iWhat? *easySplit*
2st semester (M.A.)
During the "iWhat?" project the challenge was to develop exciting apps for the Apple iPhone/iPod. The task was to develop a program that can either be already found in the App Store - but is improvable - or an app you personally would wish to exist.
Thus, I designed an app to help splitting distances and objects. Regular and irregular splittings are often a challenge – above all it has to be accurate. I utilizing the camera to create a live view and layers.
Prototype (Flash)
Alternative Displays *Trails*
1st semester (M.A.)
The objective was to create a concept and a hardware prototype of a non-conventional display. The developed concept "Trails" displays the motion of persons within a room. It displays their paths, dwell time und their haunts, but before all their places of interest. Users can follow the paths of others and discover their favorite places.
An important criterion was the display position. Usually, trails are on the ground. But in a large room diplays on the ceiling are visible for all people – for all ages and from every. Thus, the ceiling is a good media for illustrating information of levels, gradiants, gradiants and transitions.
The interaction
Interaction: Several levels of rising and lowering cubes show the user how long and how many people people have been standing below the display. The longer people stand under a cube the more it is winded up. If nobody stands under it the cube declines more slowly than it was winded up.
A perfect application is a museum.
Train stations, lobbies or other public spaces are conceivable places, too.
Animation (Cinema 4D)
In cooperation with a fellow student we build the prototype of "Trails".
Slabs on the ground operate as push-buttons. By entering one of the slabs the aluminum foil on the slab and on the ground contact and the resistance is declining out. This signal is read by the Arduino microcontroller. The Arduino transmits the signal to the TLC. The TLC activates the servo motor accordingly.
The servo motor was disassembled and rebuilt. Thus, it rotates endless. All of the nine servo motors had to be disassembled to remove the internal potentiometer. A new potentiometer was added extern of the motor in order to determine the exact potion of the cube. Discs ensure an adequate transmission of the covered distance.
The prototype
The prototype: Visitors trying out the prototype at the final exhibition at the end of that semester | The ceiling construction | The ground construction
Searching and finding pictures
Bachelor Thesis
Digital media and photography generate an enormous flood of images. Thus, a query in an image database often does not provide the desired results. My thesis provides a different approach for finding images. It allows to find adequate pictures faster and more efficiently.
Tagging and consequently categorizing (just like popular image databases operate) allows to combine certain classes of pictures to groups. As we arrange pictures on a table to get an overview, it is possible to arrange pictures on a digital surface. It was found that humans only need to see one third of a picture in order to draw detailed conclusions on the rest of the it.
This fact makes it easy to find pictures by simply browsing in opposition to work through several pages of lists. Furthermore, the use of a tool that works with scopes and parameters only, assists in searching very precisely.
Simulation (Flash)
The first page is supposed to attract the users interest and to incite him or her to browse through the pictures and start a search. For this reason the last uploaded image in its category is shown. Thus, the user dips into different categories each time and he discovers new things over and over again. By clicking on a picture in the background, the background changes from blurry to sharp and the just emphasized picture is now scaled to the size of the background pictures.
This view shows the categories. Scrolling is done by moving the cursor to the screens border (sensitive fields).
As the amount of images stored can rise very quickly an important feature is to zoom out to get an overview. This function is provided by a "rocket-feature": It enables the user to zoom out and get an overview of the surrounding images and categories.Being able to temporarily see the surrounding without losing the current view is very useful concerning orientation.
To handle a huge number of pictures smoothly, a menu that helps apply different actions to the search result is necessary - a global menu (bottom left on the screen). Button from left to right: Forward button; backward button; rocket function; view of categories and view of matrix.
For an exact or a loose search the window on the left screen border slides in. The lowest possible filtering is set by default. The pictures can be filtered by adjusting the parameters with the sliders.
An individual area provides the opportunity to memorize photos and queries. This enables the user to return quicker to specific searches.
By clicking on one of the images, a context menu with the options "Detail view" (also possible by drag&drop in the individual area), "Memorize the picture" and "Find similar pictures" is shown.
In the bottom area of the screen, the menu for the search result views can be found. The user can choose between viewing the pictures arranged in categories or in a matrix. The allocation of the axes is variable by hindsight. The pictures then arrange accordingly.
The detail view shows the choosen image in an enlarged view with more information that is useful to find other pictures. In the detail view area pictures can be found that were downloaded or seen by other users who have shown interest in the same detail-viewed picture.
By activating the detail view of one of the pictures the other thumbnails are shaded and blurred. Additionally, the adjustable parameters in the window adapt to the detail-viewed picture.
Virtual crime scene
4th semester (B.A.)
This project was a close cooperation with the police university of applied sciences. In teams of two (a computer scientist and an interaction designer) we developed concepts for a program with virtual crime scenes.
Under consideration of tactic and forensic aspects, police students analyze a virtual crime scene within the scope of their classes or on their own.
Simulation (Flash)
Startscreen - login area.
Account - a chronological visualisazion of the already edited crime scenes.
By clicking on one of the folders/crime scenes a bird's eye view is presented to the police student.
The crime scene. In the left area of the screen the tools to keep records can be found: A camera, a sketch-book, a voice recorder, a case for the secured evidences to be stored, and plastic film to secure evidences like fingerprints.
Taking pictures in order to document details of the crime scene.
Objects can be analyzed by using a variety of criminalistic tools.
Marking an object to be analyzed.
Fascinating technics
3rd semester (B.A.)
In this project, the challenge was to promote technical monuments in the region of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In order to distinguish the regions public image from those of other regions, consistent print and web concepts were developed.
Web
The Website is based on the concept of different zoom factors. By clicking on one of the monuments the map zooms in. The top-left button can be used to zoom out to the initial view. Each level presents different information on the area that is currently shown. The user approaches the virtual monument by zooming in and he discovers further facts on each level. These information cover events, hotels, restaurants, playgrounds, gas stations and more.
This way the web site raises the visitors interest. The last level contains information such as historical facts, a description of the working principle, a photo gallery, business hours, address and directions.
The calendar on the top right facilitates the user to plan his individual tour: Interesting information can be moved to the calendar per drag and drop. Once finished planning the trip, the user can export the schedule as a PDF-File.
Visualization of the construction and the operation cycle of the ship lift in Magdeburg-Rothensee, Germany
Visualization of the telegraph station in Neuwegersleben, Germany
Other parts of the concept are print products are also print products like flyers and posters.
Eye-catching slogans raise the viewers interest.
The flyer serves as a further source of information. Every monument is presented in two brochures.
One brochure explains the operation cycle and the reason for it is fame in a nutshell.
The second one contains a collection of brilliant photos that make you want to visit the monument.
