It’s not often that you can bundle OpenSource, co-design, prototyping, art, sustainable living, and some Nintendo wii remotes into one project. That’s exactly what we ended up doing however in a recent collaboration with UNSW’s National Institute of Experimental Arts (NIEA) for the HotHouse Symposium at the Opera House.
With the concept behind HotHouse so in tune with our values (being sustainable citizens and as designers) we quickly found ourselves partnering with NIEA to create the Urban Sketch Lab— a digital sketching tool which attendees used to express ideas about re-designing urban space. Images of well-known sites around Sydney were projected onto a digital drawing table which could then be sketched over using an infra-red pen. The sketches were then uploaded to the event site and linked with the profiles of attendees so that people could continue to discuss and share their sketches.
Developing the concept
Creating the Sketch Lab from concept to completion was a collaborative process. In the early stages we brainstormed ideas with our designers and programmers, workshopped ideas with NIEA staff, artists and curators, and in the early stages, even brainstormed ideas with a visiting artist and computer science pHD candidate from Holland. Around the same time one of our developers had been testing out an open source program that allows you to use wii remotes to turn any surface into an interactive whiteboard. So we started to explore ideas using this technology and an open source programming language called Processing to develop the interface. These tools were used in our final version of the installation – further growing our already high appreciation and support for the open source community.
Prototyping
With a short timeline to design and develop the interface and build the table, we created a prototype using spare wood, parts of other tables, our bathroom mirror (!) and, amongst other strange things, a sheet of humble tracing paper. Our first infra-red pen was actually made using a glue stick. This large contraption attracted a lot of attention around the studio which also gave us a good opportunity to gather some early user feedback from fellow eskimos.
Setting up a simple prototype proved invaluable, not just from the lessons we learned on the user interface but it also proved incredibly useful when we began to collaborate with an industrial artist to build the physical table. Early on in the conception phase we were keen to work with Chris Fox a friend of the eskimos and exceptional sculptural artist. Chris immediately got what we were aiming to do with the Sketch Lab concept and took measurements and schematic information directly from the prototype. Most of the basic setup used for the prototype was maintained in the final version for the event (which utilised an old architects drawing table heavily customised for our purposes) even down to the use of tracing paper (between perspex screens) to create a surface that would reflect the projection.
User experience
The HotHouse launch event was the first time we could put the full setup together. We’d tested the software, the table, and pen prototypes, but due to the short timeline we were unable to test the final versions of each component altogether. This was a bit nerve-wracking but also a fascinating experience from a usability perspective. Observing how different people used the tool first hand gave us important user feedback. Many event attendees also had their own ideas about how the Sketch Lab could be improved or used in different contexts.
The installation generated a lot of interest online too from those unable to attend as we posted images on flickr. We’re pleased to say we are continuing to develop the Sketch Lab and the insights gained from this first-hand user feedback will be used to inform how we re-purpose it for the upcoming Web Directions conference in October.
Thanks to Chris Fox and the Digital Eskimo team that collaborated to bring this project together: Nathan McGinness, Scott Nolan, Ozan Onay, Jeremy Epstein, Duncan Underwood, and David Gravina.
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[...] before he relocated to Sydney to work with Digital Eskimo. He was there showing off his invention sketch lab. Good luck Nathan – it is a great [...]