Persistence of Vision Display

Our final major project for the Multimedia Design Program was the Persistence of Vision Display. Under the banner of Information Systems, we were given free reign to create an 'Information System'.

My group partner and I created the Persistence of Vision Display, a one a half meter wide LED display which streams live information off the Internet via a bluetooth connection. Using the phenomenon of Persistence of Vision (POV), our display uses only 7 LED bulbs to replicate a 1000+ bulb array.

The POV Display is designed to be installed in a public or centralised location, where data can be fed to it, informing a large group of people. Our system uses a computer to pull down Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds from the Internet, and transmit them via bluetooth to our programmer board, the Arduino. The variant of the board we used was the Arduino Bluetooth, which was designed to have its primary programming updated via a bluethooth link. We were able to use the bluetooth link as a serial connection, allowing data to be passed to it via a bridging program written in Flash.

We chose POV as a display medium as it easily impresses and intrigues people. In terms of size, few persistence of vision devices operate anywhere near the intended size of our build, as they are not typically used as large displays.

As the POV display uses RSS feeds pulled from the Internet, its primary information is always up to date. The display will automatically update the displayed text as often as the RSS feed is updated. This automation combined with the wealth of data available in RSS feeds from the Internet gives the POV Display a huge advantage over traditional signage methods.

Key concepts studied during the Project were:

Project Design: We were given the very open ended task of creating an Information System. The extent of our guidance by our lecturers was 'Create what you believe an Information System is'. After many brainstorming sessions we broke down the 'Information System' concept down to its core elements and built our design from those elements upwards.

Project Management: Our time frame for this project was one semester from start to finish. We had to allocate time for the design process, physical build, coding, troubleshooting and be on time and finished for a public presentation.

Interaction Design: Studying how users interact with signage and information systems and displays was integral to the success of our project.

SWOT Analysis: A strategic planning method used to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in a project. Planning such a colossal project was assisted invaluably by the SWOT Analysis model, allowing us to analyse foreseeable problems and access our strengths.

S.M.A.R.T: The process of setting Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely goals for a project. Setting goals to the SMART system helped us greatly as each tier of the system allowed us to evaluate our goals more thoroughly and assist us in being more efficient.

Goal Oriented Success Criteria: Setting ourselves Success Criteria for our project, linked to specific goals that we had to achieve. We based these Success Criteria off of goals gleaned from our S.M.A.R.T analysis. These Criteria helped is judge the successfulness of our project.

System Design: Designing the Information System allowed us to study Systems in general, analysing what components were needed and how they needed to interact.

Human Computer Interaction, Social and Mobile Computing, Physical Design and Structural Design also played pivotal roles in our project.

Below are some photos from our public demonstration:

The POV Display on presentation. Console on display to the lower left, where users can select RSS feed and enter their own messages.

Occupational health and safety shield visible, also evident is that the display is not present, as the arm has not swung into view.

Myself and James in front of display. Display is currently displaying "I want to be human", a user-input message from the console.

The Reactive Ball

Tasked to us was to create a functional prototype of physical computing, we created a physical computing masterpiece, The Reactive Ball.

The ball was created from an initial concept to make sporting equipment more reactive and to stir greater interest in physical interaction in the younger generations.

Using a open-source programming board called the Arduino, we programmed and designed a hot potato style game to fulfil our success criteria of a functional prototype of physical computing.

Key concepts studied during the Project were:

Project Design: We were given the very open ended task of creating a functional prototype of Physical Computing. Through brainstorming sessions we were able to take our basic concepts and develop them into a working prototype.

Project Management: Our time frame for this project was one semester from start to finish. We had to manage our time efficiently so that we allowed ourselves enough time for the design process whilst not cutting into time reserved for troubleshooting and the physical build.

Interaction Design: We had to study how users would interact with the Reactive Ball, and base design aspects off our findings.

SWOT Analysis: A strategic planning method used to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in a project. As this was a group assignment, the SWOT analysis was invaluable in locating strengths and weaknesses in team members, as to task the right assignments to the right team members.

S.M.A.R.T: The process of setting Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely goals for a project.

Concepts such as Human Computer Interaction and Social and Mobile Computing also played pivotal roles in shaping our design process.

Below are some photographs taken at our group's public demonstration of the Reactive Ball.

Players wear colour coded headbands to distinguish which user the ball needs to be passed to.

Users interacting with the ball.

Notice the colour change as the ball is caught.