Due: Monday October 29, 6:30pm before class. No late work.

Submit to: Groups submit one post to RSMA 2018: Project 03 and each student submits a link to that post on Canvas Project 03, along with a few sentences describing their role and contributions in the group project.

Introduction

Facilities Management Services (FMS) at Carnegie Mellon University has released an RFP for an artful, peripheral way to communicate current energy usage to the campus community. The goal of the project is based on the idea that if community members are aware of their power usage, especially during high-load seasons (summer, finals, etc), they will be more concious of their decisions to conserve energy.

The FMS RFP states that they would like a single design that can be mounted anywhere on campus to display the specific energy usage for that building/floor/wing. Design teams should prototype a single unit of this design, keeping in mind that the unit must be mountable for a large range of locations (hallways, computer labs, outside, lounges).

Design Requirements

• Create a prototype for a single peripheral display unit that can communicate energy usage.
• The goal of the prototype is to encourage the campus community to be mindful of their energy choices. This may mean displaying real-time energy usage, or showing a history of energy usage compared to current.
• Design and fabricate the prototype using any of the display technologies we’ve covered thus far in class (or new techniques that interest you).
• Integrate real API data (if available) to drive the display.

Design Points

• Peripherality - How much attention does this display require to be legible? How obtrusive is it? Can people ignore if it they want to? Should it be “ignorable”?
• Legibility - How much information does this present and can anyone understand it? How much context is needed for viewers to “read” the display?
• Dimensionality - How many components of the animation need to be changing to remain legible? How many different types of data are you trying to communicate? How much is too much?

Deliverables

Groups must create a working model of their design. The model can be of low fidelity (cardboard, basic shapes), but must communicate their concept. Groups must then create a gallery post containing the following:

• A basic video of the functioning model mounted to a structure on campus. Video must be take using a tripod and include people.
• Low-fidelity sketch/rendering of your project composited into two different locations on campus.
• Written explanation of the work. This is not a technical writeup.
• Photographs of the model with either:
  • A: A black backdrop
  • B: composited into a photograph of a sample site on campus.