Bearlove

Ratih Ayu Apsari, Liya Mulugeta, Xiaowen Yuan

Project Overview

A short description of your project: background, research question/problem statement, what has been changed since the midterm, etc.

Background

For the final project, our group decided to develop a device for long-distance loved ones. We wanted our device to take in sensory inputs, such as squeezing a part of the device, and output ambient light through a projection. We also wanted to ensure that the device itself would be a comforting object, which in this case, is a teddy bear. The arduino and circuit connections would all be hidden within the teddy bears body. The motivation behind this project is to provide comfort and a next-level communication medium, beyond texts and calls, for parents and children or significant others who live far away from each other.

Research Question/Problem Statement

How might we develop a tangible user interface device which can (1) facilitate communication and (2) provide comfort between long-distance loved ones?

Development of The Project (Since the Midterm)

Our midterm project was focusing on human relationship especially in the early stage of knowing each other like in the first date. After reflecting on the feedback we gained from midterm presentation and more intensive discussions with team members, we realized that there is a gap between the problem statement and the solution we provided. The most crucial part are: (1) the tangible part of the design which is not directly provide connection between human and the technology, and (2) the design probably will hinder more direct communication between two people who already sit at the same place. Hence, we change our target audience, goals, and design. Instead of targeting potential couple, we are targeting parents-children relationship.

For many reasons, they sometimes are separated in distance, e.g. the parent is working and the child is at home. Sometimes, the working hours take so long and it is not always easy for the parent to give a call or videocall to the child. Sometimes, the parent is in important meeting or probably they have to travel in a place with different time zone and it is hard to make a call. Text message will be one of the possible options, but for young child, the message will be hardly understood nor meaningful for them. Hence, we developed this TUI non-verbal communication tools.

Expected Result

General Design

For our final prototype, we will create two devices, one for parents and one for children. The device for parents will relatively small and portable. It will have pressure sensor and ambient light display built into it. When the parent squeezes the device gently, this device will send a signal to the child device and it will have green light lit up for five seconds. In this way, the parent will know that the signal has been received by the child device. For the child device, it will have a pressure sensor and a small projector built into it. When the parent sends their love to the child, the child will see a projection coming out from their device. The projector will be an ambient light pattern changing color from blue to orange. The color change will make the child feel warm, supported, and loved. The projection will last for one minute. After the projection is shown, the child can choose to respond to their parents’ love by squeezing their device. Once they squeeze their device, their parent will receive an organe ambinent light lit up in their device. In this way, parents and children can show their love to each other.

Sketch of the Prototype

What will the deliverables be by the end of the semester? The prototype should be work-like, meaning it has the ability to demonstrate the function of your design. A look-like prototype is encouraged but not required. A look-like/work-like prototype is the best but can be beyond the scope of this class.

Materials and Fabrications

What materials do you need to order? How to fabricate the prototype?

The items which we need to order have a * next to them.

• 2 teddy-bear-shaped device
• 2 rubber bulbs
• 2 pressure sensors
• 2 arduinos
• 2 breadboards
• 2 mini-projectors (which can be powered by arduino)
• 2 5v battery sources
• Multiple RGB LED
• Multiple wires
• Multiple resistors
• Razor (to cut the teddy bear)
• Thread/needle (to repatch the teddy bear)

Roles/Responsibilities for Each Team Member

How can each member specifically contribute to the project? List all the members and each member’s responsibilities here. (We will provide a feedback form to reflect on each member’s contribution at the end of the semester.)

We will all equally contribute to the following tasks:

• Buy materials
• Prototype
• Create the pressure sensor circuit w/ arduino code
• Create the multi-color projection circuit w/ arduino code
• Cut, put the pressure sensor circuit within the teddy bear, and sew the teddy bear back up
• Integrate the pressure sensor and projection circuits

Project Timeline and Key Dates

Consider your timeline from now until the end of the semester. You can do this in text form, but you may find it helps to have a Gantt chart or something similar to organize your goals for the entire project.

11/08: Finish final project proposal and order required materials

11/15: Connect the pressure sensor, projectors, and ambient lights with the breadboards

11/29: Create projections and import into the device

12/01: Final project critique

12/08: Final project exhibition

12/13: Final project report

Being given a summer internship offer seems to be a requirement to becoming a successful software engineer.

This quick and fun article explores why I think the summer internship seeking process mirrors a game, which I have coined “The Internship Game,” and what I have learned while playing this game.

Step 1: The Game’s Rules

It’s April.

At a competitive university such as UC Berkeley, every other freshman I knew had started interviewing for their software engineering internships.

The more experienced coders have interviews for Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. lined up. The less experienced coders are looking towards startups to give them their first real-world work experience. The atmosphere at school felt like a game: an “internship game.” And here I was, studying for my CS midterm. A summer internship was at the bottom of my priority list.

Step 2: Pressing Start

It’s June.

And I just realized how behind I was in this “internship game.” My friends were talking about the new technologies that they were learning at their new jobs, while I was staring at online notices about how “this job is not available anymore.” There were no software engineering internships left.

Was it game over?

But I have always been tenacious. Lifting my head, I considered other options in order to make the best of my freshman year summer. Do a side project? Did two. Self learn a new subject? Check. Go on a small vacation? Done. It was not long until my ambition and curiosity led me to take on another project.

Within a few weeks, I was lucky enough to get involved in an amazing new project: to develop an internal portal for a startup called Rewriting the Code.

This was a project initiated by a fellow student and approved by the startup’s directors — in other words, a student-made opportunity. There was no “internship” opportunity given to us per se, because we had just created our own opportunity.

The startup, with 3000+ members, was, luckily, still small enough that we were not the interns anymore.

We were the engineers.

Step 3: Leveling Up

With no senior full stack engineer to mentor us about the new technologies we had to learn, the learning process I have been through this past month has been extremely challenging. But I cannot say that I have not grown.

I learned how to think like the engineer. How to plan a project like the engineer. How to work with others like the engineer. How to self-learn new technologies like the engineer.

With a couple months left of my time here as a full stack engineer, I feel reflective and humbled to have been part of the team that created this challenging, but essential, opportunity. Which is why I am writing this article to encourage other freshman to create their own opportunities.

The real game — your career — does not have to start from an internship. It starts with any opportunity, created for you or self-created, to better your skills. Of course, this is not to say that internships do not help or that you should not pursue them, but that you have options.

Reflecting back, had I not joined Rewriting the Code, I am positive that I would still have created my own opportunities for growth. Here are a few initiatives I considered, which you can take to jumpstart your own software engineering career:

1. Program and design the backend and frontend of a website for a local business (for free)

You will be gaining real world experience and will undoubtedly get more opportunities from local businesses if you do not put a price tag on your skills.

2. Work on an open source project (here is a great resource: https://github.com/open-source)

Open source projects are fantastic because they allow you to contribute to an actual company from home, with whatever programming language you feel comfortable using. They also allow you to collaborate with other coders around the world.

3. Learn a new programming language

Learning a new language not only expands your skill set as you are investing in yourself, but also increases your value in any workplace, as you become more versatile and resourceful.

Everyone has their own path and you are bound to grow as a professional no matter which path you choose. Also, don’t forget to enjoy your summer.

Best of luck!