aram’s blog

I was paired with Charles to read each other’s context&work plan paper and discuss about them. Due to delayed process much behind the class flow, I had to show him my abstract and personal statement only. Although my current concept about building an iPhone application to help people to be aware of the ’stuff’ that they have, furthermore to educate them how to deal with, to make a good decision is about to be banned, I did get several valuable feedback from Charles, especially about ‘narrowing down targeted user’.  Knowing that my concept presentation was too vague for everyone in the class, I appreciated Charles’ accurate analysis.

In short, Charles wondered :

1. Is graphic interface of the application going to ‘reflect’ real space that a user lives by?
2. How do I define ‘user’? Does ‘user’ mean someone who is (exactly) like ‘me - Aram’ ?

I think second question is more important, and I need be clear about it immediately otherwise the whole direction of my thesis could be too wide and hazy. Dave also asked similar question about the targeted users whether they’d be ‘hoarders’ or ’shopaholic’.

You’re looking through your closet and come to realize that the bulk of your clothes either don’t fit, are embarrassingly outdated, or are just too many. It’s time to weed out the unnecessary elements of your wardrobe. But you don’t feel right about just tossing those in the garbage, now you are mentally stuck in between two decisions: simply throwing them out or sell them.

eBay would be one option if you want to make profit out of pre-worn clothes, but it requires several steps which could be cumbersome and even painful, moreover, it takes ‘time’ that is equal to money. ‘craigslist’ is also commonly known method to deal with ’stuff’ you don’t want to keep any more. Normally it doesn’t charge you listing fees and has more ‘immediacy’ nature when selling locally, however, like eBay does, craigslist also requires

*I’m about two weeks behind in class schedule, therefore following work plans may not fit perfectly in class syllabus.

Week 3:

• Set-up thesis blog entry, revise week 1 & 2 documents
• Finish-up brainstorming, narrow down to ’specific’ idea
• Keep researching related works, gathering info, visuals and etc.

Week 4:

• Revising a new thesis idea - Hani-xerciser
• Abstract, personal statement
• Context (in process)
• Diagram
• Work Plan

Week 5:

• Check out IP camera from ER (Rob)
• Mount IP camera at house (ceiling or desired spot) and TEST it
• Install networking software(from camera manufacturer) and TEST
• List-up the physical computing parts
• Begin scratching php code (improvising from ver 1)
• Begin scratching web page (improvising from ver 1)
• Begin user observation (bet 12pm - 2pm when Post man arrives)

Week 6:

• Begin scratching iPhone app interface (video viewer + control panel)
• Begin working on physical interface
• Ordering/buying physical computing parts
• Developing both code and interfaces

Week 7:

• Test prototype
• List-up the errors
• User testing with the cat

Week 8:

Week 9:

Week 10:

Week 11:

Week 12:

Week 13:

Week 14:

Every day I open the closet, choose what to wear, and close it.  This space, ‘closet’ requires my interaction in a very similar way of dealing with ‘folder’ in computer operating system, metaphorically.
Like any folder can include sub-categories underneath it,  the spaces in the closet are separated by smaller piece of space where items are organized and categorized.  They are gradually filled by clothes, fashion items, and some other things, although not as fast as files in the folder, therefore need to be ‘emptied’ when over-filled.
Noticeable difference is that in digital world, there are ‘signs’ that tell you when to empty the trash bin, however, in analog world, we can simply ignore the closet door that won’t close.   This will not be the case if a user can dispose no-longer-needed clothes routinely,  people who can throw things out may need a help to be aware of clutter.
Advertisement of new storage option does not make sense to me, nor save my mind any effort - in fact, it may produce a greater tax than throwing things out.
In this thesis I question what real solution is to live with ‘reasonable’ amount of belongings in our every day lives, focusing on people’s closet and develop a way to stay alerted at any time (immediacy), anywhere (location).

Virtual closet is an interactive tool for people to organize an ‘imaginary’ closet space where users can add or remove things.  By exploring Virtual closet, users can measure how efficiently they have been using physical space, as well as learn how-to plan buying, organizing and throwing things out when needed.
This project aims to educate people who believe they are ‘hoarding’ or buying things impulsively often, resulting insufficient space in their house.
The interface consists of both physical device and screen-based graphic. Multiple storage bins with RFID reader attached and tagging device which can embed RFID inside represent physical form. On a graphic interface, users should be able to track what kind of items are stored in each bin, as well as ‘traffic’ of in & out of closet contents.
Later on, Virtual closet can also include more portable, mobile version of graphic interface which can be an iPhone application because of the importance of ‘immediacy’ for users to acquire the ‘data’ when they need.  For example, taking pictures of things in closet could be easily done by mobile phone’s embedded camera, rather than using typical digital camera and usb cable combination.
In this thesis, I develop a way to maintain a good perspective for people who seriously takes their real-life frustration, that is a ever-growing unnecessary belongings more than the actual needs.