Talking Rubbish

Our first project as part of Contemporary Art in the Public Realm we have been given our brief. Using a public art approach and the, try to get people on UL campus to change behaviour when disposing of rubbish. I joined a group with Paul from my class and Ciaran from Music Technology and we began looking at various ideas. The design process is an important aspect of this project. We firstly had to interview caretakers around the UL campus to get an idea of the black spots in terms of rubbish. Paul met a cleaner and he highlighted the student courtyard as of particular concern. Paul and I went to the courtyard to get a better idea of the area we are dealing with, in terms of layout, building designs and specific problem areas in order to fully understand the space we are designing for and how our designs would complement the space while also encouraging people to change their behaviour regarding the disposing of rubbish. Below are some pictures we took of the tables outside the spar shop which we identified as the main area for our design.

Past Project

Today I had a meeting with Mikael Fernstrom regarding my project. He mentioned that lecturer Giuseppe Torre for his masters project done a project using sound and motion sensors by manipulating sound using a a ball. Here is a link to his demo

I have arranged to meet Giuseppe to talk about how he went about doing this project to get a better understanding of how the calculations were done to read the acceleration and motion positioning of the ball which determined the sound ommitted. This may be helpful in understanding the technical aspect of what I am trying to achieve.

Sensor Research

Today I researched the technical side of my project by looking at possible sensors I could use for tracking motion. I want to design a device which can be attached to any golf club which will track the motion of the swing and once connected to computer will give the users a visualisation of their golf swing and how they could improve it. I found this 360 degree motion sensor called the ammSensor which may be usefull in tracking club head position throughout the swing.

Project research gets underway

Its time to start researching for my project. At the end of last semester we were required to chose an area to focus on for our project. I chose the sport of golf. We had to identify the different stakeholders/actors that influence the area. This helped us look at the area in a broadened view in order to identify a specific area which could be focused on. Here is a link to my essay and visual map of the sport of golf, http://conorlistonfp.blogspot.com/

Semester 2 begins

My first week back after christmas break. Difficult to get back into the swing of things after almost 5 weeks off. Time to refocus and get researching for my final project underway.

This week we had to chose our electives. I chose Contemporary Art in the Public Realm. This module is about creating interactive art installations in public. I will learn how to plan and research the development of a public art piece. Its important to consider, location, whos going to be viewing it, what is hoped to be achieved by the art piece. We are in a class with students from Music Technology so the project groups will have a good blend of design and music experience.

The 3 mandatory modules for this semester are Project/Workshop with Mikael Fernstrom which is a following on from last semester. We will be studying Flash, Pure Data and Arduino amongst others. In this module I will also be continuing to progress MY porfolio website which you can access here Online Portfolio.

Principles of Interactive Media is another mandatory module which I will be studying this semester. Its in involves the investigation of key concepts and methods in the Interaction design field, I hope to deepen my knowledge and understanding of certain key issues in the Interaction Design field, such as design thinking, interaction experience, and critical sensibility. This module is also used to plan my Research Project. I will learn about the requirements for planning a successful Final Project, with advice on choosing topics, analyzing issues, developing argumentation, structuring my research, use of different research methods, planning my work, and report writing.

Professional Issues in Interactive Media is the final mandatory module. In this module I will learn how to:

1. Identify and critically evaluate the major ethical approaches to dealing with moral dilemmas in computing.

2. Understand how to exercise critical thinking skills and the ability to analyse an ethical problem.

3. Given an ethical dilemma case study in computing I should be able to demonstrate effective communication skills and solid ethical reasoning.

4. Demonstrate an awareness of the literature and the current state of knowledge on ethical issues that exist within the fields of ICT and information systems.

5. Differentiate between legal systems in different jurisdictions and evaluate their consequence on the design of computer and information systems.

6. Demonstrate a knowledge of codes of ethics and how they can be used to guide professional decisions.

7. Show awareness of professional and political power and influence connected to the impacts of ICT on society.

8. Work as members of a team and plan workloads, allocate tasks to team members and manage workload.

Project Area

As part of my final project as part of the MA in Interactive Media I would like to explore the area of Golf and focus more on the golfer themselves and how their technique, mental thoughts and preparation could be improved before playing golf using technology. In this article I will look at the area of golf as whole and the factors, which influence the game and identify the key stakeholders /actors, from human to non-human and identify the roles and influences they have in the game which make golf a game to be enjoyed. I will map this field of research in detail in order to devise a concept for a piece of technology which could be used in the sport to aid golfers. 

Find below a link to my report on the area of Golf

Final Project Area Exploration - Golf