfering. We even tried if it senses the tags through the palm or fingers with success. So using it as a ring would work, we'll might go with this solution. 

Although this technology has limitations as well. Without skin to skin interaction there will be limited number of parts on the body where we can sense interactions. One big challenge is to sense high5s and hand shakes without gloves.  

Interaction types

Our project can be divided to three parts according to the interactions so far:

Visualisation of happy points

To see your own and other's happiness level.

Some additional options:

• RGB LED could give the color of a specific shape (eg. heart), and change its tint according to participant's happiness level. It could also blink when it's too low.

• Nice looking emojis on a screen or on a led matrix.

• Pictures of different facial expressions of each participant could be shown on a little screen to represent their happiness level. - In this way people will still wear their everyday poker face, but 'real' feelings could be also shown in a more personal way.

Recognising other participants in the 'game'

It's not reasonable to expect the participants to always look for other players in their everyday life's crowded environment. Therefore, some kind of notification is needed when an other player is around. However, the notification should not be annoying when there are a lot of players around!

From a technological point of view, to be able to implement this, the used platforms should somehow sense each other's proximity as well.

Interaction between participants

Maybe the most interesting part of the project is that the participants will have to physically interact with each other to get happy points. Some ideas are already listed in our previous post about the potential ways of interactions. One interesting aspect of this project could be to experiment with the different ways of interaction. It would be really nice to see what are those interactions what people like or dare to initiate and what are those which are the best to get. 

Although, this would make the project a little bit more difficult. Logging of the interactions would be needed and also a way to let the receiver participants rate the interaction they experience.

It would be also nice to include sound messages in the list of interactions, although the group has rejected the idea because of the technological difficulties it would entail.

One direction where we could start now is to experiment with the makey makey modul which makes skin to skin interactions possible. I think with some conductive thread and fabric we could also sense touches on the clothes.

Thoughts for the Project

The interaction between people is key for us, so is to inspiring people to interact. Interaction in public space. A social game to connect people in public spaces.

Do they drop over time (ephemeral-aspect)? A lot of the time you get more happy to give a gift than to receive it (build on this?). You make someone happy and you get happy by making her/him happy (both get H.P.)? Future design (recognize each player) get vibration to know if a player is close?

How to display Happy Points:

• Form
• Bracelet 
• Necklace?
• Patch?
• Scarf?
   
• Abilities/display of interaction
• Shapechanging?
• Bubbles? Lots of bubbles! <3
• LEDs?
• A heart?
• Color Coded?
  
• Material:
• Sensors, sliders, buttons?
• Conductive thread?
• Lilypad?
• BlueTooth-connected arduino? 
• Wireless? (We prefer the physical interaction)
   
• How should the interaction work? How to transfer H.P. to spread happiness.
• Two people physically interacting?
• People interacting with people (wireless)?
• Display your emotion to encourage others to interact with you?
• Skin to skin interaction (close circuit to let jewellery work)?
  
• But, how:
• High Five?
• Pat?
• Hug?
• Stroke?
• Push a Button/Poke?
• Leave a message?
  
  This post was created by everyone in the group! :)

Further thoughts on the concept

Previously we have been talking a lot about incorporating the use of mobile phones in our concept, that we want to connect people based on common interests. These interests would be known through one's use of Facebook (and which pages you "like") and/or the type of music you are listening to via Spotify for example.

But what about if we concentrate more on getting people to interact in other ways than just based on what they like on social media sites/networks? What about just developing a jewellery collection (2-3 pieces), maybe these jewelleries can interact with each other so that when two people who own a piece walk by each other it makes them aware of each other?

..or maybe they can be about communicating feelings that the wearer is experiencing to make people interact with each other? ("Happy Points" can be an example of this). Also the Happiness Blanket is an example of this.

  

Happy Points!

During the discussion today we came up with a plan. Our social jewellery should promote users to interact (with touching like hugs etc) for some reward. A reward discussed was "Happy Points". The more you interact with people, the more "Happy Points" you receive. And these points could also be transmitted to other people. Maybe you can even cash them in for something like a offer or a coffee?



:)

Inspiration for materials

I found an interesting video about memory wire/muscle wire, which could be an alternative material in our jewellery collection (2-3 jewellery pieces). One of the pieces could use this as a trigger for interaction. It can take a shape based on if the person wearing it is experiencing a type of emotion or not.

"[...] flex and contract when a specific amount of heat or current is applied to it. If you are asking yourself “What sorcery is this?!” We assure you, this isn’t magic, it’s just simple science thanks to shape memory and a change between the wires weaker, low temperature form (martensitic) and its stronger, high temperature form (austenite). When the Muscle Wire® is in its martensitic form, it can be formed and bent into different shapes. However, when an electrical current of ~1.5A is applied to the wire, or is heated to ~100C it reverts to austenite form and recovers its previous shape with great force. Additionally, you can anneal at ~500C (use an industrial furnace or simply a lighter) it to whatever shape you would want, next once that current or heat is applied it will return to that new shape."

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11900

Otherwise showing a persons mood or feelings can be expressed by light. It can be a more ambient way of expressing emotions by simply using a pulsing light that changes color depending of felt emotion or state of happiness for example.

18/9

What:

• A piece of jewellery or an accessory that connect people (friends or strangers)
• Something in common
• Interact with light, vibrations, temperature or music

Inspiring links:

• http://www.hello-europe.org/ 
• http://www.thefuntheory.com/

17/9

1. Shoe Music
2. “Social Jewelry”
3. Muscle Instrument
4. Suspender Controller/Musical Clothing
5. Artwork-interaction /environmental