ENGD260


Human Factors Remote Design

The final remote fabrication, a round object with a white surface, a black pane with an LED eyeball, and an antenna.

The final prototype.

I was tasked with designing from the ground up a "remote" that would automate a process for a fictional character. Other prerequisites for the project included the necessity of designing a form that would be single-pull injection moldable, compatible with sensibilities of human factors and involving aspects of visceral, reflective, and behavioral design.

The selected character for my project was Amasawa Isako, one of the major characters from 2007 anime production 'Dennou Coil'. Dennou Coil presents a near-future reality where AR technology is highly developed. Children enjoy expected after-school activities, with an additional layer of intrigue provided by their AR glasses.

Amasawa Isako commands a fleet of virtual pets named the 'Mojo', which she directs with voice commands. However, voice commands leave room for ambiguity, inviting room for misunderstanding. Therefore, the identified need was to create a remote for Isako to instruct the Mojo.

Features table: command the mojo to spy on someone, command the mojo to swarm an entity, command the mojo to stand at attention.

Defined required actions for the remote.

I chose to evoke elements of visceral design by creating a remote that was round and gave an impression of something that a kid would be emboldened to approach and use.

The object appeals to the user because it intuits as easy to manipulate, toss, and hold. The user's life is adaptable and active. Images of a sphero, a baseball, a Pokeball, and the fabricated remote are present.

From a behavioral perspective, I chose to define inputs that would reflect devices an 11 year old would already be familiar with and have some prior exposure to. Specifically, I pull on the concept of a video game controller and electronic virtual pets for these modalities. I selected a spring-loaded lever to add a strong tactile feeling, and a button as an intuitive methodology for mode selection. The final effect is a design that reflects the input methodologies of video games, where a lever is used to direct a selection and a button is used to confirm it. In the final prototype, the mode is reflected in the color of the device's LED eyes.

Cross-section of remote design. Arrows point to a lever at the top, the point for LED insertion on the outside of the spherical shell, a center axis for assembly combination, a point to install the spring, and a place to install the lever. A pushbutton is also present.

Externally, I attempted to reflect the design choices of the source fiction in the design of the item. In Dennou Coil, entities with artificial intelligence or a degree of free will are illustrated with naturalistic characteristics. Conversely, entities that are procedural and solely follow out commands appear similarly to robots. The Mojo remote unites the design of the Mojo with a sterilized aesthetic.

Front, top, side, and bottom views of the remote.

I chose to implement the "mode-switching" LED lights with a simple binary counter circuit with a low-pass filter. The 4-bit counter IC cycles the LED light's color when the lever (switch) is actuated and is debounced.

Remote electrical schematic.

Finally, I verified the viability of injection-molding this design with ProtoLabs. ProtoLabs instructed the revision of certain wall thicknesses to comply with their procedure and material requirements.

the song recommendation is: sm44318222. Written 2024/11/14