Outcome

Goal: Create a fidget that tracks and processes user fidgeting data into a report on their fidgeting patterns and informs them about ideal future fidgets buying.

• Process:

What does any ol' fidget need to be?

Quiet: Fidgets can have sound but the most ideal fidgets make little or no noise. This makes them ideal for use even in a library, business meeting, classroom, or office space. The places where fidgets are most useful in the channeling of focus.

Small/ Hideable: Fidgets need to be used almost anywhere even if it is little or not tablespace. It should be small enough for a person to hold it without it being obvious that they are fidgeting holding a fidget.

Underwhelming to non-users: Following the trend of being discrete, fidgets are supposed to be subtle in appearance. Many fidgets have interesting bright contrasting colors but fidgets that are good for focus in workspaces make little or no other environmental noise. Playing with the fidget should not pull others out of focus. If it focuses the user while distracting other people in the space its not doing its job well. Any type of lights, motion or dynamic display is likely to distract others which is why this project includes not lights or speakers. This is also a reason that fidget spinners are not considered appropriate desk items in workplaces and schools. Depending on their use and the user's interaction with their surroundings it can become more of a toy than a fidget

Multi-Fidgeted: No one fidgets exactly the same way every time. This is why many fidgets feature many types of fidgets. The motion(s), textures, sounds and other types of touch and feel hand to brain stimulus. Having many fidgeting options prevents boredom and increases the chances of having a more constant peripheral engagement and therefore more consistent focus. 

Materials

And Material for the housing. 

Circuits

Code

• Outcome: Be able to illustrate the final outcome. Explain how complete the prototypes is and how it works. Your documentation for this section must include:

  • Completed code
    
  
  
  • A circuit diagram (use Fritzing or similar)
  • A list of parts
  • A video of your completed project (use in context, operation, etc.)

  You are welcome to include illustrative diagrams (workflow, etc.), additional photos, or a concept video.

• Next Steps: What would you do if you took this project forward and why?

• Reflection: Reflect on the challenges you encountered and the process as a whole. Did you get where you wanted to? If so, great. If not, why not? What do you need to get there, etc?

Problem Statement

Many people use fidget toys to engage their brain with an additional stimulus to better focus on a primary task. Over the years fidgets have been designed to be smaller, quieter and more multifaceted as to ensure their ability to engage the brain for a sustained amount of time and to not engage or distract those not fidgeting. While fidgets have gotten better, such a large volume of options causes some users to fidget unproductively and often continue to spend money on popular but ineffective products.

Goal

Create a fidget that tracks and processes user fidgeting data into a report on their fidgeting patterns and informs them about ideal future fidgets buying.

Process: You should maintain a record of your work as it progresses. This should include: components used, photos and videos of the circuits assembled, code (and versions of your code), reflections and challenges encountered, how you solved problems, iterated etc. Be able to tell the story of your work.

Process:

What does any ol' fidget need to be?

Quiet: Fidgets can have sound but the most ideal fidgets make little or no noise. This makes them ideal for use even in a library, business meeting, classroom, or office space. The places where fidgets are most useful in the channeling of focus.

Small/ Hideable: Fidgets need to be used almost anywhere even if it is little or not tablespace. It should be small enough for a person to hold it without it being obvious that they are fidgeting holding a fidget.

Underwhelming (to non-users): Following the trend of being discrete, fidgets are supposed to be subtle in appearance. Many fidgets have interesting bright contrasting colors but fidgets that are good for focus in workspaces make little or no other environmental noise. Playing with the fidget should not pull others out of focus. If it focuses the user while distracting other people in the space its not doing its job well. Any type of lights, motion or dynamic display is likely to distract others which is why this project includes not lights or speakers. This is also a reason that fidget spinners are not considered appropriate desk items in workplaces and schools. Depending on their use and the user's interaction with their surroundings it can become more of a toy than a fidget

Multi-Fidgeted: No one fidgets exactly the same way every time. This is why many fidgets feature many types of fidgets. The motion(s), textures, sounds and other types of touch and feel hand to brain stimulus. Having many fidgeting options prevents boredom and increases the chances of having a more constant peripheral engagement and therefore more consistent focus.

Materials

Code

Circuits

Outcome: The Fidget Card tracks six different fidgets using six different sensors: 

Roll:GyroScope

Flick: Flex Bend

Wiggle: Joystick

Smooth: Pressure Sensor

Toggle Pushbutton

Click: Tactile button group

At the moment it can only tally or time the fidgeting behaviors. It stores the variable that indicates those pieces of historical data and the real-time measurement of the sensors. This means a user can get a report of their frequency with each fidget. By understanding the timing of the fidgeting themselves they can also figure what kind of fidget is best for them

Demo Time 

Next Steps:

There is a lot more that can be done with this data to give users helpful information and better their overall fidget experience. It is easy to create a function that can relay the user's fidgeting to date. Likewise, each fidget relates to other existing types of fidgets that can easily be sent to the users upon request with a separate function. 

Additionally, it would be nice to experiment more with the design and material used for the housing. Using acrylic for the rotating mechanism and wood for the rest of it would make it easier to roll the bottom disk, make it smaller, make it lighter, would ensure that the components were more secure, and hopefully allow for the fidget to be scaled down. 

Reflection:

If given another go at it, I may have focused more on the data and the outer shell (housing) of the project. These were things that seemed simple but turned out to need more time than expected. Additionally, Given the amount of movement in a fidgeting mechanism, designing the housing, constructing and soldering additional elements to facilitate the movement of the sensors without the circuits being damaged was very difficult. Figuring out the best arrangement for the easy use of and access to components also made this project more time consuming. In the future, the dimensions and arrangements settled upon will aid in or help to eliminate that decision-making process.

Resources: