Amsterdam Hackable Metropolis

By amberebrahim February 12th, 2014

At the kick-off day we got a glimpse of our the project we would be working on. As a quick first exploration we were assigned to create a user scene. This video is meant to illustrate one of the potential user scenarios. But in order to do so, we needed to get a clearer view on who our user might be and the conflicts they’re running into. After some pretty heavy brainstorm sessions we finally agreed on a topic: black spots.

After writing our storyboard we went to the Rijksmuseum, where we wanted to start shooting scenes.

One very shiny morning and two very rainy afternoons later we had all our material on tape. Back to the editing table. The user scene assignment turned out to be very useful. It was fun way to learn about each others skills and to start thinking about the context of our topic and users.

So here we proudly present the result of our early mornings in the rain!

By amberebrahim February 10th, 2014

Tinkering & messing around

Loes and Tamara facilitated the workshop. The objective of the workshop was to have a lot of fun. We were introduced to MakeyMakey (check out some video’s here). We were thrilled by the possibilities of hacking any object and turn it into a controller, even bananas! Combined with a program like Scratch an interactive installation can be built at any moment. Because the Olympics started last weekend (and Holland was in a medal frenzy), Loes and Tamara assigned us to make an Olympic related game.

During the openings ceremony, one of the Olympic rings did not open. So we were inspired to create the Olympic Ring Game.

We turned a simple ball game into an Olympics themed game, with a physical interface to match the theme. With scratch, we made a program that assigned the player to throw the ball to a specific color. If the player hits the right color, the player is being awarded with 10 points. The computer randomly assigns the player to hit another ring (or the same, as happened during the demo). After 5 rounds, the game is over and the players wins!

The game was very simple yet satisfying. It was easy to extend the game in a variety of ways, but we didn’t have enough time. It was nice to get introduced to physical computing and maybe we can use some of these tools (or a similar system) in our project. We definitely had a lot of fun during the workshop, so well done Tamara & Loes!

By margreet February 10th, 2014

Nice introduction movie of the Dutch Cycling Embassy

The Dutch Cycling Embassy is a public private network. The Embassy operates in the field of urban planning and mobility. She is an intermediary between the demand for Dutch inputs (expertise, products and services) and Dutch parties that can deliver.

By amberebrahim February 7th, 2014

Kick-Off Day

Our first week at the MediaLAB was kick ass. The group is really diverse, and we think that everyone could agree that MediaLAB felt like home after our very first day. The kick-off day was very exciting and intensive, because our day was packed. To get everyone introduced, we started with a Pecha Kucha presentation about ourselves.

Later that day we got a quick tour throughout the different locations where we will spend our time the upcoming semester. Contracts were signed, profile pictures were taken, bio’s were written. After all the official stuff, it was time to sit down for some pizza & drinks.

Now it’s official; we started our amazing journey that will continue for 20 weeks.

CREATING TOMORROW

Amsterdam Hackable Metropolis

engage and empower a public around the issue of cycling

Team

Commissioner:

Description

User Scene

Tinkering & messing around

Nice introduction movie of the Dutch Cycling Embassy

Kick-Off Day