ENGD260

Human Factors Remote Design

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.