Kicking off a new project semester at the Entertainment Technology Center! We are the ByteMX team, named after BMX biking, with Byte for the digital technology we will be creating. The team is comprised of five graduate students with diverse backgrounds and skillsets, brought together by an interest in creative technology, fabrication, and education. Our project instructors are Scott Stevens and Ruth Comley, whose experience and guidance will help us achieve a successful semester.
This project comes to the ETC through our clients, the Ruach Bicycle Club. Founded by Mike and Markisha White over five years ago, the club aims to foster an interest in STEM in children in middle and high school who come from underprivileged communities. Using BMX and mountain biking as a platform, their classes tie engaging physical activities to concepts in science, math, and engineering, and they also encourage the kids to be involved in the community.
Their collaboration with the ETC will advance their upcoming educational programming related to designing a pump track in a community park that the club is developing. The club already has some 3D-printed pieces that can be used to create modular tracks, and our project task is to create an interactive digital experience that will let the students test out their designs, encouraging them to iterate and optimize based on how it feels to ride on. In addition to building just the bike track, this tool will also help them design the entire community space, with amenities that can be enjoyed by a variety of community members.
None of us on the team had any experience with riding on a pump track coming in, so the first thing we had to learn about was what a pump track even is! A pump track is composed of sequences of pieces like sines, ramps, tables, and berms (large, angled pieces used for turning 90 or 180 degrees in the track). To ride a pump track, rather than pedaling like in street cycling, riders use a technique called pumping, which involves pushing and pulling the handlebars and shifting their body weight in a rhythm with the bumps in the track. This technique maintains speed and momentum and is a fundamental skill in bike sports.
We also spent this week researching the many directions that our project could take, as well as the many possible components involved. Our clients gave us the flexibility to define what the project should be, so we wanted to explore all of our options before making a decision. We thought about different possible tech platforms and their capabilities, from virtual reality headsets, to games built for exercise equipment like stationary bikes, to mobile devices/touch screens, to custom alternate controllers.
We created a composition box with our inspirations, as well as information about the type of experience we hope to achieve and the needs of all parties involved in this project. We received feedback from our peers regarding what features would be engaging and interesting to them in this topic area.
Going into next week, we will continue researching and solidifying our project direction, so that we can be as informed as possible when pitching to our clients and getting ready for quarters.
