Week 8 : A Little Show-and-Tell

This week, I focused on preparing for a show-and-tell with the atelier to share my progress. These preparations includes prototyping A Friendly Hand with cardboard to check for sizing, sourcing materials and setting up.

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Part ① : Sizing, Sourcing & Preparing

To make A Friendly Hand friendlier, I started sourcing materials, including a smaller breadboard, a new Arduino, and a micro servo, to better understand the dimensions needed for the dual-layered platform. To aid this process, I used cardboard to create a rounded platform and position the required moving parts.

Another key step was determining the necessary height for the micro servo underneath, ensuring it has enough clearance to rotate freely without obstruction. The size that I have opt for the dual-layer platform was 260 x 140mm - which will fit perfectly when the hand is folded up slightly.

    • Back to Sun Light @ Sim Lim Tower 4 Mar 2025

    • Shopping List, New Toys and Cardboard Cutout 4 Mar 2025

    • First Iteration of Dual-layer Sizing 4 Mar 2025

    • Setup with Cardboard Cutouts as 45mm Spacer 4 Mar 2025

Part ② : Show-and-Tell

The week ended with a show-and-tell at the atelier. I was a bit nervous—partly because we hadn’t had one in a while, and partly because, so far, I think only four out of twelve people in the atelier are really following my progress. Plus, A Friendly Hand is a bit abstract, and I have to work to get people to understand its vulnerable, fragile, yet oddly cute nature. So yeah, of course, I was nervous.

I didn’t put a lot of effort into the setup—which I probably should have. But for this show-and-tell, I had been rehearsing a lot in my head, making sure I could share my ideas in a clear and concise way. I tried my best to translate the mind map from Week 6 as effectively as possible. I was mostly just sharing my humble learnings from ecologist Suzanne Simard and communicating the conceptual build behind A Friendly Hand.

Anyway, below are some beautiful, cute pictures—not really for your perusal, but for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! 😆

    • A Friendly Showhand of Hands Show-and-Tell 7 Mar 2025

    • Me and my table Show-and-Tell 7 Mar 2025

    • First Prototype; to check for sizing Show-and-Tell 7 Mar 2025


    • Overview of my table 'set-u[' Show-and-Tell 7 Mar 2025

Thinking Animation

Week 8 : Feedback & Reflection

The feedback from the atelier was that my project was "weird," to which I simply replied: "Tsk." But then, they clarified—it was "good-weird." So, I guess it’s safe to say my atelier finds it interesting, especially considering the occasional nodding, laughter, and scattered applause at the end of the show-and-tell.

The video documentation I presented still feels up in the air—I’m not fully convinced by it yet. However, a key piece of feedback was to explore different visuals on the screen to better control the expression and animation of the hand. For example, a blinking black-and-white screen could signal happiness, while algorithmic moving circles might express distress. This feedback was really interesting because it has the potential to serve multiple roles—as content for the publication, a control mechanism for the video, and even a live interaction for the audience to witness A Friendly Hand’s expressive capacity.

A Portrait of a Boy with a Few Too Many Perceptions in a Single Body Show-and-Tell 7 Mar 2025