Self Cleaning Window Product- Existing/similar products

Getting my design brief all done i know that i have make a product that would in theory work and help people in daily life through its use.

Existing/Similar Product Research


     Self Cleaning Glass                                     


Self-cleaning glass is a specific type of glass with a surface which keeps itself free of dirt and grime through photo catalytic decomposition.
The glass cleans itself in two stages. The "photo catalytic" stage of the process breaks down the organic dirt on the glass using ultraviolet light and makes the glass hydrophilic (normally glass is hydrophobic). During the following "hydrophilic" stage rain washes away the dirt, leaving almost no streaks, because hydrophilic glass spreads the water evenly over its surface.

*From Wikipedia*

On the other hand It does not work on heavy soiling and is much more expensive than normal glass

     Magnetic Window Wizard                          

This Product is basically magnets attached to two window cleaners that are placed either side of your window. This should allow you to clean the inside and outside at the same time.

A good product for thin windows and ground floor windows but when used at a higher level I think it poses a danger if the magnets are not strong enough and lose magnetism with each other therefore falling. Also you have to open the window and let warm air escape to use the product. Good product in theory but would also create friction when used so not suitable for older generation or less weak users.

Reviews from “Amazon” confirms poor usability and design 

     Rain Racer                                                       

Rain Racer is a product that using chemicals To Create a small polymer film over the glass to stop penetration of dirt and other liquids into the first layer. It is chemically safe to use on showers, sinks fish tanks etc but does need to be reapplied after a certain period of time depending how much the surface is touched and worn away. It is relatively cheap and less expensive than self cleaning glass. It also has been in development for over 16 years so it is tried and tested.  It does not work on heavy soiling

Self Window cleaning Product

Looking for inspiration for a new product to design I created numerous questionanires and completed lot of asking people what really bugs annoys them and annoys them in day to day life. And a constant feedback being given in this current climate is that its too hard to clean windows, too cold and wet outside and too expensive to constantly pay a window cleaner.

I decide to set myself the task of researching a designing a product that would help this common problem being faced.

Arcade Machine Project

After researching for quite a while on the internet i found the following options for which to build a base for my arcade machine to play the original game/s onto.

     Option 1                                                         

Original PCB Board
What better way to Start than to find the original PCB Board in the arcade machine (in my case Space invaders).

It turns out as you can see from above they are extermely rare to find anymore and can be extortionate prices. Looking how to wire them up also isnt't as simple as this wire goes here and here, diagrams need to be ordered and worked out and soldered and crimped just like the orginal else it simply wont work. There is also no guarantee that the board will work due to their age.
Truely think this option is out of the window

     Option 2                                                         

Atari 2600

Made infamous as being one of the first home video enterainment systems the release of space invaders was made onto the atari platform quickly after release.
There are differences between the original and the atari version as you can see below.

                                  Original Arcade Game                    Atari 2600 Version

As you can see there is quite a difference between the two versions and i can notably tell and therfore i think would not have the same experience.

The other task with this option is to rewire the controllers and configure them into other buttons.

Shown above is the standard atari controller. Rewiring this would give me only 1 joystick with 4 way x and y axis control and 3 other usable buttons, not really the number that i would ultimately want.

I will also have to buy the game cartridge as this is required to play the game.

Atari 2600 Game Program

     Option 3                                                         

MAME Computer emulator

This option i think is the best by far as you can play multiple games on the program and use a standard computer running windows xp as the base. This is a cheap start and the program is completely free to use.

Below is a screenshot of the program being used.

It uses emulation to recreate the programming used for the machines to run original roms of the games. It can be configured to use a keyboard and mouse, gamepad or usb interface.
There is whole community websites online dedicated to mame and creations that people produce.

For these reasons that is why this would be my option to use.

Arcade Machine Project Design ideas 1

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Techniques and Processes- Wire Modelling

Using my hand as a template i created a model from  resonable thickness wire that kept its shape well. I firstly created the fingers sepately and then made the main frame and soldered it all together.

Photography- Night time Foggy Snapshots

 

Photography- Cows and Scenery

Techniques and processes- Glass Etching

This technique basically involved me having a sheet or pane of glass and using a rotary tool with different attachment to draw and etch into the glass. There is quite a lot of variables within this technique, the main ones being speed of the tool, size and type of the tool, pressure applied and the angle being used.
It requires you to hold almost like a large pen and quite firmly as it feels like it could slip and run away. This technique would be quite good in a light application and possibly detailed designs.

Testing the technique with rotary tool

Image of space invaders that i created showing that even simple straight lines can be achieved.

Home Made Arcade Machine Designs 1

Here are some of the designs that i would like to gain inspiration from

Techniques and processes- Alginate and Plaster

Following on from my sketches of hands and objects they can hold i started to experiment with 3d modeling and casting.
I mixed up a large pot of alginate and placed my hand into it and waited about 4 minutes for it to set.
When it was set i then carefully wiggled my hand free trying not to damage the mould too much in the process but it is quite flexible so it made the process a little easier.
From that point i mixed up a tub of plaster and poured it into the negative to create a positive.

The process is a one off only as you have to break the mould to get the plaster out. As you can see from the images below it worked very well and the alginate picked up little detail like the folds  by the knuckles and even some skin pores and texture.

i painted the second cast using oil paints to create a realistic hand 

Quick Sketches

Using Marker pen showing how the hand can grip items 

Photoshop Design

At this moment in time with the release of the new "Call of duty- Black Ops" all i can hear at present is the sound of gunfire and shouting in the distance coming from my younger brothers room.

Telling him he spends too long on the game doesnt work so i thought i would put it in a more visual way for him to see. On a quick break to go to the toilet i got him to pose for me in a way that would look like he was jumping out of a television set, looking at me quite weirdly he agreed.
I then took a photgraph of the television in the lounge and loaded them both into photoshop.

Here are them both in raw form.....

Then

then

then

Finished Piece

Photoshop experiments

Quick sketches using photoshop. I used first hand images of people and photographs and then drew on top of them with the brush tool but didnt take my finger of the mouse so that the figures were drawn in a continous motion. I then took the phot away and added paper texture into the background.

Photography- Surroundings, Church hall

Photography- Old Camera Photos

From a safari trip sometime ago...

Photgraphy- Mini clubman

Photo took on digital camera just played about with the contrast,brightness, exposure, hue and saturation. Turned into a great photo. I love the way the bodywork shows up so reflective and shiny.

Just Got my car after a complete refurbishment

Photography- Torquay Trip

Experimental Photography

Taking an aspect of the steve mccury work that inspired me I created the follwing images, i firstly took the photgraphs using a standard basic fujifilm digital camera but made sure there was a lot of light and shadow within the subjects. Then later on i imported them into photshop and increased the constrast, shadows and the overall effect of the piece. Then i brought out the coloring in the eyes to make them the focal piece and the central point. I like the effects that i created.