River

I have used the river for two reasons. It adds depth to the picture and creates a more scenic and utopian view for the town, giving a small country town feel.

Also I feel that this separates the two different modes within the picture. On the farthest side of the river there is the total power use and the windmills which show how much power must be made. On the nearer side there are the appliances and areas that are using power, showing the two contrasts.

I feel that keeping them separate with the river helps to create a divide and a better understanding.

Town concept

Once I had the town concept I tried experimenting with the idea of how energy would be produced within the town.

Shown in the background that would be used. I would then put on the blades of the windmills in flash so that they can rotate in real time. 

While it doesn't look too busy at the moment I found that once I had the animation of the windmills and the houses placed between the road and the river, it was too crowded. Also I added a power line that connected the houses and power box which caused it to be busier.

Therefore I have decided to take out the water damn. I feel it was unnecessary and could have caused confusion as well.

More concepts

I found that the idea I handed in for the concept part of the project still wasn't cohesive with what I wanted to do. It became too complicated and would have been hard to develop in a way that showed people how different areas of their home consumed energy. Therefore I came up with a few more ideas that still enveloped the same ideas but were presented in a different way. 

One focused on a skyline where the buildings would each represent an area within the home and the lights in the building would move up and down the levels dependent on how much energy was being used.

One of the other concepts involved windmills and showed them in comparison to each other when they each represented an energy area in the home

In the end I merged the two ideas to create a concept of a small town that represents the energy use in the home. This way the family could look at how much energy the windmills are required to produce, while also seeing specific aspects of their home.

Prototype

Description

The basis of my design involves educating people in general about different appliances and how much energy each uses comparatively, in a fun way. This will be done by having a user for the avatar ,which is being chased by an energy ‘monster’. The ‘monster’ will be made from different appliances and the more energy being used in the house, the bigger the ‘monster’ will be and the faster it will run.  The user can click on a specific appliance that is being used and thereby turn it off, causing the ‘monster’ to slow down and shrink,. Each appliance will also be proportionally sized according to how much energy it uses. I have also placed an energy meter within the design so there is a tangible recording of how they should be doing. I would use technology to monitor each appliance within the house and send the information back to the application on the iPad. In addition, there is a tally of how many days, in real time, their avatar has been alive for which could be uploaded into social networks so they can compare their progress with peers and friends. This will give the user a chance to see if they are being energy conscious over a long period of time. My design aims to help users understand how different appliances use energy in a creative and fun way. It would bring a competitive aspect into energy use and could be easily applied to any home.

Concepts 3

Sketches based on the idea of the user turning off appliances and seeing them in comparison

Concepts 2

Here I have sketched out some concepts that are based on the idea of the user being able to 'delete' appliances- turning them off- and seeing how it affects the display.

Concept

This was my original idea, but I feel that it could be too simple and that I could go into different aspects.

The picture above shows the original display that would be seen when the application is opened. There would be a list of the different aspects of energy shown. etc heat, light and water. Each would be awarded a colour dependent on how the energy was in that aspect. In the example above water is doing well, heat is medium and light is using too much. Therefore if you clicked into the light part, it would show a bright screen, where the avatar was cringing away from the light. Conversely, the water part would show a healthy planet with a happy avatar. The total would show a mix, where the avatar may not be completely happy and the earth might be slightly affected- the land might be brown. 

I feel that this might not be interactive enough and could be made better by educating people about each aspect in detail more.

IPad

I've decided to use the iPad as my digital media. I think that they are coming more and more common and most people are already aware of how to use them. The overall product will be able to be transferred to other apple touch products, such as the iPod touch or iPhone, but I think it will be easier to explain and showcase my design through an iPad because it is the most appropriate size.

Tamagotchi

As well as the wilting energy flower, I am also using the tamagotchi for inspiration. Just like with the tamagotchi my application on the ipad will involve the user looking after their personal avatar. However, instead of just being able to push buttons and feed or change their mood, their avatar will change according to the energy used.

The main idea I will be taking from this is the idea of a digital pet which is affected by how much you care for it. It also illustrates the point that they can't just leave it alone for days at a time, because energy requires constant care.