{"id":117,"date":"2022-09-20T15:57:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T15:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/?page_id=117"},"modified":"2022-09-20T15:58:37","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T15:58:37","slug":"week-2-september-12-2022","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/week-2-september-12-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 2 – September 12, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exploring the Who? What? And Why?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exploring SMALLab <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second week started off with exploring the SMALLab technology – that includes a foam mat and 3 motion capture \u2018wands\u2019 that can track a person’s movement on the mat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Illustration by our Visual Artist and UX Designer – Yifan Shan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After booting up a few past projects that had been built on this platform, we started thinking of interesting and fun interactions we could try and play around with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We quickly discovered a few game design constraints moving forward – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Low resolution of the projector on the mat<\/li>
  2. Shadows of the players on the mat<\/li>
  3. Availability of 3 wands (not a strict limitation) <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Our team testing out games on SMALLab technology<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    We would have to keep these factors in mind while brainstorming ideas in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A few interesting interactions we shortlisted from this experience are – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Free Canvas painting motion<\/li>
    2. Side-to-side sliding <\/li>
    3. Two-player spring co-op motion<\/li>
    4. Grab and drop <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n

      Meeting with the therapists of the CHILL project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Having had a brief introductory meeting with the clients in the week before, we were geared up to meet the therapists of the Allegheny Health Network – CHILL project. They are also the therapists who interact with the students on a day-to-day basis, and hence know our \u201creal\u201d clients, i.e. high school and middle school students, the best. A few features discussed stood out to us as inspiration for possible experiences –  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      On interacting with the therapists, we learnt that the CHILL project had 3 tiers to dealing with students problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      The highlight of their project in Northgate school is the Chill room – a room decorated with warm lights, games, paintings, and an overall environment of calm and peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"
      The Chill Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Students come there when they feel highly stressed, anxious, or even just to talk or take a nap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"
      A few highlights of the Chill room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      They are usually encouraged to identify their feelings on a \u2018feelings\u2019 thermometer before entering either the CHILL room, or their therapist’s room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"
      An example of a feelings thermometer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      This helps them identify their own feelings and also informs the therapist of their emotions. They have also noticed that there are a lot of students that struggle to self-identify their emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Demographic is very diverse<\/span>
        1. This includes language, race, family income, etc. <\/li><\/ol><\/li>
        2. Issues observed by therapists<\/span> 
          1. Peer conflict<\/li>
          2. Managing stress and anxiety<\/li>
          3. Problem solving <\/li>
          4. Insecurities <\/li><\/ol><\/li>
          5. Things to generally avoid <\/span>
            1. Trauma and grief<\/li><\/ol><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
              \n\n\n\n

              Putting together our Composition box<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Having not met our target demographic – our students – yet, we put together our composition box from the content we discovered through meetings with the therapists and clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              While making our composition box, we began drawing inspiration from other existing games and experiences. Immersive exhibitions and collaborative party games were our primary starting points for brainstorming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
              \n\n\n\n

              Production and Art – introducing our logo!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Our team\u2019s UX designer – Yifan – designed multiple options for the logo of our project. After presenting it within the team and to our project advisors, we found a favorite! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

              We loved the friendliness with which the logo represented our aim to address serious topics by building fun and playful experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Gearing up for next week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              1. Preparing for school visit and meeting the students 
                1. Activities and interview questions<\/li><\/ol><\/li>
                2. Quarters – preparation and presentation<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Exploring the Who? What? And Why? Exploring SMALLab  The second week started off with exploring the SMALLab technology – that includes a foam mat and 3 motion capture \u2018wands\u2019 that can track a person’s movement on the mat.  After booting up a few past projects that had been built on this platform, we started thinking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117\/revisions\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/smallab-flare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}