Our time is almost up! Our showcase is nearing and we have started our second to last sprint. Cooling down from sprint 4 and our performance at the Next Web, we are now focusing on rounding up any loose ends and preparing a convincing end document to present to the police. However, our creative juices are still very much flowing as we are challenged to create our own exhibition space for the showcase! We are working together as a team to create a powerful and beautiful booklet which will be presented at the showcase amongst other visuals and experiences. Stay tuned!
Month: May 2019
Week 13: Sprint review & web workshop
The team was proud about their successful presentation at the TNW and need a recovery week after the overload of work.
After the recovery week, the team had a sprint review at Driebergen with Sascha, Neel, Lama and Wouter. Sascha and Neel presented and discussed about how do we interpret and visualize the data collected from TNW. There were some discussion on how to take the project ahead and fixed on the deliverables with the Police.
We applied for the DRIVE festival in the safety and security category with high hopes of getting selected. There was some time spent on analysing the data and discussing briefly on what could we do for the booklet for police.
There was a fruitful workshop with Jake on Web Development which gave us some ideas on how to implement our work in the form of a website.
Week 12: TNW
We started off the week early on Monday with multiple reservations for the laser cutter at the Makers Lab. Lama and Sascha had the files ready and started off on the outer box then onto smaller details. Neel was at the studio working on Unity and coordinating its sequence in accordance with pressing the buttons. Ola was busy with editing the video and adding some special effects. By the end of the day, we had the box ready with some of the parts already waiting to be integrated. Also, we used some of the paper we got the week before to cover up the box instead of painting it. Sascha received the pins that day and brought them to the studio; everyone there wanted one!
On Tuesday, we completed decorating all of them and glued the box’s sides together adding some final touches with the help of Ola, Neel and Mick. Sascha decided to re-do the the box for the buttons and covered it with Aluminum like paper. Later that day, we connected everything together: put the box over the TV and connected the cables to check if everything works.
Wednesday was for last minute adjustments and extras. Lama printed business cards for the team and rented the laptop that we were to use during the conference. Sascha decided to add some funny labels under and above some of the integrated parts on the front of the time machine. Halfway through the day, we started trying out the prototype on people from the DSS community and got good feedback! At 16:00, we started to pack and headed to NDSM in Noord where TNW was gonna take place to set up. We also got our name tags on the way.
Thursday, the first day of TNW, we met there straight at 9:00 and already, people were starting to come. The first person to try our prototype–to our luck–was the chief of the current police. He liked it and even wore the badge for the whole day! Eveline was with us for the first half of the day and was constantly encouraging us; on the second day, Illona joined as well and was very helpful. All throughout the day, we took turns standing beside the prototype to give people who would agree to take the survey a quick explanation of what our research is about and how we’re using the prototype in it. We also tried to look around and go to some of the talks and the workshops that were ongoing in parallel. We noticed that some people got a bit bored during the the streaming of the scenes in-between the questions and decided to add a skip button for those who wouldn’t want to spend the whole of the five minutes at the stand. Neel worked on adding this feature after the first day of the conference. All in all, it was a successful day!
The second day of the conference was even better than the first, now that we had the skipping feature, people were more okay to try it out. We rotated, taking turns standing with the prototype, explaining and giving people who finish the survey the pins afterwards. The conference was very well organized and set up; and it was nice to get feedback on the prototype and let people know about what we were currently doing at DSS. An experience that will be remembered for sure!
Week 11: The universe is testing us
Less than one week to go until the next web! We are starting to feel the heat, but nonetheless we are powering through. On Monday we all resumed our tasks from the week before, with Neel on the Unity coding, Ola editing like a true champ, Lama sketching on our time machine look and Sascha learning how to work the wiring for our buttons. One of our biggest challenges this week was to work with limited resources. Our workshop of the HvA was closed due to spring break, causing us extra sweat and anxiety. Luckily our coach reached out to a few other makers spaces around the city. Thanks to Kingsday, we also received a lot of old parts of electronics and can use it for our time machine look!
On Tuesday we had our translate session with Jacqueline, Ylona and Emma. We went over the script of our video and the questions that will be integrated via Unity. Our coach also sat us down to check with us whether we will make it to our deadline or not. He had his reservations, but we are confident and excited. In order to make the old television work that Lama found on the street, we ordered the necessary converters and cables and patiently waited for them to be delivered, only to be delayed twice and consequently delivered late. Yet another way of the universe testing our commitment and patience, if you ask me.
On Wednesday we set out to buy the cable in a shop instead of online and made the tv work! Sascha went to the makers space of the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam where she was helped using a tiny lasercutter to cut the frame for the buttons and wiring. She also created vinyl lettering and soldered everything into place. Lama and Sascha also prepared for lasercutting on Thursday by buying the necessary supplies at Gamma.
On Thursday Lama and Sascha set out to visit Waag, a design studio with open house every Thursday. Unfortunately for us, their house was not as open as we had hoped and they did not have any time or space available for us to use their lasercutter. Instead Lama and Sascha went to de Vlieger, a specialist paper supplies store and bought the necessary decorations. Ola and Neel in the meantime were still editting and coding like true heros. Lama and Sascha also designed and ordered pins to give out at the Next Web for people to remind our installation and to draw in a bigger audience.