MD318 – Blog 3

On Tuesday I met up with Lucy & Niamh in the Mac lab which is becoming a routine of ours. Javad is usually there at the same time, saving us from arranging other meetings. This week we wanted to hit the ground running and start ordering supplies ASAP. I had emailed Javad enquiring about when we could begin ordering the Interactive Kit after we had conversed with Bare Conductive via email. We had added up all of our estimated costs and put together a rough budget. Javad informed me on Monday evening that we could indeed begin ordering equipment as soon as we pleased. When we all met in the Mac Lab on Tuesday however, Javad told us we actually had to send these details to him, and he would send these onto Jeneen who would then discuss with the Department etc, etc. This felt as if we were taking one step forward and two steps backward. I am very conscious that my peers are all working away, developing their projects as it is week 3 of final semester. Although my group are all working dilligently together to get this project completed, there are only so many emails we can send in a day. We want to start BUILDING this Interactive wall. The more time that passes without us having our materials to work with, the more anxious I get that we’ll end up rushing this project. Javad then suggested we make a change – drop the touch feature and make it purely a projection mapping project. It’s safe to say this made my head melt. The entire module is called ‘Interactive Project’. Without the user having access to a touch element, how will we even be marked? I completely appreciate and understand that Javad is our group Supervisor who has much more experience than any of us students. But are we risking our own grade by dropping the key element of the project – the interactivity?? On Thursday Javad emailed the three of us to say Jeneen would accept the project without the interactivity aspect. At the start of next week I plan to discuss this further with the girls and Javad. This is the biggest project I have had throughout my three years at Maynooth, I want to do well. I’m also filled with confusion as last semester, Jeneen, Javad and Jack all seemed content and intrigued by our project proposal of an interactive wall. Why is the idea of dropping the interactivity only being brought up now?