Jetha's Graduation Project

Author: Jisimrut Kaur

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Must see blog posts

Demonstration set up

Clear Video Demonstration

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Best Video Demonstration

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Photo of Artwork

It was extremely difficult setting this up at home as while I made sure to have spare components and wires. I didn’t have equipment like a multimeter, soldering iron, programmable dc supply to debug circuits. I had 2 plugs fail on me so I had to plug 2 circuits into my computer which made it hard to make sure the circuits all turned on at the same time. Due it to being a bank holiday weekend also I couldn’t go to uni replace the plugs.

Luckily everything pretty much worked except for the solenoids in user control and one of the servos in time compressed processes. However these are very common problems, throughout this project I’ve had servos fail and the solenoids have been very temperamental. I’m sure there were issues with voltage drop and current draw, this was unavoidable I triple checked and tested the circuits before bringing them home.

In the video it looks like the servos driving the rack and pinions aren’t working. That was not the case they were working but the way that the servos and circuits were fixed in place the servos the rack and pinions didn’t move. Also the cardboard adding extra space between the gear and servo, the screws ended up not gripping onto the gear like they were before. I tried adding hot glue to the screws to hold it to the gears but it didn’t make much difference. Fortunately I do have videos of the user control circuit and mechanisms working.

The mounting for the hardware symbolisation wasn’t exactly as planned but with what I had it is very close. I had the mirror and all the hardware I wanted to display just not the mounting in between that allows you to see the underside.

Also the arrangement is not to scale. The pieces are to scale none of the components or circuits are a prototype. I just don’t have a large enough space to create the walkable layout I planned for.

Overall though the demonstration was a success as the majority of the piece was working as it should.

  • Spatial Organisation ✅
  • Interface Re-mediation ✅
  • Time Compressed Processes ✅ ⭕️
  • User Control❌
  • Hardware symbolisation ✅

Clear Video of Artwork

Best Demonstration of Artwork

Photo of Artwork

Spatial Organisation
Interface Re-mediation
Time Compressed Processes
User Control
Early hardware Dell laptop side
Hardware symbolisation
Recent hardware macbook laptop side
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Construction Supervisor Meetings

Week 20 – Pause in Production

SMART goals for this week

  • Finish circuits
  • Make diagrams for thesis
    • circuit diagrams
    • iteration timelines
  • Make booklet for blog
    • Process for each part

What I did this week

Supervisor Meeting Notes

Thesis

  • Feedback for first draft thesis
    • Remove details of hardware 
    • Beneficiaries
      • Make sure it’s clear how the work addresses them
    • Planning
      • Evaluation of the Moscow and SMART how it helped prioritisation
    • Ideation and conceptual
      • Make clearer of what the process was 
    • Production
      • Make clear what was done and what will be done 
    • Code may not be needed
    • Merge stats and hardware paragraph together
  • Finish circuits film that finish writing and then do housing 

Due to the time left my supervisor advised that I paused production after finishing the circuits to focus on the project report. So, I made some final touches like recutting the racks as there wasn’t enough space for it to slot into it’s holding. Acrylic for the spatial organisation was also cut. I made them slightly bigger than planned to allow for it to be made smaller if need be for the housing construction.

The pause in production was also caused by a delay on Monday as the physical computing lab was closed the whole morning for filming. I was supposed to finish the circuits in the morning and go to the prototyping lab for the housing in the afternoon. But ended up working on finishing the circuits until closing.

I’m going to make a demonstration video with the circuits in case I can’t do the housing before the deadline. So, I also cut out 45cm x 45cm cardboard squares to mount the circuits onto.

I brought all the circuits home so, I could set up the demonstration over the weekend. I spent the rest of the working week on finishing and editing the project report.

I also finalised a design for the hardware symbolisation after all the delays

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Construction Supervisor Meetings

Week 19 – Finishing circuits

SMART goals for this week

  • Solder circuits
  • Laser cut parts
  • Call around for circuit boards
  • 3D print buttons and light tubes
  • First draft of thesis

What I did this week

Supervisor Meeting Notes

Thesis

  • Audience research 
    • Could be merged with beneficiaries 
    • Show in the development what changes were made for the audience
  • Conclusion 
    • The project and its future 
  • Made circuit for spatial organisation
    • The circuit didn’t work I’m not quite sure why.
  • Soldered LED Matrix and circuit
  • Laser cut and tested gear and rack. I think it’s catching because it’s not fixed in place. If it is the gears than the teeth just need to be sanded down a bit more
  • 3D print buttons and light tubes.
    • The buttons need to be sanded and painted but that can happen at the end
  • Got help for the spatial organisation circuit
    • I booked a meeting with Tom who helped me figure out how to make circuit work and made this schematic for me to follow.
  • Handed in round 2 form for the exhibition
  • Make user control circuit
    • soldered LEDs together
  • Got recommended to use servo driver to only use one arduino
  • Couldn’t get code to work together
  • Got old DELL laptop from mum
  • 9V plug didn’t work with solenoids causing them to be a bit faulty when in a certain position but I got a 12V plug
  • Struggled to get a hold of the charity that were going to help me get circuit boards
    • Called my laptop repair guys they have a laptop with no harddrive for £30
  • Undid my old MacBook Pro 2019 laptop
  • Figured out why user control circuit didn’t work
    • the one solenoid that wasn’t work was because it was in a faulty pin on the board
    • Moved LEDs to analog for brighter LEDs
    • Zeyu helped merge code and also showed me how to not use delay
    • the one solenoid stopped working when I put them in the strip board. I think it might be because the breadboard has resistance whereas the strip board doesn’t. Hopefully I just need to add some resistors in the circuit like I did with the spatial organisation
  • I did a draftish of my thesis so I’m up to the production part.
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Construction Supervisor Meetings Technician Meetings

Week 18 – Starting Construction

SMART goals for this week

  • Start construction whether it’s circuits or housing
  • Write beneficiaries
  • Write draft of wall text

What I did this week

Supervisor Meeting Notes

Thesis

  • Detailed Blog, Thesis summarises
  • Literature Review
    • Reason for choosing medium by excluding another medium
      • doesn’t need to be back up by evidence
    • Inspiration for the piece
  • 50% research 50% process
    • Iterations
      • Whole piece
      • and document the individual in the blog
    • Financial reasons for doing things a certain way is fine
  • Separate weekly posts and extra detail
  • laser cut test gears for user control slider and trackpad mechanism out of acrylic.
  • Meeting with Alex
    • Alex is the prototyping technician. We went over some of my designs and he said that I would need to make the circuits first before making the housing for them to go in. I’m thinking of making one circuit and housing at a time.
  • Meeting with Sarah
    • Had a meeting about the exhibition. They need to see pictures of what’s been made, a draft of the wall text and be notified of any changes that have been made. I wasn’t expecting this I was hoping to work on my thesis writing over the weekend.
  • buy hamster wheels, solenoids
    • I had to buy an extra solenoid as CCI didn’t have anymore available. I also bought the hamster wheels. They look good, i’ll need to ask Alex what the best way to fix them to the servos.
  • test button 3d printing
    • I did a test of the button cap for the user control box. the hole that the solenoid is supposed to go through doesn’t fit. So I’ll have to make it bigger in the model before printing again.
  • bought the acrylic
    • I decided on the fluorescents as they let light pass through them the best and the colours worked nicely together. The red and orange are quite similar. But I’ll use them for the smallest panels as they’re on either side of the piece so I’m hoping they’ll look different enough if they’re not next to one another.
    • I also bought 2 sheets of clear frosted for light diffusing the spatial organisation box and interface re-mediation.
  • Started soldering spatial organisation
  • Thesis writing
    • I did a draft of the beneficiaries
  • drafting wall text
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Prototyping

Week 17 – Final circuit testing

SMART goals for this week

  • Rewrite introduction
  • Laser cut parts to prototype a box for figuring out dimensions
  • Test COB strip light with arduino
  • Figure out the “wheel” part for time compressed process box
  • Figure out Interface remediation box
  • Figure out dimensions for user control box

What I did this week

I rewrote the introduction with the new structure.

I accidentally missed my supervisor meeting this week.

I laser cut some of the parts. I didn’t get to finish cutting the light blocker parts for the spatial organisation box.

I tested the COB strip lights they work perfectly.

However, the minimum strip size is 5cm so I need to resize my lights so that they’re divisible by 5.

In my initial drawing I drew wheels for the time compressed processes. However these were just placeholders while I considered what should help represent time compressed processes. The wheels don’t work as they don’t really have any relation to time, processes or compression. It would also be difficult to see the differences in speed when they’re spinning, also not very visually interesting in comparison to the other boxes. Because the time compression part is being represented by the servos spinning at quick and slow the “wheels” need to represent the process part.

I’m using the visuals of windows pill shaped buttons, and sliders from GUI perhaps I can use a loading circle. Maybe using something similar to the double wheel mechanism used in paper mechanisms. The only thing is it’s quite flat and loading circles are for when computers are conducting a process it doesn’t include the processes that the user does.

I had a thought maybe a hamster wheel. They’re immediately recognisable, they spin and most importantly would clearly represent an organism doing a process. I could get different sizes to represent the different lengths of processes. I can get them in clear plastic and use glass paint to keep them transparent and unify them as I’ll need to get different brands in order for them to be different sizes. Perhaps I can put a ping pong ball inside them to help show the differences in speed.

Tracing paper test for light diffusion

I made a box to test the COB lights with different acrylics and frosted material to diffuse light

I made a blender model to figure out the dimensions for the user control box. I’ve figured out this will be the deepest box so the depth of the boxes should be 5.5cm.

I used illustrator to figure out the spacing on the front panel. I would ideally like more sliders and buttons but they wouldn’t fit.

user control: Gears and racks to test
user control: light for trackpad test
Interface remediation: testing circuit for addressable LED strip

I got some addressable LEDs to make a matrix for the interface remediation as I couldn’t find a big enough screen that was also square. I was having some issues with powering it until I realised the addressable LEDs I got don’t have capacitors built in so I’ll have to add it to the circuit.


I emailed a charity who are willing to help with the project.

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Prototyping Technician Meetings

Week 16 – Circuit Testing

SMART Goals for this week

  • Write presentation
  • Edit Literature Review and Introduction
  • Plan out construction
    • Consult technician for physical computing elements

No supervisor meeting this week cause of bank holiday

What I did this week

I made a 3D model of the spatial organisation box to figure out the dimensions needed.

Technician Meeting Notes

I had a meeting with Zeyu the physical computing technician. We went through each part of the sculpture and the circuitry.

Spatial Organisation

  • Strip of LEDs use tracing paper to stop the spotting light effect
    • Strip board
      • Multi core wire 
      • Switch 
      • MOSFET 
    • Plug into the wall

User control

  • Linear actuator
    • Integrated chip   
Circuit for linear solenoids for self pushing buttons

Interface remediation

  • HDMI connection for screen
  • Raspberry pi

I had the formative presentation which didn’t go too well. This is the feedback from it.

  • You can start explaining what your project is about. What do you mean the capacity of the computer – do you mean in terms of power?or metaphorically? – Please do not forget the citations. – How does it highlight how modern GUIS quietly shape – makes invisible structures – Gantt chart a bit more detailed with dates. – Be more focused on the connection interaction HCI

It did make me realise that I was focusing too much on how I got to the project not the project itself in my thesis. I also got worried I wouldn’t be able to do the sculpture I planned out as the circuits weren’t working. But after the presentation I went to the physical computing lab and managed to get integrated chip and linear actuator working.

circuit for linear actuator

I’ve learnt that a linear actuator can’t move at a certain distance at different speeds. So, I’ll need to use a stepper servo with a rack and pinion.

user control: circuit for solenoids
time compressed processes: servo circuit
rack and pinion

I couldn’t move the pinion with the lever but I assume that this is due to friction caused by the wood and cardboard.

Zeyu mentioned COB LEDs, on the day we could only find small panels. But I found strips so I’ll use these for the lights in the spatial organisation part.

Over the weekend I made a new structure for my introduction.

I inquired about cutting the pieces for the hardware part of the sculpture but it was too expensive £300-400. But I had an idea there’s a few charities that refurbish laptops. So, I’m going to contact them and ask if I can if they can spare any broken circuit boards that can’t be refurbished. Instead of using metal use circuit boards. I think this might be better as it makes it clearer that that part of the sculpture is all about computer hardware.

Categories
Prototyping Supervisor Meetings

Week 15 – Testing

SMART goals for this week

  • Prototype each element of the piece

What I did this week

Supervisor Meeting Notes

Project considerations

  • Make sure there’s a sense of scale
  • Contemplate a table layout

Thesis Questions

  • For the new theorists to make it stronger
    • Frame a story around
    • See what they all agree is non-neutral. How did they get to that theory of non-neutral speak about that
  • Introduction
    • Cultural interface in computing as the field 
  • Literature review
    • argument
  • Presentation 
    • Maybe write some questions
      • Whether the abstraction 
      • How to balance the abstraction vs being too on the nose
      • Whether I’ve gone too abstract 


This the drawing I submitted for the first exhibition form.

While testing I realised I may have been too ambitious with the initial design so I’m going to start creating the simplest versions of each thing and then adding more detail if there’s time remaining.

Hardware

I used some cardboard and thread to test out the connections between each shape for the chainmail. I wanted to see if it was better to have multiple hoops in one hole(left side) or each hoop have it’s own hole(right side). The left side was stronger and more even whereas the right side was looser and didn’t hang nicely

From left to right you can see I started off closer to the plan I had in mind until I realised how difficult it would be to connect them but also position and size them evenly without the sizes having multiple decimal places making it hard to make sure it’s all perfect for the laser cutter. So, I’m just going to go with different size squares if I have time I might be able to add more details like adding computer parts or PCB circuit trace designs on to them.

Spatial Organisation

TinkerCAD

Interface remediation

I made a crank and slider mechanism as a test as I wanted to make a grid of wooden blocks that I can change the shapes of. However, the construction of this will probably take a while and wouldn’t be easy considering I don’t know much about physical computing. So, for now I think I’ll use an LED matrix which I’ve prototyped in p5.js

p5js

User Control

I didn’t do any prototyping for this. But I will use linear actuator to create the slider and linear solenoid to create buttons that look like they’re pushing themselves.

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Class notes

Class Week 6 – Prototyping

Realisation , enquiry and process

Prototyping

MVP

  • Building the simplest version of your idea that still works and demonstrates your concept
  • not the lowest effort

iterative development

Skateboard

  • skateboard -> scooter -> bike -> motorbike -> car
    • The simplest idea to the the final

Use MoSCoW for the final piece

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Design Process Prototyping

Week 14 – Easter break

SMART goals for this week

  • Plan Old Desk
  • Plan New Desk
  • Iterate designs of the desks
  • Create a List of things needed for Old Desk
  • Create a List of things needed for New Desk

What I did this week

Monday

I finally finished the list of default MacOS Sequoia features. I decided to omit the applications that are entirely about the computer like activity monitor, disk utility etc. As I need to get planning my final piece if I have time at the end I’ll add them in to the document. But right now I’m prioritising the apps that are digital versions of real tasks.

Tuesday

I’m going to need a little break from my computer as after spending days staring at it from morning to night has made me feel like I can’t see.

A summary of what the plan for the final piece is

I’m going to have 2 desks as that will allow the audience to understand my piece without interacting with it(I’m questioning the interactive part to be honest). As they can visually see the comparison I’m making between the first personal computer and the latest version of it.

The 1984 Macintosh Desk and The 2024 MacOS Sequoia Desk. Both will visualise the tasks done and tasks available to a user by taking the desk metaphor literally. They will also visualise the hardware capacity as the advancements hardware is a big part of why we are able to have the things we have now.

Insert Drawing

This is where details of the design process will be

Am I showing how much computers do for us and what they do or Am I showing the real world equivalents of stuff on our computer

First one shows how much we don’t have to do and the Second shows our over reliance on tools. Like you can’t sift through that many files to find what you want without the find feature

Categories
Design Process Prototyping Research

Week 13 – Okay I swear this is the idea now

SMART goals for this week

  • First draft Lit Review
  • Start wire framing

What I did this week

Monday

Maybe I could make a GUI creator where people can drag and drop and design their own system that suits them.

I realised while I used Manovich to help describe what GUI looks like. I didn’t look into why they look like that so I’m doing research into contributors to GUI and what theories in cognition influenced them.

As while there are other OS out there they all use the desktop windows set up. There was ZUI by Jeff raskin. But overall no ones really questioned the GUI design.

I’m then going to research what changes in cognition we have found since the 60s-70s. Then use this as the basis to evaluate GUI would look like if we based it on more recent theories.

Computing power has abused the way GUI was first designed. There was also a few things that should be questioned because of biology like how many people we are connected to. The way we connect with them. They were designing for what they knew back then before the world connected.

We should consider a system update as we have to handle more connectivity, load and processing power.

Treat like how ADHD diagnosis is treated anxiety and depression come from symptoms. Point out the symptoms of Smartphones and Desktops.

Technofeudalism Swiss-army device. Want to pacify and enslave a civilisation consider a digital device.

The bastardisation of GUI the monster it has become. Visualise and fictionalise the brain or core of a GUI. Personify it. The constant notifications the anxiety of email. the fast process. pulsating. Must unload masters cognitive load. tabs tabs tabs. More storage more things must have more things.

Humanising the features. Notifications have anxiety. Windows multiple personality. Spatial design ADHD what do I do first so many things to do. Control and Edit narcissism

The tool that outgrew humans

Xerox wanted GUI to mimic a desktop papers sprawled across the table. What if we visualised that. Find out how many documents you can fit with our current storage. Show an overflowing desk, GUI that was supposed to mimic life has now outgrown the metaphor. Or better how many desks are now in one computer. Show that the processing power is no longer equivalent to one person but to multiple people.

Maybe a peppers ghost hologram of all the papers and desks so people can turn it off so they see that by storing all this stuff in a device you don’t see the load you carry. Until you turn your phone off again. We have a spatial memory that’s why they designed things spatially because we’re better at remembering where things are so when you open your phone or laptop your memory is working to remember where everything is. So maybe within the desk or desks there’s easter eggs people can spot

Tuesday

MOSCOW

Must:

  • Explain GUI as of today
    • Spatial design
    • Time optimisation
    • Control

Should

  • It should do so in a way that shows how these things impact the cognition of oneself

Could

  • It could explain that computers aren’t inherently bad it’s that the advancements of processing power and storage have gone well beyond the capacity of a human being.

Will not

  • Explain what GUI would be better suited to today’s technological advancements and understanding of human cognition

GUI was made based on the metaphor of a desktop. While the team understood they were making the GUI with the thought of there would be improvements in hardware and there was commercial interest in their work. They could not have predicted just how much advancement would happen also they were limited to the hardware at the time. They were also basing their work on what they knew about human cognition. While there have been advancements in this field these advancements have been used under the guise of giving the user what it wants however, our cognitive biases are built for survival so giving us what we want does not necessarily respect the user. The centre of humane technology explained in the context of social media that we are more drawn to negativity and tragedy because we have survival instinct to learn about it in order to avoid it, this does not mean the user wants to look at it (explain better by watching the video again ).

I would also like to mention that the smartphone was created to encompass all of life’s tasks onto one device it did not the same start as desktop GUI so it’s harder to visualise. An argument can be made though that the power of hardware has outgrown this dream. Instead of technology trying to match us and relieve cognitive load we have created more load for ourself in order to match the power, mass and speed of our phones. Like a goldfish we are trying to grow to the size of our new environment. It is an environment as most of life is now contained on our devices. Capitalism also aims to create more cognitive load so it can sell the solution to relieve it.

So, today’s GUI is based on something that was created 52 years ago with a few tweaks that don’t respect the user. Using Lev Manovich I have understand that computer can be boiled down into 3 components spatial design, time optimisation and control. These have existed from the first GUI to present. So I will use this framework to show how the desktop GUI has been bastardised by advancements and capitalism and that the level of hardware we have now has outgrown the individual human.

How I will do this is creating 2 desks as this is where it all started. I will create a desk that is based on what the Xerox team had developed. And then another desk that is based on what their GUI has become. I will then layout tasks for people to do. By doing these tasks people should be able to see that GUI is no longer what it was intended to be.

My one concern with this method is people will walk away feeling like there’s nothing they can do. Whereas I hope to make them realise they don’t need to use everything on a device. Maybe doing small things like switching notes to paper or buying an alarm clock instead of using their phone will lessen the involvement of devices in their life which will ultimate improve things. Perhaps after the experience I can provide information that helps them understand further and more practically.

The tool that outgrew humans

Essentially I am pointing that we are still using a system from 50 years ago that no longer fits our current world. If people can learn this. It shows people that system that carry in the pockets in their bags does not work for them and that they should be demanding something better something more humane. But they also walk away knowing that they can still have agency over this inhumane design by knowing the specifics and take control over a technology and turn it back into the tool it started as while we wait for the next evolution

Here are the specifics of this desktop design, Here’s how it’s been abused, By being able to walk away from the installation one could also walk away from the technology being forced upon us or we could use a part of the system(do a few tasks) and then opt out when we want to.

2 versions need to be created one without ending it ends with just showing the current design of computers and one with an ending and see which one people prefer

Maybe ending could be another set of tasks but instead it teaches people how to return the computer back to a tool. Or just a link to resources about using the technology we have to today in a better way. But also anticipate and look for change. I want people to be able to survive in the technofeudalism world while the tech world battles it out for better tech for people. I believe this can be done through knowledge.

People who are organising for change are those who have worked in the tech industry at the highest levels. Those who are developing new systems are those who understand tech on a technical level. This is all great but we are leaving ordinary people behind we are not preparing them for change we are not helping them out of the system even though we need their support the most and we’re doing this for them. We know what we know because of our knowledge this needs to be shared with them.

Desk 1 Macintosh

Your data was carried on a disk that you held onto. So you could take to other computers

Desk 2 Today

  • Read 10 letters dump any that are spam
  • Listen to 3 songs
  • Make a drawing (pay a £5 subscription to complete this task)
  • Find this document titled thisfileislostforever

Desk 3 Tomorrow

Hardware has mutated GUI so it’s outgrown our daily tasks

Desktop metaphor GUI was misdesigned in the first place add to this the extreme power of hardware today. You get a tool that negatively stimulates our cognitive biases. In order to survive against this we must limit ourselves.

Wednesday

So I realised that I’ve been focusing too much on the why and not the what. I started out with looking into physically representing the digital world which is exactly what the desk idea does. So, now that I’ve remembered what I’m actually doing and that my thesis was never about the why.

In short I’m going to make 2 desks physical representations of the first GUI personal computer System 1 Macintosh and MacOS Sequoia. As GUI is a metaphorical representation of a desk. There will be a list of tasks to do at these desks. But the audience should get the idea visually that the hardware capabilities of computers have turned this metaphor into a hellscape.

I’ve been doing research into System 1 Macintosh and MacOS Sequoia and listing out all of it’s features. I’m then going to try and match to the real life action.

I’ve had a lot of personal stuff going on so I got really muddled up in my own thoughts and curiosity about the topic. But talking with family has made me get back on track on what I’m trying to do.

Thursday-Sunday

I carried on making the list of features for MacOS Sequoia.

I also had a thought while recording that the tasks list can be visually impacting. If the old desk is a really short list and the new desk has a really long list like really long comically long.

MacOS Sequoia Default Features