So I’m starting to understand more of what the whole “myth” is in tech beyond the myth. I also see how little I actually know about technology at its core. I grew up in the Silicon Valley in California, surrounded by tech with apple and google offices being my neighbors. However familiar I am being around the techy atmosphere, I still don’t know much about technology’s inside parts. This week of almost useless machines helped me figure that out a bit more. We were tasked with making machines that have no real use outside of the one that we give it. After forming groups, we started brainstorming ideas for the machine. We thought of 3 quick concepts, all based on certain emotions. I think this was an interesting way to go about thinking of concepts because it forces the machine to give off some type of sentiment, therefore injecting some human aspect into the machine. We chose the feeling of *almost* getting a hug. A feeling that drew up a lot of potential emotions, from anticipation, anxiety, trust, desperation, etc.
I would say the group worked together very well. We didn’t have much time to build the machine, even though 3 days might somehow seem like a lot. We would stop and meet to discuss what problems were happening, and how we might solve them. There were so many different small steps to think about along the way which could not be foreseen until we were in the midst of making it. Problem-solving was happening throughout which I enjoyed.
After the first day of the almost useless machines, I felt quite down. It was a long day and I was stressed, and I felt almost useless myself. I felt I couldn’t contribute to my group nearly enough, or in the way that I wanted to. I wish that I had more I could help with, more knowledge to share, input to give, or help more with the tasks we needed to do in order to actually construct the machine. It was hard for me to feel like this because even though I’m not usually the person to be the team leader, I hate feeling like I’m not contributing to a group effort. As the week went on, I tried to change my mindset and keep a positive attitude. Attitude is always something you can control and I needed to remind myself of that, because it could really help make a difference in the long days. My group members Fiorella, Anna, Didac, Paula, and Rei were really nice to work with. We didn’t chat as much as in other group projects because we were very busy trying to get everything done in time.
As the machine started coming to life, I got more and more excited. The fabrication process was the most fun as that was when the machine took its form. I worked on some of the electronics with Anna and got help from Victor about the wiring. I appreciate how calm he is and explain things very well. I was also next to them during the first part of the coding process. Though I didn’t code it directly, I think it helped me get a little more well-versed with the ideas of how to code instructions, based on the flowchart we made. I would have liked to spend even more time watching and learning from them, but I didn’t feel the best use of time for the group as a whole would be from me observing them. This week I realized how much I can learn from focused observation in conjunction with trying things myself. I hope to not let fear of the unknown control me as I feel that is something I’ll be battling with throughout the course.
The almost useless machines was an intense week of long days, where I felt lost and overwhelmed at times, wanting to do and be more but feeling like I couldn’t. However, in the end I felt proud of myself, the group, and our little big hug me (or not) machine. I learned a lot, and think the exercise/workshop was an excellent way to practice these skills in a way that has a minimalist approach, not trying to do anything other than what we have decided.