Elderly Challenge - Observation 1

Elderly taking their pets for walks is a common sight.
During walks, pets are likely to do their business among the plants or even on pavements. The elderly would then have to clean up after them. This task is difficult for some seniors who have problems bending down. At the same time, they would have to keep an eye on their pet to make sure that they don't run off, which makes the task doubly difficult. This is one of the challenges the elderly faces.




As such, I decided to work on designing a product which helps the seniors to pick up pets' wastes easily .
I started off designing a product which can be made from "normal" materials, without any use of technological machinery. The picture is a rough description of the product I have in mind.


The main aim of the product is to help the seniors to clean up after their pets easily and at the same time, make sure that their pets are safe with them.

Holiday work - Part 1: Understanding the ‘The Elderly Challenge’

Four key recommendations of the report
- Housing for the seniors
Singapore would be an elder-friendly place,with a range of housing options to meet the needs of the elderly

- Accessibility for the seniors
The built environment and transport system will be elder-friendly and allow seniors to lead active lives

- Caring for Seniors
Catering to elderly with different healthcare and eldercare needs

- Opportunities for Seniors
Allow elderly to lead active lifestyles, with healthy relationships and active involvement in the community

One way that the CAI report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly
- To provide housing with features which are elder-friendly. Such features include :
>lifts modified to stop on every floor
> non-slip floor tiles and a support hand bar in the toilet
> lever taps
> an alert alarm system

Two ways on how we can ensure that the quality of elderly care here in Singapore is affordable
- The Government could help seniors who can’t afford care by chipping in money for them
- We can have voluntary services to help take care of the elderly

The three things that I can do, as an SST student, to help overcome these elderly challenges
- I can observe the "daily routines" of the elderly to see what is the biggest barrier they are facing, hopefully to come up with a plan to help solve it
- I can do voluntary work to aid the financially burdened elderly
- I can communicate with the elderly and find out their views on the environment they are living in

ADMT Open House

ADMT
Consists of Art, Design and Media, with Technology being pervasively used

Art: Basic skills like sketching and aesthetics appreciation are introduced to students to give them a foundation on the arts

Design: Knowledge on design consideration and appreciation are introduced to students

Media : Students are given and participated in media-rich and media-related projects and performance tasks so as to enable them to leverage on the use of media to communicate their ideas

Technology : infused into SST's teaching and learning and is consistently used in our lessons to deepen the teaching and learning experiences of the students

What we did in Semester 1, year 1
Photography : expose students to the basics of photography. Students are taught basic concepts like the rules of thirds and composition so as to be able to take better composed photos.













































Sketching : students are taught basic sketching skills in isometric and different perspectives, so as to better able communicate ideas


















































































Animation: students are tasked to produced a short under-1-minute animation clip that deals with the theme "Environment". Students work in groups and use paper cut outs and stop-motion methods to produce the animation.

Personal Reflection (NEwater visit)

1. What are the 3 key takeaways from today’s visit?
-The process of making NEWater is not as simple as it seems.
-We must learn how to treasure and conserve water.
-Singapore has currently 4 methods in quenching Singapore’s high demands for water.

2. Name 2 concepts that you have learnt today during the visit.
-I learnt that bacteria and other harmful organisms will not pass through the selectively permeable membrane used in the "cleaning" process, thus making the household used water clean.
-The use of UV rays does not emphasize on the heat, but rather the intensity.

3. What is the 1 interesting thing that you have learnt today?
- I learnt that Singaporeans use 600 Olympic pools of water daily.

4.What are the things that you can do to help with water conservation in Singapore?
-I can save water by taking a shower instead of a bath.
-I can reuse water (eg. water for mopping the floor can be reused to water plants)

Personal Reflection (8th Mar 2010)

What are the 3 key takeaways from today’s lesson?
I learnt that we need to focus on our target audience in order to innovate a product.
I learnt that we need to prepare for our project presentation weeks before instead of a last minute rushed work.
I learnt that in order to successfully complete a project, every group member has to put in effort.

Name 2 concepts that you have learnt today pertaining to design and describe why is it important in design?
Designing is part of the planning process, meaning that we need a design of the prototype in order to make it so that we can minimise the mistakes we are going to make.
Designs have to be eye catching so that people would know and understand the idea behind the use of the object.

What is the 1 interesting thing that you have learnt today?
I learnt that we must be able to arouse people’s attention before implementing our ideas into the society, instead of just going ahead with our plans. I always thought that as long as we have the idea and prototype, we can go ahead to implement it in our world.

Photography - people

Girl walking around the field, enjoying the nature.

girl: Norul

















It is the bridge that connects people together.

Happy group of students excited to go back to class.

Hardworking canteen stall operator, still working even though it's her "break time".

photography

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PHOTOGRAPHY

http://www.shotaddict.com/wordpress/2006/10/18/1382.html 

There's a list of different types of photography in the url above. I will just name 10.

Advertising Photography

Astronomical Photography

Baby Photography

Black and White Photography

Cityscape Photography

Documentary photography

Family photography

Fine art photography

Food photography

Nature photography

EQUIPMENTS

Camera Bodies

it is important to have at least 2 cameras with you at all times. this enables you to be ready to capture anything at any time.

Lenses

the lenses you choose depends on the type of photography you are offering.Have a variety to use in many circumstances.

Flash Cards

Having a variety of flash cards handy is a must.If you have an error in your card , you’re better off using a variety of cards for different portions of your shoot than having one with a large capacity.

Flash units and Lighting Options

you will need to have at least one on-camera flash unit, and at least one stand alone flash unit for a more controlled light source.

Accessories

Depending on the type of shooting you are doing, you may need additional items to help you perform.

Cases and Storage

Storage cases are very important, especially for the photographer that shoots on location.They will protect your films

source: http://www.virtualphotographystudio.com/members/photography-equipment-list.htm

APERTURE

What Is Aperture?

The main function of a camera lens is to collect light. The aperture of a lens is the diameter of the lens opening and is usually controlled by an iris. The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light reaches the film / image sensor. Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers or f-stops. i.e. those little numbers engraved on the lens barrel like f22 (f/22),16 (f/16), f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.8 etc. Each of this value represents one time the amount of light either more or less in quantity. i.e f/16 will let in 1X the amount of light than a diaphragm opening of f/22 .an aperture of f/4.0 will let in 1X lesser than that of f/2.8 

sources: http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_aperture.html 

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/fototech/apershutter/aperture.htm 

FOCUS

There are various methods to focusing depending on the type of subject being photographed. With portrait and animal photography, whether it is man or beast, the most important part of the image to capture sharply is the eyes.

source: http://www.schoolofphotography.com/courses/free-photography-tips-and-articles/16-how-to-focus-your-camera.html

SHUTTER SPEED

What is shutter speed ?

shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most cases fractions of seconds. The bigger the denominator the faster the speed (ie 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30).

source : http://digital-photography-school.com/shutter-speed 

ISO SPEED

Whether you shoot with film or use a digital camera, your choice of ISO has a direct impact on the combination of apertures and shutter speeds you can use.The job of ISO is to gather the light that comes through the lens and make an image. 

i.e If my camera is set for ISO 100, I have, in effect, 100 worker bees; and if your camera is set for ISO 200, you have 200 worker bees.If both of us set our lenses at the same aperture of f/5.6—meaning that the same volume of light will be coming through our lenses—who will record the image the quickest, you or me? You will, since you have twice as many worker bees at ISO 200 than I do at ISO 100.

source : http://photo.net/learn/basic-photo-tips/aperture-shutterspeed-iso/

METERING

Metering is a process which involves the camera taking a light level reading from the scene and selecting the appropriate combination of aperture and shutter speed to set the required exposure value. There are various types of metering which can be set, and these change the way the light levels are read by the camera.

Centre-weighted

a metering is taken from the whole of the scene first, then the central spot. The result is the average reading, but with extra weight given to the central part.

Zone metering

a type of metering which takes readings from several different areas - or zones - within the scene to produce a calculated average.

Spot metering

Spot metering takes a reading from a very small part of the image (between 1 and 5 per cent), and ignores the exposure of the rest of the scene.

source: http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Beginners-Guide-to-Photography--Metering-6351

WHITE BALANCE

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo the reason we adjust white balance is to get the colors in your images as accurate as possible.

sources: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm

http://digital-photography-school.com/introduction-to-white-balance

COMPOSITIONS

Point of Interest

When you've determined which area is the most important to you, you can compose to emphasize it.

Simplicity

it is important to keep your picture with just a few main subjects if there are numerous objects cluttering up the background, your message will be lost.

Contrast

A light subject will have more impact if placed against a dark background and vice versa. 

                                          

Balance

placing the main subject off-center and balancing the "weight" with other objects (smaller or lower impact) will be more effective than placing the subject in the center.b

Framing

A "frame" in a photograph is something in the foreground that leads you into the picture or gives you a sense of where the viewer is. For example, a branch and some leaves framing a shot of rolling hills and a valley, or the edge of an imposing rock face leading into a shot of a canyon.

Viewpoint

You can often change a picture dramatically by moving the camera up or down or, stepping to one side. One of the best ways to come up with a prize-winning photograph is to find an "unusual" point of view.

Direction of movement

When the subject is capable of movement,it is best to leave space in front of the subject so it appears to be moving into the photograph

Diagonals Linear elements such as roads, waterways, and fences placed diagonally are generally perceived as more dynamic than horizontals.

Rule of Thirds

The exact center of any composition is not a satisfying place for the viewer's eye to come to rest. With the main subject placed in the center, the viewer is less likely to explore the rest of the photograph.

sources: http://www.azuswebworks.com/photography/composition.html 

http://photoinf.com/General/Peter_Ensenberger/Improving_Your_Photography_Lesson_Two_Composition.htm

TECHNIQUES

http://www.photographytips.com/page.cfm/664

There are many techniques stated in the url above. I'm just going to name a few here.

Panning
Taking a picture properly while moving the camera so it tracks with the subject's movement

Winter photography

Two things to keep in mind are temperature and light

Wacky tips that work 

There are some strange and unusual ways of approaching photography and its many uses.