As computing becomes more ubiquitous in our objects, designers need to be more aware of how to design meaningful interactions into electronically enhanced objects. At the University of Washington, a class of junior Interaction Design majors is exploring this question. These pages chronicle their efforts.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Dan | Stephen // Topic

Dan and I plan to do our project focusing on reducing excessive toilet use. Toilet paper is highly over used especially in the United States and increases forest degradation. Soft toilet paper is especially harmful because it can only be produced by harvesting live trees (no recycling) and releases a lot of toxins when producing. We also find that many sanitary products are not discussed because of social embarrassment (like how much T.P. one uses in the restroom) or because it is viewed as an absolute necessity. We believe that sanitation can be maintained if we can bring awareness to the problem and start conversation about an otherwise uncomfortable topic.

There are two ways we are looking into encouraging the reduction of the amount used:

1. One is to measure the amount of waste produced and then produce the amount of toilet paper needed.

2. The second is to encourage a more appropriate amount of toilet paper by bringing awareness to the problem and developing a fun interaction.

Supplies:

1.
Methane detector, to estimate the amount of waste produced

Fat Content detector, the consistency of fecal matter can be determined by fat content levels

Water proof weight scale, to determine the amount or type of waste produced

Water displacement scale, determine the amount or type of waste produced

Motor/actuator, to dispense the correct amount of toilet paper needed.

2.
Distance measuring tool (mouse optical),  measure the amount of T.P. pulled

Music shield, to play sound when toilet paper amount is reached

speaker, to produce a sound when correct or incorrect amount of toilet paper is pulled.

We will experiment/ research into both ideas more before we continue



1 comment:

  1. One Month in One Paragraph

    So lets see what has happened in the last month of this project. Stephen and I have explored several ideas for the direction of our project. We looked at things recycling used paper and sorting trashcans between compost and recycling.Though it started up as a joke, we narrowed down the scope to reducing toilet paper waste. The plan is to encourage people to use less every time they go to the bathroom. In general, the two main sensors we need will first, read how much paper is being used and second is a sort of feedback system to get the user to use less paper. Different feedback systems we looked at included having the toilet paper spit out more, retracting back paper when too much was used, and having the roll automatically dispense the right amount. These feedback systems are automated, rather than teaching the user to do things for themselves.

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