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Final Project idea presentation

Two ideas in the hopper...

Eye Catcher
A large cluster of retro-reflective prisms. (Say 100 each prism would be 2" across. The sphere would be 3'-4' in diameter.)
Create an inverted disco ball in which the user inserts their head. The sphere inside is brightly lit from the outside. Users see only their own eyes looking back at them no matter where they look.

One constraint of the small praises is that users should not be able to distance themselves from the mirrors without them leaving their site. (Why I chose the inside of a sphere vs. a wall of prisms.)

Companion piece... a large retro-reflective mirror (approx. 2' on a side) where the center has been removed or taped over. Preventing the user from being able to look themselves in the eye.

Kissing Booth
What happened to kissing booths? They used to be socially acceptable, and now somehow times have changed. What if I were to create a kissing booth where you kissed through a sterile membrane? (Been done, see below)

Now, what if the user was unaware of who was on the other side? (Too strange, no one would do it?)

What if you had three booths...
1)man
2)woman
3)machine
Each one in a sorted randomly. Sort of a "Kissing Turing Test". That seems more interesting perhaps.

Research

Front surfaced mirrors in a corner configuration vs. a solid corner cube...

Junk Pile

Found two large fish tank water pumps that my neighbor was throwing out.

 

Retro-Reflective Solid Corner Cubes. Very pretty. Too bad they cost so much.

High grade mylar should I decide to build my own surface mirrors.

Link to sketches...

Semi-Random Research:
Video Gaze Tracker

Old style booth sketch... click sketch for larger image.

Spring Break

Progress

Edited James Beam and added to this journal.
Subscribed to PhysComp listserve.

Materials research

Went to canal plastics and found surface mirrored vinyl sheeting. $50 for a 2'x8' sheet. Not sure if it's reflective enough. I bought 14 little sample pieces to test with.

Junk Pile

Found three desktop printers in the street...

 

Video?

Thoughts on Kissing Booth

What form should it take on?
- Stand (Lemonade Stand)
- Booth (Phone, photo, etc.)
- Counter/Pass through (Drive thru, "Fast food" style)
- Wall mounted (ATM)

What is a booth? What types of booths are there? What form of booth will make the users most comfortable? (should they be?)
- Phone booth
- Dressing room
- Voting booth
- Toll booth
- Photo booth
- Restaurant booth
- Ticket Window

A booth is a place where members of the public are afforded privacy in an otherwise public space.

What is the essence of this experience?
- The act of kissing
- The presence of a barrier which limits the forms of communication.
- Sexuality/gender
- The form of the booth.

Thoughts on human/technology/human interfaces or barriers.

Is this about enabling or protecting?

"The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" with John Travolta - protection from the outside
Clean rooms - protection from the outside
Disease control - protection of the outside

What does the barrier enable/prevent? What about other technologies?

Photos - visual, not real time, portable
Phone - audio/spoken language, real time, portable, private
Video Conference - visual, audio/spoken language, near real time
E-mail - written language, semi-personal
Scented Letter - written language, scent, not real time, personal
Traditional Kiss - all senses, real time, personal

 

Bibliography:

In order to get an idea of the cultural norms and expectations here is a list of kissing booth references on the web. In the case of many similar listings I tried to choose the best of breed:
- Politics (Kissing Butt) - Al Gore
- Cute/Cheesy - Collectibles and some photos of others if you are really curious.
- Virtual - e-mail greetings
- Halloween Costume - Get yourself kissed
- Gender Studies/Issues - "...being a woman in our culture"

Present Final Project progress

Feedback

I presented the corner mirror and demonstrated the retro-reflectivity with a laser poking through a sheet of foamcore. (So that the laser would bounce off all three mirrors and return to the cardboard.) It worked pretty well, but the front-silvered vinyl I used to make the mirrors was not suitably reflective resulting in a dark image.

I could make up for it by lighting the viewer's eyes but even then the image was still a bit cloudy. Also the triangular mirrors reflected each other back creating a distracting star pattern. Future iterations will require rounded/pie shaped mirror pieces.

The mirrored vinyl was $50 for a 2'x8' sheet plus about 90 cents per final mirror for square cuts. That would add up pretty quickly, but the main problem would be the time consumed building a jig to mount and laser position each mirror. Possible, but not quite worth the effort given the limited success with the prototype.

Also, the response from the class was lukewarm.

...Then I presented the kissing booth.

My basic points were those listed above, in fact I referred this page in during the presentation.

1. Transfer information between two people through a technology with limited bandwidth. (The information being a kiss, the technology medium being a dental dam, the limitation being you can't see or speak to the person on the other side.)

2. Creating barriers between people in the interest of safety. (Barriers to prevent the spread of disease.)

This is a safe kissing booth, but you have to give up your knowledge of whose on the other side. Gender comes to most people's minds before age, height, race, or any other factor. An interesting point...

After making a sincere presentation of my ideas James Powerly stated something like, "Does everybody realize that Mr. Milmoe here has completely lost his mind!" That was when I really knew I was on the right track.

Nicole Ridgeway made a stunningly concise point. Are you going to emphasize disembodiment or contamination? I must keep this in mind in order to steer the perception of my project in the right direction.

Important points...

I need to warn people in case they have a sensitivity to latex.

Latex is often packaged in a powder to prevent it from sticking. You are supposed to rinse it off first. Hmmmm.

Lots of sites suggest Saran Wrap. That could be an option if I could make it so that you could not see through. (It also has food connotations...)

The going rate for kissing booths seems to be $1.

 

(Image of corner mirror to come...)

Bibliography:

- How to use a Dental Dam. Don't worry, nothing here you shouldn't already know.
- Latex, as American as old glory.

.

Banana flavored... somehow that's just not... hmmm. Well, at least they have a " kiss" right there on the box.
- Dam(n), Zoinks, it's (sorta) been done before!!!
Dental Dam Kissing Booth! Well mine's better.

- This is my favorite quote so far on this project. "This fruit scented dam is available in 3 gauges: Thin, Medium and Heavy." - Coltene Whaledent
- They do make a dental dam "clamp" for oral surgery. Not sure what that looks like. Also found a dental dam "harness" that uses snaps. (You'll have to find that link on your own.)

Progress...

Visited SFMOMA 010101 show.

Made some sketches of the booth and graphics.

Wrote up a production to do list.

Click sketch for full size image:

Progress...

Selected back corner hallway for site location.

This will allow the kissers to come in and out of the stairwell without being identified.

Latex research

Spoke to the NYU Center for Health Promotion. May try to have them sponsor the booth by donating Dental Dams.

They gave me a few dams to experiment with. The material is nearly transparent. I will have to rely on low light in order to keep people from seeing through.

Visited Canal Rubber. Latex rolls come in a variety of thicknesses, but the rolls are quite wide and dusted with powder that you are not excited about having in your mouth.

Build or Buy?

Since there is little time or resources to build a vending machine I'll probably modify and existing one.

Visited local vending machines to find out were I can get my hands on one.

The bill validator is one of the most expensive parts of the machine.

Happ Controls sells a Bill Validator Integration Development Kit for $550. The nice thing is that it outputs to an RS-232 port and includes software and schematics.

Arranged a visit to Apple Photo Systems on Friday.

Graphics

I'm looking to focus on retro and anonymity. A friend of mine mentioned the work of Ryan McGuinness. I like the direction but will make it my own.

I'm thinking of 50's clip art where the face is blank above the lips and the eyes are covered with black bars.

Photo of site: (The end of a short hall with a fire exit.)

Resources:

Paul at Vendor Exchange 800 321-2311
"Bill Validator" from Mars $169

Allen Weisburg at Apple photo systems
1107 Gunhill Road in the Bronx

Jane Bogart Peer Health Advocate NYU
212 443-1244

Happ Controls good source for video game parts.

Inspiration for the vending machine graphics:

3 images above found on various web sites.

Present progress

Visit Apple Photo Systems

I bought a Polaroid PF-4 photo booth and striped it down to the parts I need. Booth arrived at ITP on April 24th.

Mechanics

Developed a system using the dental dams, Plexiglas and Tupperware to create an effective clean, safe, private, barrier between the kissers and it works great.

Added castors to the bottom so that I can move the booth in and out of the Japanese room to work on it.

Found a good graffiti remover to clean up the booth with. Hmmm... made lots of Xylene fumes but only faded graffiti.

 

My version... for the poster:

The order of materials that ensure hygiene via kissing booth proprietary technology:

Last Class

Preparation

Started signing up kissers. Finishing the final touches.

Tested the booth with Austin and his friends from Germany. They all seemed to have a great time with it.

Student Health Services

NYU Student Health Services is sponsoring the booth by donating 100 dental dams!

Production

Cut a large hole in the back of the booth to allow people to enter. I'm using 3/4" conduit as a curtain rod.

Sketched out instructions for front of booth.

Finished poster for show.

 

Where to place the dental dam assembly?

Vertical works better... our heads are taller than they are wide.

My poster for the show. click image for larger version:

Set up

Order of Operations

- Insert dollar bill
- Kisser passes dental dam through old Polaroid photo slot.
- User opens dam
- User mounts dam on to the opening
- User throws away dam packaging
- User pushes ready
- User kisses kisser
- User removes used dam and tosses or keeps it.

Production

I contacted Ivaylo Barev at CashCode and was sent the User's Guide for the 6-pin Simplex Bill Validator that came with the booth. I really only needed power, ground, and a NO (normal open) switch that sends pulses when a valid bill is received.

I purchases a 118" x 4 yards sheet of 8 oz Duvetyn from Rose Brand theatrical supply. I used a staple gun to attach the fabric and then cut holes out for the bill validator and the door containing the dam assembly. I then attached 3/4" conduit to the roof of the booth to block off the fire exit. (And attached a fire exit sign for safety)

I also replaced the ceiling bulb with a red bulb to lower the light and make the kissers that much harder to see in case I missed any light leaks.

Modified the dam assembly reducing the gap between the dams by about a quarter inch.

The bill validator was only a matter of setting the dip switches properly and supplying 12V of power. For some reason I could not get the lamp to light up when the bill was valid, but the kissers could tell by the sound of the machine.

 

Cash Code Makers of fine bill validators.

Rose Brand Suppliers to the set production industry.

The booth with the door open.

The Big Show

The booth was a great success. I ended up using a total of about 160 dental dams. Approximately 25 per hour when the booth was operational.

Preparation

Wired up Bill Validator

Modified Order of Operations (specifically for the Physical Computing show)

As people approached the booth they would look over and begin to read the poster. After the first paragraph they would either continue reading. Ask, "So what is this." or scoff and walk away. Occasionally if they looked interested I would say something and the conversation would go something like this:

Hi would you like to try it out.

So this is a kissing booth?

Yes.

There's a person on the other side?

Yes.

What if it's a guy/girl?

It could be a guy or a girl or just about anybody.

Afterwards are you going to tell me who I kissed.

No, you'll never know who you kissed.

What if I wait for them to come out?

They enter and exit through the back stairwell.

Can I have my boyfriend/girlfriend kiss me from the other side?

You don't need me for that. Besides, then you will know who you are kissing.

Who do I get to kiss?'

You'll never know. It's totally safe. You put a dollar in here.

I have to pay a dollar? What for?

I have to pay the kissers. The kissers get all the money... dental dams cost more than a buck. I'm not here to make money.

Your dental dam comes out here. You open it up and place it over the lid like this and I'll seal it for you. Then you kiss the person on the other side.

Then I either got. Now way I'm not kissing someone I don't know/can't see/a total stranger/I don't have a dollar.

or

OK, I'll do it.

Observations

Everyone who went in the booth came out giggling and saying, that was so bizarre, or that was cool, or something along those lines.

After talking t the kissers apparently people had trouble figuring out their features and they'd get a peck on the nose or something.

The male/female ratio was pretty even. And I had users from 2 years old on up. It seemed as though people over 45 - 50 years old had a lot of trouble with it. They were most likely to scoff an walk away.

If a couple came up usual the girl would do it first (often getting the dollar from the guy) and then she would come out giggling and then (most of the time) the guy would do it. Then they would walk away and compare notes.

A group of teenage boys came up and talked one of them in to using the booth. Then they teased him afterwards, saying that he totally just kissed a guy.

Whenever someone really had fun then a line would form and I'd get a stream of about 6 people in a row.

The dams held every time. The bill validator accepted bills about 80% of the time on the first try. 80% of the second tries were good. If they didn't work after that I'd just stuff the bill through the hole the lock was supposed to be in.

Conclusions

The most interesting thing about this whole project was seeing how people approached the booth. I commend those who gave it a shot.

I think the project worked on many levels.

- It passed the 15 second test. It can be described as "It's a kissing booth" which is concise and easy to remember.

- It challenged the users to try a combination of familiar experiences in a new way. (Using a vending machine, kissing, anonymous communication)

- By never knowing who you kissed you never get to own the experience in a "self and the other" kind of way. Once you understand an experience it no longer intrigues you and it drops off the radar of your consciousness.

- People had all sorts of interesting excuses for not using the booth. I don't mind as long as I raised an awareness of those prejudices. (And I'm referring to the dictionary definition... not necessarily just race.)

- People could enter the booth afraid of who they might be kissing or excited about who they might be kissing. All of the story takes place in their own heads.

 

Click image above to see complete kissing booth instructions.

Most of the time the curtains were closed, but we opened them here so you could see how it worked.

Here you can see the black fabric in place covering the end of the hall so that kissers cannot see who they've kissed. (Note the exit sign to keep compliance with the fire code.)

My youngest customer...