Exhibits and Interactive Products

“Jukebox Gearo”

overview

Jukebox Gearo is a musical puzzle that is intended for use by students on college campuses in their brief down time between classes. This engages users in group play, and facilitates fun interactions with others. 

This interactive project was completed by myself, Hank Duhaime, Andy Harper, and Sahana Srivatsan.

how does it work?

The large central gear spins constantly (thanks to a hidden motor), and users place smaller colored gears in the track. Attached to the bottom of each gear is an RFID tag, which is scanned as it passes underneath the record arm. (The RFID scanner is actually hidden underneath the table with the LEDs.) Each color corresponds to a note, which plays when scanned. 

Let’s play!

While it can be fun to simply play notes and watch the lights change color in sync, the song cards give users the specific notes to play if they would like to “unlock” a particular song. If the proper sequence is recognized, the real song plays! 

What next?

In order to get our design production-ready, we would give the song cards the ability to be changed out, and would ensure that our gears were durable enough to withstand many hours of use, including making sure the central gear doesn’t break in the event of a jam. 

Yurt for One

This installation was completed as part of a sculpture course. The intent was to explore the definition of permanent and impermanent structures. In design, an emphasis was placed on interesting joinery, and construction focused on the ability of one person to assemble the structure single-handedly.