Science fiction portal
For our Product Design class, our team of six was tasked with the goal of designing an interactive experience for a sci-fi walkthrough adventure by 5 Wits Production. After brainstorming a variety of interactive experiences, our team converged on the idea of making a science fiction door. The final prototype was built at 1/4 scale (a 2’ tall opening), complete with lighting effects, pneumatic actuators, and a sensor based safety mechanism.
Research
Our team started by visiting the walkthrough adventure to experience it for ourselves and observe other users to gain an understanding of what interactions resonated with users and why. We also researched sci-fi media to gain a clearer idea of what emotions we wanted our experience to invoke
Ideation
Early ideation involved creating storyboards to explore different user experiences. My storyboard featured an iris-style door, inspiring us to pursue the route of creating a portal as our main project.
After an initial round of storyboards, our team decided we wanted to moved ahead with designing a science fiction door. To us, science fiction meant bright lights, unnecessarily complicated opening mechanisms, and a sleek aesthetic. We wanted to create an interactive experience that evoked a playful sense of other-worldly awe.
Prototyping & Testing
An IR LED and IR receiver serve as a safety mechanism to ensure that the door does not close when anything is in the doorway. The two are oriented such that the emergency state will be triggered when objects break the line of sight between the LED and receiver.
Final Model
For the final model, I worked with a teammate to design and implement all the lighting effects. I focused on programming the lights using an Arduino, and designing and fabricating the components that created the door edges. These edges acted to simultaneously house and diffuse the lights, as well as to provide a seal between the two parts of the door.
