I chose the sash to refine because it seemed interesting and had a characteristic beyond general utility, with some meaning behind the accessory. I didn't want just a cool accessory that does things, I wanted to have a purpose behind it. Considering myself to be a very task/goal oriented person, I chose the sash idea because it fit well with my ideals.

In these sketches I tried to define the context of the sash so it will be directed towards more specific users. Will it be for gamers? Could it be used in a beauty pageant? One problem I ran into is the fact that, unless forced into it, nobody would realistically wear a sash in their normal day to day life. It was here in the refinement sketches that I decided to design a sash for girl scouts, since it is a part of their uniform anyways and it would be easier to use it. I was also a Girl Scout once back in the Philippines (a long time ago), and I thought it would be cool give the sash a makeover, and redefine what it does and what it looks like :)

Along the way, (mod #12 in the sketches above) I also drew inspiration from Dora the Explorer, where Dora has the talking map and backpack. I was reflecting back to the time when I was young and watched this show constantly, and I thought to myself that it would be cool if an inanimate object talked to you, and kept you company on adventures. This is partially why Sasha says Spanish words like "Caliente" as well. Not only will the sash keep you company, but it would have a personality and feelings associated with it. Sasha will occasionally cry out when you squeeze her too hard, but will also ask if you are OK since she knows that you are probably stressed out if you are pressing that hard. When you give her a light squeeze, I envisioned that it is synonymous to a loved one lightly squeezing your arm in greeting. In this respect Sasha will respond with a greeting as well. When you're feeling pumped up, you can give her a slightly harder squeeze and she will PUMP YOU UP with encouraging phrases like "Let's go!" or "One step at a time!".

Sasha will also let you know what she thinks about your badges. If you hold up a badge to her, she will encourage you to go further with your goals if the goal is in progress. If you have finished a goal, she will say positive things like "good job!", or "you're fantastic". If the badge is old, occasionally she will say comment on how old it is and ask what you're up to now.  Additionally, when you hold up the badge to the scanner you can see the progress bar, and the Team Lead's special message to you upon completion of the badge.

As for the software aspect, this project was made using the Arduino, Windows Presentation Foundation (Phidget RFID Scanners), and I used NetworkIt (source for under Sources) to have these devices communicate back and forth between each other. Some things I have changed from my refinement sketches include additional phrases to allow for some diversity into what Sasha says, and incorporate more of a funny personality. Every so often, she sings!

I also designed the sash in such a way that it actually kind of resembles a physical achievement sash. For the voice of the sash I used my brother's voice and changed it to a higher pitch to make it sound more cartoonish.

Other things that did not work so well is attaching the speaker to the sash itself. Since I was already using the Force Sensitive Resistor to the Arduino, I could not attach the speakers to it since I needed to have some kind of memory storage in the Arduino. The only other alternative was the Raspberry Pi, but using both the Arduino and Raspberry Pi, along with the Phidget RFID sensor, seems like too much of a hassle for the time allotted to us. In the end I chose the laptop to play the sounds for me.

Upon receiving feedback for this project, I realized I had to be more specific on what type of Girl Scout will use the sash (experienced vs inexperienced) , and that the interaction space needs to be richer. Maybe for future iterations I could have the sash be used for younger Girl Scouts who are inexperienced, and make the sash help the scout in different situations. This project was challenging for me, not only because it was directed towards hardware which I have no experience of, but because it was not directed towards a specific client, which made it hard to target a specific user. I learned to think of different users first and try to design for them, rather than thinking of different generic problems and try to solve them using wearables. I also in this project that I learned the value of sketching; continuously iterating through your ideas until you have a solid plan of what you want to do.

Prerequisites: Arduino, Visual Studio, RFID Phidget reader, force sensitive resistor and LED.
​Connect the RFID reader and Arduino to the laptop.
​
Directions:

1. Download the code  here (README included).
2. Open up RFID Visual Studio solution and run it.
3. Open up Arduino IDE and open the network_force solution. Select the Upload button.
4. Open up the command line terminal and go to the directory where arduino_network.js is located. Run command "node arduino_network.js"