Overview
A Seed Story is a tangible interactive storybook where children interact with elements in the book to plant a seed. It is a continued effort to explore interfaces that nurture empathy to nature in children.
We took inspiration from children’s stories and based our interactive components on what we felt were the most iconic parts of gardening in real life.
Class Digital Arts and Experimental Media
Technology E-Textiles and Arduino Lilypad
Time and Team December 2019 with Savanna Yee
1. Planting a seed
Interaction
Take out the seed, put it on the soil, and pat pat
Interaction
Give the seed some sunshine by pressing the sun
Interaction
Give the seed some rain by squeezing the cloud
Feedback
LED starts to glow when you pat
Materials
Copper Polyester Taffeta, LED, felt, conductive threads
Feedback
LED turned on when pressed, off when pressed again
Materials
Velostat, conductive fabric, LED, felt, conductive threads
Feedback
LED under the cloud flashed when the cloud was squeezed
Materials
Conductive wool, stuffing, LED, felt, conductive threads
This set of interactions explored the design of low-level and intuitive interactions with objects that we couldn’t reach in reality (the sun and cloud). When putting the seed on the soil, we humanized the seed as a baby and designed the “pat-pat” action to develop affection.
For the sun and cloud, which we can’t interact with directly, we chose only one of their most significant features to interact with. Providing sunshine can be perceived as lighting, so we “turn on” the sun by pressing it like a lightbulb button. The cloud is similar to fluffy cotton, so raining can be compared to squeezing water out of wet cotton.
2. Watching it grow
Interaction
Tree growing
Feedback
Tree gets pulled upwards at random speeds and falls back down
Materials
Servo motor, felt, conductive threads
Interaction
Pest control by pressing the button on the sprayer
Feedback
The pest color will fade away
Materials
Thermochromic pigments, conductive fabric, felt, stainless steel threads
In this section, children will watch the tree grow and protect the baby tree from any pests. Sometimes it takes long to pull the tree upwards, and children need to wait patiently because we can’t make nature go any faster. At the same time, children need to protect the baby tree from any pests by pressing the sprayer, and then the pest color will fade away.
I chose thermochromic pigments because the colors can fade away and come back repetitively, and similarly pests come back over and over again during the tree growth.
3. Picking its fruits
Interaction
Ripe fruits vibrate
Feedback
Feel the vibration when touching the ripe fruits and take them off
Materials
Felt, stuffing, mini vibrators, conductive velcro
Interaction
Feed the bird with a fruit
Feedback
Wing will wave up and down when the bird’s mouth closes
Materials
Servo motor, metal hook, felt, stuffing
Finally, the baby seed has transformed into a tree with fruits. The ripe ones are dark red and when you touch them, you can feel the vibration as if they were living lives. This detail amazed several visitors and they even came back from the exit only to touch the vibrating fruits again before they left.
To make the whole process a cycle, participants can also feed the bird with a fruit. The bird flies with the fruit and the cycle will start over again!
Final Thoughts
I was curious to see how humans would react to a more immersive environment and wanted to explore how tangible interactions might shape our perception of the world, and I believe that we can experience and connect with the world better if we utilize all the human perceptions. I’m eager to continue my study of diverse and natural human-technology interaction.
Github Repo: https://github.com/willayang21/ASeedStory