{"id":295,"date":"2026-04-18T18:36:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/?p=295"},"modified":"2026-04-29T15:21:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T15:21:21","slug":"week-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/week-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 13 – Soft Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Focus of the week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Preparing for Softs<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Finalized seed packet design<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Added visual cues<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Updated pamphlet<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Improved digging interaction <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Completed dyeing and installing flowers on the arch<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Alimni Project Showcase<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    This week focused on improving clarity in both visual design and interaction guidance, while continuing to refine physical components of the installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We finalized the design of the seed packets. Initially, we experimented with editing real flower images, but ultimately decided to shift toward a more stylized approach by illustrating the flowers. This better aligns with our overall visual direction. To improve readability, we added large, clear flower names on each packet. We also referenced the book The Complete Language of Flowers to incorporate symbolic meanings as part of the packet design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    A key focus this week was improving interaction clarity. We introduced explicit visual cues such as \u201ctap to grow\u201d on the seed packets, a large \u201ctap\u201d indicator on the back, and \u201ctap here\u201d labels on the flower boxes. These elements act as indirect guidance, helping guests understand that they need to tap the RFID seed packet onto the boxes to plant their flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    We also continued refining the pamphlet content. In this iteration, we added an explanation of the butterfly moment, highlighting it as a representation of joy within the long and challenging journey of caregiving. This addition reinforces a sense of hope and emotional balance in the overall experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    The final layout of the garden was implemented so that there were a variety of plants scattered in the background as well as rocks, fences, and the dirt beds were lined with bricks. This really filled out the space to feel more alive. We would have wanted to add more but at this point, the program was becoming sluggish and we would have had to spend a significant amount of time trying to optimize more instead of implement, so the far distance was mostly left unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    We laid out the garden in a purposeful manner to really blend the digital and physical elements together inside the CAVERN space. The space allowed us to bring the narrative elements that caring for someone is often a physical experience. Might not be heavy lifting but more constant back and forth to make sure everything is ok. Much like in a garden where everyday you return to take care of the same land. If we didn\u2019t have guests moving through a space and only pressing buttons, they lose the active and sometimes challenging aspects of caregiving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creating a Patio layout in a manicured garden brings the feel of the garden but not the need to walk through it. Subconsciously guests will feel like they are in a garden without feeling like they are contained within a small area of it. Then purposefully placing the interactive elements to the foreground keeps players engaged without losing the outside atmosphere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Bring the foreground out in the flower box design but include digital versions of it to continue into the screen. Digital flowers grow there but the boxes remain interactable in the physical space. These boxes also create landmarks in the physical environment to interact with that makes changes in the digital world around them<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the hardware side, we encountered an issue with the accelerometer used for the digging interaction. Since it was bolted onto the box directly, the entire box needed to shake in order for the weeding to register, and the current interaction with the claw wasn’t physically strong enough to reliably shake the box everytime. To address this, we 3D printed triangular pieces and attached them beneath the diggable surface. These pieces create additional vibration when the claw makes contact, allowing the accelerometer to more reliably detect the interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    We completed dyeing all the foam flowers and installed them onto the entrance arch, bringing the physical environment closer to its final visual form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    We also implemented a temporary solution for the scent design. Since we were not able to reposition the scent machine off the floor in time, we applied small amounts of floral scent directly onto the entrance arch. This made the smell immediately noticeable as guests walked into the experience, creating a more impactful first impression. While this approach required occasional reapplication and did not allow us to switch between different scents, it proved to be an effective way to enhance immersion within our time constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The picture below shows where the scent machine is placed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    On Wednesday, we held a soft opening where several faculty members came in to playtest the experience. This session revealed some unexpected issues in our design. In one case, a pair of faculty members each selected their own seed packet before entering the CAVERN. After planting, they focused only on the flowers they had individually chosen, even referring to them as \u201cyour flower box\u201d rather than treating the garden as a shared space. This behavior went against our intention of encouraging collaborative care. To address this, we decided to limit each group to a single shared seed packet, reinforcing the idea that the garden(and the act of caregiving)is a collective responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We also identified a technical issue with the dialogue system. Some lines of narration were being overwritten by subsequent triggers, causing audio cues to be cut off and important guidance to be missed. Our programming team is currently working on a fix to ensure that new dialogue will not trigger until the previous line has finished playing, improving clarity and continuity within the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On Friday, we took part in hosting the ETC alumni showcase, where many ETC alumni came to experience current student projects. We were encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive feedback. In particular, many visitors responded strongly to the design of the garden experience and its visual aesthetic, which was rewarding to hear after weeks of iteration and refinement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    During the showcase, we noticed that confusion around tool usage was still an issue. In particular, many guests instinctively picked up the pruning scissors when trying to deal with weeds. To address this quickly, we created a simple visual tag for the weeding tool that read \u201cno weed,\u201d as shown in the image. This small intervention had an immediate impact. Guests began to better distinguish between tools, and we observed moments where participants would actively remind each other, saying things like, \u201cYou should use this, it says no weed,\u201d when someone reached for the wrong tool. This quick iteration highlighted how even simple, low-cost design changes can significantly improve clarity and collaboration within the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This week focused on improving clarity in both visual design and interaction guidance, while continuing to refine physical components of the installation. We finalized the design of the seed packets. Initially, we experimented with editing real flower images, but ultimately decided to shift toward a more stylized approach by illustrating the flowers. This better aligns…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"week-4","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/remnants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}