Assignment 1 – Judson Kyle
Design for Dreaming:
One of the biggest differences between “Design for Dreaming” and contemporary media like the MCU or Bladerunner is the focus on travel and scope. While both have a sense of being able to travel wherever we want much easier than is possible at the current moment, more contemporary media has a large focus on space travel and exploring the unknown universe whereas “Design for Dreaming” is focused more on travel on Earth via the automobile. Another key difference is the focus on agency. In “Design for Dreaming” the main character is shown repeatedly using futuristic products for her own gain pressing a button and having a cake made or simply thinking about having binoculars and having them appear. This type of futuristic technology is portrayed as something that normal people can acquire starkly contrasting that of the MCU. The technology in the MCU is much more out of reach only accessible to the heroes possessing the money or power to wield it.
Useful Interaction:
The Idea:
As you can see from the comic below, waking up to an alarm in the morning is already very difficult let alone trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of a lamp.
While this problem could easily be solved with an adjustable light level on the lamp switch, why not take it one step further and create an artificial sunrise by slowly brightening the lamp in anticipation of the alarm. This project utilizes this concept by incorporating both the adjustable slider and the artificial sunrise into one item. This not only helps adjust the user to the light levels but also helps them wake up in a more natural and gradual way.
Proof of Concept:
This project can easily be achieved with a lamp, an electronically controlled potentiometer, a linear motion potentiometer, a power supply, and some voltage regulators connected to an Arduino.