Orlando Trip #2: Repairs

Today Brendan, Rich, and Evan flew down early to Orlando to make repairs on the Purple Kiosk / Haptipotomus / Hipo and the Big Surprise. These repairs have been a long time in waiting. It seems odd that a group of students should be working on a support role for past projects, but frankly, we wanted to do it. GKTW can use all the help it can get, and when it comes to technical maintenance, they are in dire straights indeed. Also, the ETC offers no repair plan or anything like that on our work (again, we are students), but for a client like GKTW, we want to keep everything running.

So on to the day. After an uneventful flight and a quick stop at a Waffle House, we got to work. We simultaneously worked on the Hippo and the theater effects. It turned out that the Hippo's power supply was indeed fried. We swapped it out with the new one Electric Owl gave us, along with a new hard drive and DVD drive. The system booted and worked on the first try! With the live Linux distribution it took a while to boot, but once the system was up, it was astoundingly stable. There was one problem though, the X axis on the touch screen was swapped, so hitting the top left corner of the screen registered a hit on the top left. Luckily, it was a simple 2 variable switch in the code that Phil from Electric Owl was able to identify. We made the switch locally, and Phil was able to get a new disk to the rest of our team who was leaving Pittsburgh later that night. With that and some touch up paint, the Hippo was up and running!

Now for the Big Surprise. The first thing that we learned is that DOCUMENTATION IS IMPORTANT! It turns out that there was no documentation of what device/light corresponded to what DMX channel in the theater. We spent half of our time troubleshooting each hardware device, and the rest of the time trying to figure our what DMX channel each dimmer should be set to, and then what channel each device was. It was a lot of running the show, testing, plugging it in somewhere else, and trying again. We brought a label maker with us, so hopefully it will be easier to set up again.

What happened to the Theater was two fold. First, at some point over the summer, Disney was nice enough to donate and install a whole suite of new lights. The problem was to do that, they had to take the whole effect system down, and then re-assemble it. Needless to say, they didn't put it back together correctly again. The second problem was the electrical system in the theater. A lot of the outlets that were in use had been moved to a secondary DMX control system, and were not 'on' like they were before, so many of the effects were not getting power when they should have been.

We got to play on Scissor lifts, and got the whole system up and running after about 5 hours. A bonus was that once the system was working again, we learned that there was an audience interaction bubble-bouncing game that we didn't even know existed! Sweet.

The rest of out team gets in around midnight, and tomorrow we are off to SATE!

Cruise!

This weekend the ETC sent us on a cruise. Why? Well, for academic purposes, of course!!! A cruise is a great way of finding out different ways that technology is utilized on a cruise ship for entertainment purposes. And we get to be the recipients of all that technology and entertainment!

Now that rationalizing the cruise is out of the way, let me tell you how it went. We went with everybody else from our class who isn't on co-op, and we left at 5 AM in order to get to New York City and get on the boat. We all pretty much slept there on the way there so we'd be ready to party when we got on the boat. When we got on the boat, we hung out a lot. We watched the boat set sail from NYC and got to see some of the sights before setting off into the ocean. We also hung out at the casino for a little while. Rob won $25, and Evan won some cash and casino dice keychains!

And what night would be complete without karaoke? There's nothing better than getting up in front of an audience and singing to your heart's content. Especially when there's 30 of you.

The next day we arrived back at port and then we got to spend part of the day in New York City. We got to see the sites, especially the most important site of all: the Nintendo World Store! Yes, we're all nerds, can't you tell?

We reboarded the bus and then headed back home. We got back around 11 PM, and we were all exhausted. We had spent more time on a boat and on a bus than on land over the past two days, and it had shown. We're glad to be back but we don't even get any time to rest! We get back on a plane tomorrow! When will this whirlwind end?

GKTW Repairs

We've heard back from GKTW on what exactly needs to be fixed. Apparently the Star Fairy has been fixed, so that's one less thing for us to worry about.

We've contacted Electric Owl Studios about the problems with the Project ER kiosk. They think it's a power supply issue so they've giving us a new one to take down. We're also going to touch up the paint since it got scratched in a few places.

The Big Surprise still needs to have its mist effects fixed, as well as a couple of other small fixes.

Rich, Brendan, & Evan are leaving Monday morning to go down and tackle these issues. We hope that they'll be able to fix the problems! Anuja, Karin, & Rob will follow Monday night in order to prepare for the SATE conference.

It's going to be really busy next week, but we're all ready to take on the challenge!

Story Time

We wanted to create a back story our concepts. The current pillow machine seemed so out of place, that we felt that having a cohesive story would really help with the design process:

Concept: Pillow Tree V2

Theme: The magic of organic creation

User Experience

You awake in your villa in the Give Kids the World Village, excited to start another fun-filled day. You walk downstairs to the living room, and on the table you see a scroll, tied with an ornate ribbon. Curious, you examine what has to be another gift from the gift fairy.

The scroll reads “Hear Ye! Hear ye! Be it hereby known to all in this humble yet noble village that the esteemed holder of this valuable parchment has a pure heart and a steady mind able to conjure a pillow from the pillow tree. Present this patch to Simon in the castle of miracles.” Attached is a fabric GKTW patch.

You make your way into the castle of miracles. Rusty greets you at the door; pass through the main hall, and round the corner into the garden. You see a wishing well in the center, Old Elmer to the left, and what appears to be a willow tree made out of thread to your right. There is a cobblestone path made of buttons leading from the wishing well to the willow. You follow the path over. There is a wooden sign outside the tree that reads “Pillow Tree.” You are in the right place!

Around the tree are seats made out of spindles of thread. Families are sitting down and watching a short animated film that has appeared out clouds in one of the castle’s windows. The film tells the story of the pillow tree’s creation.

The branches of the pillow tree are parted at the end of the path, making a small nook under the leaves. You walk under the leaves, and all of a sudden a light breeze begins to rustle the leaves, as they light up and shimmer with your presence. Now that you are close to the tree, you can tell that it is made up interwoven strands of thread. The leaves are patches of fabric, and there are buttons sewn on to the tree in random places. There are buds of pincushions growing out of the tree.

The trunk of the tree has a window built into it, and off to the side is a mailbox that reads “Simon the owl”. The leaves near his mailbox seem to shimmer, indicating that you can use it. You remember that your scroll told you to give the GKTW patch to Simon, and you put it into his mailbox. You close the lid, and the leaves around the mailbox start to glow, and looking into the window, you see a light turn on. You must have woken up Simon, and you hear him stumbling around in his house, asking where his glasses are. He walks up to the window, and says “Why hello there! I’m Simon, and I’m the caretaker of the pillow tree. I’ve sent out those patches out all over the world to boys and girls who have the heart and mind to help grow pillows on the tree here. The pillows from this tree are magic. They have the power to grant those that fall asleep on them sweet dreams. I can’t seem to find my glasses… you are of noble decent, so are you a knight, a princes, or a jester? Look below my window and press the patch with your symbol. As Simon says this, 3 cloth patches on the trunk of the tree light up, with a helm for the knights, tiara for the princesses, and a jester’s cap. Simon says, “While you make your choice, I am going to find my glasses”, as he wonders away from the window.

Flattered that Simon thinks so highly of you, you sit and ponder what to do for a moment. Being a boy, you push in the knight symbol. Simon comes back to his window. “Ahh! Of course you are a knight” Simon says. “Ahh yes, now I can see you. You look like a very brave knight.”

“Look around you, Simon says. “This tree has the potential to grow pillows, but it needs the help of a brave knight like you. Unlike a normal tree, that needs light and water to grow, this tree grows off of hope and happy thoughts. Once it gets enough happy thoughts, a pillow grows on the tallest branch, capturing all those happy memories. Can you help the tree grow a pillow?”

“Sure!” you exclaim, happy to be a part of this magic.

“Great!”, says Simon. “The first thing you have to do is get your happy thoughts into the tree. Do you see that large, heart shaped button next to my window? Grab on to it, and think of the people that you love. Love is the best way to fill up the pillow.”

You grab on to the button, and it immediately begins to glow. You think of your family and friends, and as you do, the button begins to vibrate and get warm. The color of the button starts to change, from a dull brown to a bright red. The leaves around the button get brighter and brighter, and you hear the wind blowing faster and faster. Woosh!

“You have done it!” Exclaims Simon. “You have added so much love to the tree that I think you have created a whole new pillow! Let me go and check”. With a flourish, Simon walks to the back of his house, and flies out his door, and up into the tallest branches of the tree, with the tag you gave him in his beak. It happens so fast that you can’t see him, but you hear the leaves rustling and shaking as he gets towards the top.

“Marvelous!” Simon says. “This is one lovely pillow. I am going to sew on the patch I sent you so you can always remember how you made the pillow.” Simon pauses for a moment and then continues. “If you shake that vine to your left, I’ll bet you can get it to fall down to you”

You grab a vine made out of twine to your side, and shake it a few times. A magical sound happens, and your pillow falls out of the branches into a thimble bucket by your side. Simon thanks you for adding more magic to the world as he flies back into his house. He says that his work is done, and turns off his light and goes back to sleep.

You leave the tree with your brand new pillow.

Alternative Owl Names

Cornelius
Hooty McOwl
Henry
Don
Jasper
Abe
Norm
Simon
Edmundo
Siegfried
Rupert

The Story of the Garden

Late one night, when all of the other residents of the Village were asleep, Mrs. Mary was very busy with her sewing basket.

“There are so many special friends at the Village,” said Mrs. Mary, “and each one deserves a special pillow of their own.” But with every pillow she sewed, pressed, and fluffed, she grew more and more tired. She tried to stay awake, but her bunny eyelids kept fluttering. “I have to finish,” she yawned, “everyone deserves a soft pillow to rest his or her head on”. But try as she might, she simply couldn’t stay awake. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until she finally set down her basket, fell asleep.

That night, she dreamt that her sewing basket began to grow. Her yarn and thread began to sprout leaves and flowers made of fabric.

Mrs. Mary awoke the next morning, and exclaimed “What a wonderful dream!” She turned around to pick up her basket and finish the pillows, and marveled at what she saw. Where her sewing basked had been stood a marvelous tree made of yarn and thread. The leaves were fabric, and sprouting like apples were fresh and fluffy pillows.

“Where did this come from,” asked Mrs. Marry. She found no one around, only a note reading, “With Love, Hope, and Kindness in every seam; we hope this tree’s harvest will bring you sweet dreams.”

Mrs. Mary didn’t know who had made her dream come true, but she knew it was a gift she would share with the whole village. She would share the gift of sweet dreams.

Location Treatment

The Pillow Tree will be located in the corner of the Castle of Miracles where the current Pillow Machine is located. The tree and its canopy will take up the majority of the space. The trail of buttons will be removable foam pieces attached to the floor. The spindle seats and other items will be removable furniture pieces. The tree will have a faux wall created along side of it that will section off a storage area for the mechanics, computing, and pillow storage.

The tree itself can be made of any material (wood or metal suggested). This will be covered in a mesh of heavy netting to support the aesthetic final cloth and fabric layers. This layer will act much like a shower curtain over a frame, and will be removable for cleaning, and replaceable for various seasons/events.

The owl’s house is a screen set into the tree. His mailbox is small mechanical device, akin to a dollar bill reader in a candy machine. Behind the reader is an optical sensor to detect the cloth patch. This triggers the owl show to start.

The gender buttons on the tree are standard spring, cloth-covered buttons. The large heart button will be custom made to house a shaker and a heater. It will rest on a pneumatic base that can be depressed into the tree’s body.

The leaves in the tree will be coated in fiber optics to make the shimmering effect. There will be ambient lighting in the tree’s nook whose brightness and color can be changed. There will be a number of speakers, two centered behind the owl’s screen, and a few more leading up the tree to create his motion. There will also be shakers in branches.

The pillow machine’s operation is based on a dual corkscrew design going up the trunk of the tree, one for each gender. Pulling on the vine triggers the release of the pillow.

The area around the pillow tree can be themed accordingly. An animation depicting the tree’s story can be made to play on a faux window display in the castle, in the clouds.

The estimated cost to create this treatment can be broken up as followed:

• Estimated cost of computer with video/5.1 audio card and monitor, graphics card, controls entire show ($700)
• Estimated cost of 5.1 audio speakers for monitor, as well as hidden in branches above ($100)
• Estimated cost of fiber optics around tree ($200)
• Estimated cost of lighting (~$2.5K)
• Estimated cost of voltage (capacitive/resistant) sensor ($20)/shaker ($100)/heater (induction coil) (4 at $15) (DMX) for heart button ($400 for DMX)
• Estimated cost of back-lit lights for buttons (EL wire) ($15), DC power ($100), can switch with DMX ($400 for DMX)
• Estimated cost of linear actuators in branches (4 at $60 each) + ($400 for DMX)
• Estimated cost of light sensor for reading tags ($10)
• Estimated cost of 3 touch sensors for buttons (knight/princess/jester) ($15 each)
• Estimated cost of motion sensor for vine ($45)
• Estimated cost of phidget I/O board ($80)
• Estimated cost of conveyer belts and motors (~$1K) + ($400 for DMX)
• Estimated cost of 6 dimmer packs (~$150 each)

• Estimated cost of construction materials (~$10K)

Total Estimate: $17,715

Game Design

The game play for the Pillow Tree is largely experiential. We feel that given the unique audience and theme of GKTW, this will work as well as a more action-driven game.

Once the tag is inserted into the mailbox, there are no points at which a player can loose the game. Every step that requires interaction will time out after a certain time, and complete itself, advancing the story. The only interactions required of the player are choosing a gender, holding onto an object, and pulling a rope, all of which are quite simple.

The experience relies on an immersive sensory experience to convey the theme and emotion rather than constructive action.

Concept: Rusty's Machine V2

- Themes: Dichotomy of hard and soft; mechanics of dreams

User Experience

As you travel through the Castle of Miracles, every now and then you hear a loud clanging sound. It’s not annoying, and the sound is almost melodic in a way, like a xylophone made out of garbage cans. Curious, you try to find its source.

Rounding a corner, you find yourself at the castle forge. There is a colorful mess of wood, metal, and rope, and it looks as if Rusty has been hard at work in creating tiaras and necklaces for the princesses, and suits of armor for the knights of the castle. In the center of it all, there is an enormous machine that looks like its right out of Leonardo DaVinci’s Notebook. The machine looks like half of it is a big wooden loom, and the other half of it belongs in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory.

Looking to your left, you see a sign that Rusty has made. Rusty explains that he has been trying to build a machine that makes pillows! Rusty also apologizes for all the noise that he’s making, but explains that as a man who spends his days in hard metal, he desperately longs to create soft, comforting things. He’s decided to make pillows, and can use your help. He’s left helpful notes around the machine to let you know what to do at each station.

Intrigued you, walk up the machine, and are greeted with the “Happiness Collector 5000”. It looks like a crystal heart connected to a large series vacuum tubes and lights. Rusty has left you a note reading, “All pillows need a little bit of happiness to make sure your dreams stay happy too”. The “Happiness Collector 5000” also has instructions printed on it that say, “Just grab hold and think of something happy and fun. We’ll do the rest”. You grab hold of the heart. It slowly begins to glow, vibrate and warm up. The tubes connected to it begin to light up and bubble. The liquid inside them changes color too! After a few seconds a bell goes off. You have collected enough happiness.

The now filled liquids empty into a second transport tube. You follow the flow of the happiness to a Flintstone-like conveyer belt you can see through a window in the machine. You see something inside, and hurry over to it. It’s an un-inflated bag attached to a bellow. The sign over the window says that this station is to convert the happiness into pillow fluff. There is a wheel of commands, much like you would find on the bridge of a ship. The arrow on it turns to point to “push”. Looking at the inputs in front of you, you spy a large accordion bellows. As you push in on the bellows, you see the pillow filling up with the happiness you collected. It looks like a cotton candy machine in motion. Now, the ship’s wheel says, “spin”. As you spin the comically large wheel, you see the pillow inflate even further as a hose connects to it, adding in the extra softness.

You now have the basics of a pillow in front of you. The machine asks you to put your tag in the tag into a slot. You go to put in your tag when the machine automatically sucks it up! In the window you can see an arm grab your tag, and place it on top of the pillow. All of a sudden, the pillow begins to glow, and in a flash of light, the tag disappears, but the pillow stays slightly glowing.

The last step is to choose the type of pillow that you will receive. Below the window are three giant buttons that say ‘knight’ ‘princess’ and ‘jester’.

The final commands appear on the wheel. Pull has you pulling a chain; spin has you spin as many knobs as you can; and slide has you adjusting all the levels. As you do this, pipes full of different color start spraying your pillow. They make such a mess that the window of the furnace gets covers up in paint. Eventually the chaos stops, and the window opens up, some steam seeps out, and inside is your pillow!

The chaos stops, and a small wiper cleans away the color, and inside you see your pillow. It is now nicely decorated! It slides out of frame, to a big metal door. You run over to it, and open it up. You now have a pillow. Thanks Rusty!

Location Treatment

Rusty’s Machine is comprised of 2 major components; the “power plant” section, the “Conveyor Belt” section. All of these components of the machine are free standing.

The architecture of the system is based off of 1 computer. This computer acts as system control and manages communication, and the exhibit’s audio and lighting via DMX. The computer handles the input and feedback of the Happiness Intake and all the input devices via a Phidget board. The computer also runs the screen/window on the conveyor belt section of the exhibit.

The window is actually a large monitor / flat TV that is mounted to the wall, and framed to look like a window. It is connected to a computer housed in the base of the machine. This monitor is built into a hinged window system that will open up, to reveal the tangible pillow behind it. The on-screen pillow and environment will be modeled to look exactly like that inside the machine.

The Happiness Intake is a conductive metal surface that is themed. It simply tells the main computer whether or not it is being touched. While it is touched, the computer ramps up lights in and around the input device, along with audio effects, shakers, and heat. The bubble tubes are enclosed containers with air jets inside of them that are activated by the computer.

The Tag Suction component is built just like the Clown Suction outside the Ginger Bread House. There will be a basket at the bottom of the machine to hold the tags for easy retrieval.

The conveyor belt section is a “window”, which is a monitor. The graphics on this monitor are activated by the main system. Each input device operates on a phidget connected to the final computer. The final station, with the multiple inputs, is simply keyed lighting by the final computer. When the final hatch opens up, two water misters create a smoke simulation.

The main computer manages the final exit of a tangible pillow and its retrieval.

The estimated cost to create this treatment can be broken up as followed:

• Estimated cost of computer with video/5.1 audio card and monitor, controls entire show ($700)
• Estimated cost of 5.1 audio speakers for monitor, as well as hidden in branches above ($100)
• Estimated cost of fiber optics ($200)
• Estimated cost of lighting (~$2.5K)
• Estimated cost of voltage (capacitive/resistant) sensor ($20)/shaker ($100)/heater (induction coil) (4 at $15) (DMX) for heart button ($400)
• Estimated cost of back-lit lights for buttons (EL wire) ($15), DC power ($100), can switch with DMX ($400)
• Estimated cost of 3 touch sensors for buttons (knight/princess/jester) ($15 each)
• Estimated cost of crazy input devices (~$200)
• Estimated cost of circuit switch ($10) & voltage sensor for bellows (~$40)
• Estimated cost of phidget I/O board ($100)
• Estimated cost of water mister (~$25)
• Estimated cost of DMX water valve (~$30) + ($400)
• Estimated cost of electric motor (DMX) (~$100) + ($400)
• Estimated cost of 6 dimmer packs (~$150 each)
• Estimated cost of physical input devices ($500)
• Estimated cost of construction materials (~$10K)

Total Estimate: 17,345

Game Design

The goal of Rusty’s machine is present the guests with a fun, yet simple and always winnable game experience. The aim is for everyone to win a pillow while having fun, not necessarily to have a reward-through-challenge experience.

A key function for all of these activities is that they all must complete themselves on their own, after a time delay, if no interaction happens. This will account for worst-case guests that cannot play the games, but will value the experience.

First and foremost, the entire machine must be appealing, and draw guests to it. Its large, whimsical construction will be a focal point of the room. This visual draw, coupled with the “metallic xylophone” sounds that it makes should be enough impetus to draw guests to it.

The second consideration is flow. The experience is comprised of discrete action stations (each taking no longer than 30 seconds to complete). It is important for the entire experience to exude a sense of flow from one end of the other to encourage guests to quickly traverse the experience. Between each station, there will be a thematic flow element such as internal lights or music that leads them on. For example, from the Happiness Intake to the conveyor belt, will be piping in which colored liquid will flow from the user to the next station.

The first interaction is simply a ‘touch the object’ station. When that object is touched for a length of time (5 seconds or so), the guest is presented with a series of visual and audio feedback cues, both in the object, and the environment.

The next series of interactions are very tactile. The user has to use their hands to move various objects to simulate filling the pillow. They will push on the handle of the bellows, turn the handle of the wheel, and pull on various levers made of ropes or ropes. There is also a hole that suctions in objects; in this instance, the tag the child receives when arriving at the village.

Once this is done, they are presented with graphical feedback of their pillow being made. The child will watch their pillow being converted from a white pillow to a colorful pillow, and then they will open up a hatch that will reveal the pillow inside of a box.

Brainstorm V2.0

We brainstormed this morning and refined our Pillow Machine and Rusty's Machine concepts. We're still struggling on finding a good way to combine the two, but we're going to try our hardest! We'll list our two new concepts later on today.