‘Fusion
Deck’

Before the addition of IoT, our first initial idea came from a sensory mat to fidget with, this came up when trying to think of ideas was stressful, each team member had a different way to keep that down, which was through fidgeting.

With further research into the science of fidgeting, we discovered that the ‘clickyness’ of keys was linked to a satisfying feeling that would help the users still stimulate parts of the brain white still holding focus.

Starting research and referencing literature opens a discussion into fidgeting and concentration, talking about how feelings of boredom and restlessness arise as well as dealt with.

‘Fidgeting’

The research¹ regarding ‘fidgeting’ highlighted but also confirmed how the participant’s concentration was better focused and held when they were able to commit to a mildly stimulating physical task such as ‘fidgeting’ or ‘doodling’. It was noted that the participant’s behaviour was calm but also focused on what was going on.

‘Ergonomics’

More literature² was found in support of ergonomics, regarding repetitive tasks causing an increase in wrist pain and disorder with frequent extended mouse use such as in an office setting. The source offered alternatives that would be there to provide better physiological such as a trackball as well as a joystick.

With many concepts to incorporate, we decided to map out many different aspects of a wide range of items. We included possible sketch of what it can look like and include; for a finalized list of what we would include, we used the materials at hand to create the tool.

Materials Used:

• 1 Joystick
• 5 Buttons
• 5 Different Button Caps
• BreadBoard & Jumper Wires
• Arduino Uno

The making phases had many up and downs such as concepts that were thought to be difficult were proved to be easy but also in reverse as in presumed easy tasks were easy but were sadly not the case.

In the end, the components fit and were in the box to show to people what our concept can look like but also used in practice.

Coding

The coding aspect of the project was to have the joystick interact with the computer, such as movement of the joystick would also move the cursor with the co-responding direction. With the joystick being compatible with the Arduino, the coding process utilized both the ‘motherboard’ connection while the interactivity came from the python code and the ‘host computer’s’ device manager.

Arduino Code

Python Code

3D-Printing

We wanted to use the 3D Printer to create the haptic features that would indicate each button by touch, however the 3D printer was unsuccessful to print to the very fine lines of the buttons created. Our team’s alternative was to create those haptic feature with glue gun and craft skills.

When presenting the product to the audience, people wanted to fiddle with the project and tool, the same way when typing on a keyboard or playing with a controller. Overall, the impression from the audience was postive and many received the project positively!