For my latest freelance, I made three kinds of prototypes by using Arduino, and learned how to use a keypad(9pins, and 20 pins), and a slide switch with 4 options. Although it's just a one week project, it is very satisfying to see them all work.
Moreover, I've learned not only how to make the devices work, but also how to make the prototypes firm and secure, so it won't easily break during the user testing.
Melisha, my very best friend I met in Kansas, when I was in the exchange program in year 2003.
The first time I talked to her is because I wondered if she could help me on homework, but she not only helps me on study, but also gave me her priceless friendship.
I went to visited her this Spring in South Carolina , after I back to Taiwan, that was my first time saw her again after 5 years. She not just got married, but also have a lovely daughter and moved to South Carolina.
She was shopping at IKEA with her sister the day I arrived. They were about to be late to pick me up, her sister said to Melisha, Elim won't come out so fast, she will need to claim her backage. Melisha goes, Elim doesn't carry a backage for a three days trip!
When she sees me at the airport, she have me a huge hug as always. And she lifts me up that my feet are in the air, as always.
When we got her house, she took out a box, a box filled with my gifts and notes for her in Kanasa. There are cards I made, the notes I used to leave them on the top of a vending machine at school. And two very very long letters I wrote to her for our separation. One is in Chinese, another one is in English.
I am surprised to find out what a carring friend I was, but I'm more surprised to see Melisha keeps all those cards, notes, and letters over these years.
Even now, sometimes I'd receive text message from her goes "thinking of you." She made me feel I'm so loved. When I hang out with her, I feel like hang out with myself.
This is the spot we started to talk to each other.
It was during the Dumbo Arts Festival 2007, it was in Sep, it was still very hot that year in Sep. Aichen brought I-Hua and Hsiang Ju with her, Hsiang Ju had to leave early for her school work.
I remember when Aichen introduced us, I-Hua didn't smile or say anything, as well as during the whole walk in the festival. Why we started to each other was because Aichen was still checking out the exhibit when we all finished for a while, we were both waitting for Aichen to came out. That is the moment that you kind HAVE to talk. So we talked.
I can't remember how we started the topic, but I told her I was looking for a church, and she said why don't you come to my church with me this Sunday. I was thinking in my mind "this not-smiling-gilr goes to church ???" This is the only conversation I can remember we had that day. Maybe this was the only conversation we had that day.
I remember that following Sunday, I went to her church. On the subway, there was a girl sat down next to me, and it was I-Hua. What a coincidence.
We had this picture tooken after two years we met.
Dumbo Art Festival is an important exhibit for me personaly. It was the first exhibit I went when I came to NY, and I met one of my bset friends I-Hua there. So being able to show project there this year, means a lot to me.
Athough this project has been show many times, but they were all at in doors environment. Me and Meng we were happy about having the chance to install it at out door, to play around in different environment. Moreover, we get set up in a park, next to the realy benches, which makes this project more site specific.
This time I deliver my "time" as a gift to a friend.
She is a friend that I'm not really familiar "yet", she asked me one day, how can I be able to full of love. So I decided to tell her the answer I know on her birthday.
I wrote a Bible script "We love because he first loved us. " (我們愛、因為神先愛我們）inside of the box. And made the box and wriped it in the subway. I carried the box with me for the whole day. Evan when I tranport my bench project from China town to Brooklyn with a friend, I still carried it. Even when I went to a friend's opening, I carried it.
Becaure we are not very close friends, so during the time I carried the box, I feel I force myself to put this friend onto my heart. I have to remind myself, do not forget the box. Even though it is annoying sometimes that I have to always spare a hand to carry it. But this period of time I was thinking about this friend a lot, and this is the gift I gave to her, my time.
And of course the bible script that wrote in the box. It is the answer of her question "how to be able to full of love." I hope because of weight of box and my time, will make this very short bible script more unforgetable for this friend.
I got this ticket from a 60's arcade museum(電動玩具店）. After you play the shooting game, this ticket will come out from the machine shows your shooting record. I really like this ticket. Not just because it's very old school style, also because there is some physical things you get to keep after playing the game.
So I thought about keep some of these tickets I can give to my friends as a gift. But I keep forgetting to carry them with me when I meet my friends, because the ticket has no weights. In order to not to forget, I put the ticket in a book.
Then I thought, how should I give this ticket to my friend, maybe she will put it in her book as well as a bookmarker, or maybe she will just put it in her parket then forget about it. Because the ticket has no weights. How can I make sure she gets the point that what matter is not this piece of paper, what matter is the moment I thought about her when the ticket came out from the machine.
I decided to make this very light piece of paper become very difficult to ignore. I put it into a big white box, and wrap it with blue ribbon. I had some hard time to make the blue ribbon stay on the box. Also when I carried the big box, I have to spare a hand to carry it, which makes my journey to meet my friend a little bit harder.
But I was very happy. When I pick the box at the store, when I wrap the box with the ribbon. Even when I carried it with me. I'm exciting to see my friend's expressions.
The gift is also become more unforgetable because when she receives it, she has to think how to bring it home, where to put the box etc. She is forced to spend some time on it.
Then we both spent some time on it. Now this ticket is more than an object, it is an object that carries the times from two people. This ticket has weights now.
Your Word I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you, I might not far away, Oh Lord, come near to me, I love Your voice, Be the lamp to my feet and the light for my path.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but your word endures for ever, Heaven and earth will be perished, but your word is everlasting.
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you, I might not far away, Oh Lord, come near to me, I love Your voice, Be the lamp to my feet and the light for my path.
Paint my room is one of the things I always wanna do since I was a kid. Finally, I make it happened after I finish my master degree, before I turn to 28 years old. I'm very happy!
For Industrial Design class, we need to make a light switch.
My idea is to make a coat rack that when you put your clothes on, will turn on the light. When you take the clothes off, will turn off the light. The clothes that hangs on there becomes the cover for the light bulb. So when you come home, you can just put the coat on the rack and turn on the light. When you leave the home, just take off the coat from the rack to turn off the light.
To do that, I put a relay switch in between the light bulb circuit. When hang on the clothes, turns on the relay switch, complete the circuit, turns on the light.
The form is really simple just like a tree stick with three branches. The stick can stand everywhere because of the design of the foot and branches.
I thought the hardest part is to make the construction of the wood frame, but it turns out to put the clothes and the small buttons for setting up time took me most of the time. I can spent 10 hours just to figure out how to on the green cover nicely. It's really a pain and requirs way more thinkings and buildings than I thought.
This is the alarm that is going to be put into the big wood body.
I changed it's interface, so what it would work become: - small hug: turn on the snooze / the alarm stops but will goes on again in 9 mins. - big hug: turn off the alarm / the alarm won't go on again. - big hug: turn on the alarm
So to set up the alarm, you give it a big hug. To turn it off, you give it another big hug. To turn on the snooze function, give it a small hug is fine.
The progress of today was making a perfect hole in the front of the alarm for the LED to show time. I learned a new way of making it and how to sand it with perfect straight as well from Paul, the guy who works in the woodshop.
And to make the alarm hugable, I took Taylor's advice to use springs. It's better for the mechanism, how to turn on or off the switch, as well as make people the alarm is hugging back when they hug it.
The most time and energy consuming part is to curve the edges of these two big pieces of wood, due to the limited of our woodshop. Thank God I found another woodshop in out building, it for another department. Paul, the guy who works there lets me borrow his cool tools and woodshop, saves me lots of time, and gets pretty curves done as well as strong arms.
To stop the alarm, the owner has to hug it. In order to be able to hug the alarm, I making the alarm into a real person size. And I making the curves of the edges to make the alarm cuter or more needy, which is killing my arms!
I reverse the interaction with the speakerbecause of this picture.
When I went to visit my friend Melisha, I sat with her little daughter Lyedia at back of the car. Everytime Lyedia cries, she only calms down when Melisha holds her little hands.
To apply to the speaker, it will loud it's voice to get the owner's attention. When the owner hears the loud voice and comes to pet it, will calm the needy speaker down.
Document the projects and life and thoughts in NYU ITP.
about me
I am an interaction designer, a product artist.
Studyed Religious Study and Applied Art. Have a master degree from NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program.
I am interested in relationships and human behaviors. I'm addicted to making things that surprise people and make them smile and possibly make the world to a more friendly one.
"How do people feel" is an important question to me.
Keypad with Arduino 
Slide Switch with 4 options
Slidw switch with Arduino
The finish digital piggy bank box
A coin counter that you can find on ebay
Hack the coin counter
The Xbee connects with the computer (by using XBee Explorer USB)
Another Xbee connects with Arduino on breadboard
By using the Xbees, the coin counter can send data(how much money we put in) to computer, wireless.
RGB LED matrix
Connects one RGB LED matrix to the coin counter and arduino
Four RGB LED matrixes
Arduino Bluetooth
Put everything into the wood box
I got this ticket from a 60's arcade museum(電動玩具店）. After you play the shooting game, this ticket will come out from the machine shows your shooting record. I really like this ticket. Not just because it's very old school style, also because there is some physical things you get to keep after playing the game.
Paint my room is one of the things I always wanna do since I was a kid. 
The most time and energy consuming part is to curve the edges of these two big pieces of wood, due to the limited of our woodshop. Thank God I found another woodshop in out building, it for another department. Paul, the guy who works there lets me borrow his cool tools and woodshop, saves me lots of time, and gets pretty curves done as well as strong arms.
To stop the alarm, the owner has to hug it. In order to be able to hug the alarm, I making the alarm into a real person size. And I making the curves of the edges to make the alarm cuter or more needy, which is killing my arms!
