Post 8 – 2024 Design Preview Report

My main project will be a home/virtual assistant using a Raspberry Pi. With AI being very popular, there are many ways to create a virtual  assistant. I plan on following an online tutorial to set up the main program. The aesthetic and design aspect of the project will be in the enclosure of the Raspberry Pi and hardware. I want to develop some of the ideas I had while working on the upcycling project. With the many constraints of that project, I wasn’t able to do everything I wanted. For this main project, I can 3D print the enclosure to give it a much better finished look. The enclosure will also feature a screen to communicate different things to the user.

Growing up, my personal aesthetic was very plain and minimalistic. As I started to explore different styles and aesthetics, I started to develop my love for color and bright designs. Different pop culture influences helped me develop my style and aesthetic. Graffiti art has always been prevalent. Graffiti has exaggerated features and a lot of color. When I think of this art, I think of great culture and places I’ve grown up in.

Brain Mash

Combining the bright colors of graffiti and my love for technology, my project aesthetic will feature these two aspects in a way I’ve never done before. I am taking inspiration from games like Valorant and more specifically the character Raze. Raze has a boombot that is very colorful and covered with graffiti. This is the aesthetic I am going for. Ever since I saw this bot, I really wanted to recreate it or do something similar.

Raze’s Boombot – Alvaro Bernal

Bullet Ville – Wolfie’s Hoversaw – Dani Ferguson

The images above are the general ideas I want to replicate for my main project. This is a bit outside of my comfort zone since I tend to gravitate towards a more minimalist aesthetic when fabricating things. I tend to use the form follows function idea. Since the hardware for this project is minimal, I have a lot of freedom with the enclosure and hope I can create something interesting.

Happy-Cube – Gareth Davies

I have a few specifications for the project. The biggest aspect of this project and class is the aesthetic and that will be one of my priorities. The Cyberpunk aesthetic has a lot of rigid aspects to it. Incorporating this in my design will help elevate the design and help it pop on my desk. Also adding the graffiti design and color will help tie the product together.

Designing something that fits the aesthetic I want for this project and is well designed will be a challenge. I want the aesthetic to be the main focus and to achieve this the design of the enclosure need to be good. Rapid prototyping with 3D printing will help me get to the best iteration possible as fast as possible. I am also taking my time with sketching and ideation to have a well refined product before I start printing.

The different animations for the virtual assistant is a must for this project. It gives the virtual assistant some character and interactivity. I am working on having the LCD screen to change animate different expressions when it speaks. This will require different frames with various faces that will quickly change when the robot recognizes specific words.

With my sketches I wanted to add more of a assistant feel to the enclosure. I did this by making the Raspberry Pi and screen enclosure look like a robot. I also added another enclosure for the speaker.