Hey all, had major problems uploading videos of our exhibition onto youtube but it finally gave in. Its not that long but just a little reminder of the day. The projects still up and available at the carrolls building at DkIT in Dundalk and when the students return in September were sure to have more to post so remember to suscribe for email alerts.
Enjoy the video!Follow the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZmHA0zLuw
Team Project Free Bird
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So as said in our last post we have been working on our project a long time now, with the hope of having a final piece that would show our creative talents, earn us a high-grade from our college and also to exhibit it in the newly renovated Carrolls building at DkIT. Throughout the months of creating our interactive tree there has been many challenges that threatened these hopes. Things like the design of the tree to the critically important getting the tree to be interactive have been major issues but with our determination and the help and support from family and friends and especially the lecturing staff of the Creative Media department at DkIT we made it to the end of term with a project that we were each very proud of.
However as proud as we were with our project we were still nervous on how our tree would be accepted by both the public and the lecturing staff who would have to grade it. Especially when we saw the quality of work from all the other groups who participated in the exhibition which were all at an extremely high standard and the team Project Free Bird members would like to take this moment to say well done to them all and wish them the very best with their futures.
So the exhibition! We could not have imagined the success it would have. On the first day we opened at 6pm and because it was the opening there was a large amount of people who took a great interest in our tree. We were shy at the beginning thinking that most people would just want to know what the project was about and if they wanted to use it they would do it themselves but nearly every interested user wanted to participate and wanted to hear more about the project from us. The feedback from all the users was unbelievably positive and just being able to sit back and watch people tune out from the hectic exhibition and just relax and use the project for several minutes was so rewarding. Another pleasant surprise was the audience that was using the tree. Our target audience or at least the people we would have thought would be quicker to use the tree in public was young adults but we got nearly all ages using the project especially the older generation. In all we got over a hundred notes left on the tree which was astounding and there was also several notes shredded. Most of the notes were folded for privacy but some people did leave their notes and drawings open for viewing which both ourselves and the public enjoyed viewing. The tree was enjoyed so much by one user they were interested in buying it for their church. This was really cool because it showed us how the tree could be used in other environments. Other suggestions were to have it in a social care area which was also a really good idea.
So the exhibition finished on the Thursday afternoon and the tree was due to be dismantled the following day but we are happy to announce that due to its success DkIT have decided they would like to purchase it from us and keep it in its current location for future students to use. This as you can imagine is a great honour for us. To know that our project will continue to be a part of DkIT, especially in the very cool new Carrolls building and be viewed and used by potentially thousands more is fantastic. It was also suggested by a very kind lecturer in Tallaght that the project be brought around to galleries across the country for more people to see so perhaps that too might also happen in the future.
Whatever does happen in the future we the team, Ciaran McGuirk, Edele Martin, Barry Lee and Mark Crosbie would like to sincerely thank all who helped contribute to the success of the project. A short video of the event will be posted soon but we hope you will take the time to subscribe to our email updates or twitter account @projectfreebird for a possible update in the coming months. Also we would love to hear from you if you were at the exhibition to see what you thought and if you have any pictures please upload them or email us.
Again Thank you for your support
Team Project Free Bird
Arggh!After months of trying to figure out how we could make some sort of interactive tree for an exhibition that seemed like it would never come, it’s finally on tomorrow. We are really happy with what we have made and hope the users will enjoy using too. So make sure you come to the exhibition! It’s opening hours are as follows:
Wednesday the 2nd of June 6pm-9pm(Probably drinks afterwards to celebrate, all welcome!)
Thursday the 3rd of June 9am-6pm(Probably drinks then too!)
Its in the Carolls building at DkIT in Dundalk, Co. Louth so hope to see you there and if you can not make it we will be posting videos and pictures of the event on the blog as soon as possible.
Team Project Free Bird
Finally we have posted a video but better late than never and at the best possible time, when we have the tree working! So enjoy and expect more on monday when we have it finished,enjoy!
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Lot of pictures uploaded for you showing all our hard work we have been doing the past few days in Carrolls building. First of all everything is going great and hopefully continue. We have the tree in location and painted the tree trunk to match the branches so really starting to see it as a finished piece. We only have one side of branches connected because we need to keep a side of the tree trunk open to access wires and such. But on the side connected we have been able to test everything knowing that if it works it will work fine on the other side. Like filling the gaps between the trunk and the branches with wood filler.
One of the most time consuming but most important jobs we had to do and happy to say have completed was drilling tiny holes in the branches for the LED lights to fit through. But when it was all done and we lit the tree up we were really happy with the results.
Also done and very important was our hand up of all documentation.to do with project so now we can all focus on preparing for tuesday. We were happy with what we handed up and enjoyed doing our group evaluation, raising some interesting truths on each other, but all good!
So whats left!? We have to place all the electrical equipment correctly and cut the carpet that the tree is sitting on. The rest is mostly dealing with the little problems that might occur and finish the layout.
Oh an found out that we can upload video’s on this blog so sorry for not doing it before but going to start throwing them up as soon as possible.REMEMBER Fis Exhibition starts at 6pm on Wednesday 3rd of June and 9am to 6pm on the following Thursday so make sure and come!
Team Project Free Bird
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As the title suggest today was very hectic as it was moving day for the tree into the Carrolls building. Before all that though, the final construction had to be completed. This included the shelves for the base and for the shredded paper to fall on and also a shelf for the shredder itself which was no easy task. Also needed was a side door so that the tree can be emptied when full of paper. We also cut a hole out at the front of the tree under the shredder so that the user can look into the tree trunk and see there note become part of the tree. Finally we placed a shelf at the top of the tree for the speakers and then carefully loaded all into the van for delivery!
After getting to the college safely we went shopping,again! For the rest of the materials needed, including the takkers for hanging the notes, the string used for hanging, perspex for the cut out hole the users can look into the tree and woodfiller and some clipboards. After that there was not much time to do much besides move the tree into the proper location and also fill the gaps left by the screws in with the woodfiller. Outside the college we painted the branches with the green we are using in the first coat which went very well.
As hectic as today was tomorrow will be worse, as we hope to apply the electrics and the final paint touches to the tree, more pictures of it tomorrow!
Team Project Free Bird
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So here is pictures of the brains and interactivity behind our tree. Its pretty detailed but basically, the car battery seen provides all the power to the little white box that performs all the work. In it, it has relay switches and timers all connected. When a sensor light is broken it sends this information back to the box which tells the relay to turn on a certain section of lights and the timer tells them how long for. At the moment we have the lights staying on for 30seconds. We think this is long enough for the user to hang their message and also be able to stand back and appreciate their contribution and its effects.
The lights themselves are very small and a conveinent shape for us to be able to incorporate them into the tree which will be done very soon. The lights also flicker in different patterns so the illusion will not grow stale if they were just to simply turn on each time. Other work to be done concerning the lights is to build a small container box to hold it all. This box will hold the equipment and also act as our main podium for users to read up on our project while they are possibly waiting to use it or just wanting to find out more information on the project.
The whole system works perfect but unfortunately we cannot show videos on this blog but the exhibition is very close now, on the 3rd and 4th of June in the Carrolls building in DKIT, Co. Louth so make sure you come along to finally see the tree in all its working glory!
Team Project Free Bird
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Right so today was very construction heavy, well as in sorting out all the issues concerning the structure of the tree. Problem one was having to agree that we could not get each side of branches coming out at an angle because it would be too complicated to make. So like our earlier minature model the branches will be running straight out the sides of the trunk and a set of two parallel branches at the back. We tried placing them in other directions to see how it would look but it didn’t look right and was also slightly dangerous for users trying to approach the tree. The way we are placing the branches does however work in our favour. People will now be mainly only able to hang notes on the front sides of the branches so it won’t look over crowded when it begins to fill up. We can also hide the wires of the lights better now from the user, again having them on the back of the branch. We will also be having a hatch at the side of the tree trunk so that shredded paper can be removed from the tree when it begins to fill up. Overall we are all happy with this layout especially when we stand back an look directly at the tree, with the branches at the back it really fills the tree out nicely.
The other major issue we had to sort out was getting the branches to sit flushly in on the tree trunk because at the moment they were just screwed on to the tree. To sort this out we had to screw the branches to the tree first and mark them out. The marked out place it the part we will be cutting out. We also cut a small part of each branch that wasn’t neccessary. Also as you can see from the pictures in the previous blog we have changed the position of the branches to facing slightly downwards because it gives it a more “tree” shape! and it will also make it easier for users to hang notes off.
We have also settled on what colour we are using, a nice green! Lot of painting been done tomorrow so hopefully have pics of that soon. And as for the type of paper been used we have decided on a reflective green and a silver.
So here it is, an actaul glimpse of what our tree is going to hopefully going to look like finished! Still at a very early stage and will be further modified but use your imagination and enjoy!
These are some colours we tested out on the shapes we are using for our branches. We made these out of cardbord to give people an idea of what our project was going to look like. We tested the colours out on many people over the last few weeks.
We also tested some of the paint on the actual wooden branches seen here in the slideshow below. We found that the gloss was not suitable in the testing but we do like the green colour being the main colour of the tree.
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