We had a number donations roll in this week with more on the way! We have 6 confirmed physical donations and 25 on the donation form.
Early this week, Jessica Hammer visited our project room and gave us advice about playtesting and asking the right questions. The team also made trips to Ikea and Home Depot to start testing our ideas for the design and fabrication of pedestals and shelves for the exhibit. Using a basic Ikea shelf and some lumber from Home Depot, we fabricated a makeshift crate that could function as a display pedestal for several objects.
We also continued to iterate on the prototypes leading up to playtesting in the coming weeks. The typewriter prototype is undergoing design changes and we also ordered a new typewriter and the conversion kit and hope to build the mechanical interface in the nest couple of weeks. We made a trip to the CMU Drama department’s prop warehouse where we found a bunch of crates and objects that we could use to augment our industrial theme. We also visited construction junction where we could possibly get reusable crates and pallets. We only managed to come away with a few giveaways but will possibly revisit later.
Later in the week, Dave Purta helped us wire and setup the surround system in the room next to ours to start testing our soundscapes. He also gave us some more insight on how we can go about setting up the system in the museum space itself. Additionally, thanks to Jon and Drew, we got our request for 9 iPads approved! We hope to have them by early next week. Meanwhile, Jane’s class has started working on plans to publish a book chronicling the planning for the museum. Shaune and Josh from the class visited our project room to take some pictures and interview the team earlier in the week.
We have started prepping for our first playtest of the misty window prototype next week. We started building a temporary foam shelf to house the nine iPads and discussed the possible interactions that could go into the prototype. In the coming weeks, we will be focusing on playtesting and iterating on the pedestal designs in terms of color and texture and prepping for halves. Sarabeth and Winnie will be at the SATE conference in New York next week. We will also be getting in touch with the gallery for a follow up visit.