Week 11 Mockups and features

Before this week's group meeting Bec, Jo and I all developed our own mock-up models, so that we all could communicate our ideas and intentions. It was very useful to create mock-ups especially with regards to ergonomics and the gestural interactions associated with the bird. The model in the two first photographs has a  head that tilts back and forward. This is what we initially intended for volume control. However combined with the other gestures this was impractical. Furthermore it was very hard to adjust such a fine (yet important) element as decibels, especially due to the small radius of the neck's rotating wheel. I created the two following logo's for the product. We chose to use both, proving the diverse yet highly distinct, and recognizable form of the logo. This logo will be used for branding and promotional reasons.

This yellow and blue bird was created by Jo. As we can see on the bottom there is room for a usb port. The head rotates clock- and counter clockwise. The overall dimension is the closest to what we we aiming for out of all the models we created. This model was also good for testing haptic feedback as the body could be squeezed, yet still remain it's shape.

The picture on the left is an idea I had for a sparrow with a detachable head. When you want to turn the radio off you decapitate the bird. I thought this idea was a bit too far out there so we decided to move away from it. The image in the middle shows a 'model' I made to test out texture for the wings of the bird (should be able to be squeezed in for a tactile feedback). It is a balloon filled with flour, so when it is squeezed it takes the shape of the hand through the pressure applied. Similar to a memory imprint mattress. After testing this out we figured out that it is not suitable for its application as the pressure sensors inside the bird will have to register pressure, and this is quite challenging with a material like the one I was trying to mimic. The images underneath show two of Bec's models and my large owl model on the right. This scale was too large to be suitable as a portable radio and uncomfortable to interact with as the gestures would be too grand.