Week 15: Print, Shoot and Set-UP!

This week, I focused on documenting the A Friendly Hand Interface, taking polished photos of my outcomes, and finally setting up for Viva Voce.

Part ①: Documenting A Friendly Hand Interface

Last week, while working on my zine, I realised I was missing a proper documentation of the interface. It’s such an important aspect of A Friendly Hand—because it controls how the hand moves or dances. Whether playfully or softly, the highlight of how the hand senses lies in the different animations played on the interface.

I used to call them Mode 1, Mode 2, and Mode 3, but while making the zine and reflecting on my process, I realised I could frame them more openly as different expressions. People can project their own meanings onto the movements—there’s no need to say which one is "shaking in existential despair" or "reaching." They are simply black-and-white animations: Carbon (algorithmic circles), Glow (shifting gradient), and Pulse (static flicker).

I then edited a short demo video showing how the hand works with the interface, which I call “the brain a.k.a. the mother of hands.” In this video, I wanted to emphasise and highlight how the hand moves: it senses light through LDR values and adjusts the servo motor angle accordingly. Carbon, Glow, and Pulse each trigger different movements, which are clearly demonstrated in the video.

Part ②: Printing and Shooting A Friendly Hand Zine

For this zine, I designed it so that a simple saddle-stitch bind of ten pieces of A3 paper could produce a copy. Using creep adjustment, I was also able to create a 'square-back' spine to make the cover look more polished.

I used the same paper stock—Exel Bulky Satin: 250gsm for the cover and 115gsm for the inside pages. Then, I used the same studio set-up to shoot a flip-through of the publication for documentation.

Part ③: Setting-Up!

For the set-up, I wanted everything on the table to support A Friendly Hand. The research is Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor, and the featured outcome is A Friendly Hand.

I also took this opportunity to clean up the wires, servo motor, and thread—making them look organised, polished, and considered.

With that said, going from left to right, I placed a simple title card that briefly introduces the project, followed by the original hand, the first iteration, and the final version. Then comes the video, and finally the publication. The printed images on the wall are there to provide visual cues for when I present my key concepts and the making journey of the hand.

Additionaly, I also designed small posters to support the overall flow of the viewing experience - which can be spotted in slide 4 above.