As a part of our efforts to improve the traveler experience at the airport, we created a media art piece at baggage claim that calms, entertains, and welcomes weary, stressed passengers.
Company:
Role:
Team:
Project Duration:
Cognizant (class project)
Project Manager, Sound & Interaction Designer
3 classmates
September 1, 2021 - December 16, 2021
Project Background
Our team members first observed behavior at the baggage claim in Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport. Passengers tended to crowd around the two spots where baggage would first drop onto the moving carousel. The inclination to stand near this spot juxtaposed the social distancing guidelines the airport recommended, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; this resulted in two larger, static clusters of people around each baggage drop spot, rather than people lining up against the carousel. We first were interested in changing this behavior so we thought of how to influence people to distribute themselves more equally around the baggage claim. We also wanted to improve the generalized negative connotation of waiting for and picking up the baggage through creating an environment that is a joy to interact with. Lastly, we were curious about how to assuage concerns about knowing the whereabouts of your bag in-air and in the baggage claim.
Problems & Risks
Cumbersome and stressful current-state process
Difficulties changing human behavior and standards
Balancing engaging entertainment with an otherwise short task
Burgeoning knowledge of possible technologies to use
My Contributions
Brainstormed four concepts for baggage claim prompt
Learned about and practiced generative audio practices
Collated weekly tasks, questions, and budget implications for tracking progress
Created MIDI files for digital soundscape, based on team's moodboard
Assembled the wiring and lighting of five interactive pillars
A user journey map that details every touchpoint and emotional experienced throughout the baggage process.
Project Research
Our team constructed a user journey map that would allow us to document our user (an airline passenger) technologies, feelings, grievances, goals, and actions in seven different phases of the entire baggage process. We were first excited by the existing technology in the process, such as bag tags and mobile airline applications. These presented opportunities to create interactions between the users and our concept. I facilitated a conversation about our work with the goal of creating a visual depicting the emotional journey of the user. After aggregating and comparing the feedback in each stage, we mapped the agreed upon mood for passengers with and without a checked bag (in blue and red, respectively, as seen below. Our team agreed that waiting at and eventually leaving the baggage claim were the stages that had the largest opportunities for improvement.
Our professor advised us to find and accentuate the excitement or happiness in our current-state process, which we defined as finding your bag and leaving. We first explored building excitement leading up to this moment, and designed a music festival concept. Passengers would receive a festival-themed wristband upon checking in their bag, and they would be able use it to receive and select their bag at festival-like gates at the baggage claim. Each carousel would be themed like a different 'stage', and each bag would arrive and have a camera display the bag like a headlining act - making it easily identifiable by its owner. Below is a digital sketch of this concept. While it was fun to picture the potential for stylized media, ultimately this seemed to be creating more noise and confusion to the baggage claim process. We decided to continue ideating.
In order to chase a more passively fun idea, we sketched concepts of creating a pinball machine of the baggage claim. Passengers would spread out around the terminal where they could trigger sensors to open up bumpers and have their bag fall in front of them. This added less noise to the overall process than the music festival concept, but we felt that requiring passengers do anything additional would just add to stress and anxiety.
We were set on having a multimodal experience at the baggage claim; I took lead of the sound design of the prototype. I realized that these concepts incorporated potentially abrasive or anxiety-inducing sounds. After discussing what calming sounds could inspire us, our group took to a sketch of a wind chime hanging above the carousel. Rather than creating barriers to retrieving their bags, we thought that each "chime" could display the bag's color, making it easier for the passenger to locate their bag. We then expanded the idea to before the bags dropped; in order to still change the general behavior of crowding the carousel, the pillars would play different sounds and shine brighter as sensors detected a presence in front of the pillar. If the passenger was standing too close, the light and sound would cut. This hopefully would encourage passengers to walk around the carousel to experience the different sounds and colors. We knew there needed to be multiple opportunities for different interactions, so that this process remained exciting and refreshing with each flight, no matter the arrival time.
Research Impact
One of my biggest takeaways from this project is the amount of work necessary in order to install an interactive media exhibit, specifically when it comes to final assembly and testing. Our team spent countless hours soldering, taping, and maneuvering the wires of our project. This required consistent testing, as the position of the wire directly impacted the effectiveness of the sensors and lights. It was important to keep the team optimistic about the outcomes, as pillars would seemingly randomly stop working or malfunction. I took inventory of the resources and methods that we used throughout the final assembly steps, ensuring we would be able to recreate our steps for the final presentation, as well as return all borrowed materials. Another big takeaway is the importance of scope setting and updating. While we originally had ideas for before and during baggage arrival, we focused in on the arrival component and were able to execute it as planned. We would have gone over budget and may have risked failing to have a properly working prototype if we did not edit our expectations.
The Calming Carousel prototype
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Every class, we would update a task list of research topics, questions, to-do's, and budget considerations. I took charge of documenting and managing everyone's responsibilities week-to-week. I found that my teammates brought different technical and fabrication skills to our team that I wanted to learn and understand. I made sure to comprehend the variety of technologies that my teammates experimented with including proximity sensors, infrared sensors, Kinect cameras, CAD tools, Arduino, Processing, 3D printing software, and breadboards. I typically organized our questions and explained them to the teaching team, and I ensured that any barriers or confusions were addressed every class. I also submitted all of our team's assignments and served as point of contact to the teaching team.
Beyond project management, I individually led the sound design for this project. When our team was first investigating leveraging a Kinect camera to process the color and position of bags and passengers, I began teaching myself Max MSP 8. Max MSP can be used for generative audio, which was especially exciting, as I pictured the baggage carousel like a music box, with each bag responsible for playing a new note. I was excited to play with this multimedia software, but hardware requirements ended up forcing us to pivot away from the camera and towards proximity sensors. These proximity sensors could be controlled easily by Arduino and Processing code, and Processing had the ability to store and play MP3 files. I deemed Max MSP too elaborate of a tool to continue using, which led me to teach myself Ableton Live. And while generative audio is an intriguing practice, creating the rules that restricted the sounds to still be harmonious became complicated; I was fearful of creating a jarring audio experience. After discussion with the team about the sound output capabilities of Processing, we decided that I would create short recordings of one pitch, and each pillar would have its own pitch that would play once the proximity sensor was triggered by a bag or person. Nearby pillars would need to sound harmonious together from all angles, so we envisioned each pillar having its own speaker (but our budget did not allow for this in the final prototype).
I would review the audio mood board that our team contributed to before producing the Ableton MP3s, and then test out different chords in different sounds (or instruments). I collated multiple options of chords and instruments and held a vote amongst our team for to decide on instrument. I chose chords that I personally found appealing and soothing that could be interpolated and scrambled but still sound soothing. After experimentation with Processing and the sensors, I augmented the length and crescendo of each note. Once I finished the sound design, I helped my teammates with their areas of expertise, whether that was walking through the structure of the Arduino code, physically assembling the LED pillars, or soldering and taping the light and sensor wires. Below is a diagram that details how the software and hardware were combined to create our final prototype, as well as a diagram of the wiring of the entire installation.
A mapping of all technologies needed for The Calming Carousel
A diagram of the wiring needed for the final prototype of The Calming Carousel
A rendering of the final version of The Calming Carousel prototype in a baggage claim terminal
Conclusion
Throughout our final presentation, visitors, classmates, and faculty admired our prototype. As we hoped, people would play around with every pillar through moving around and waving their arms in front of the pillars. I received compliments on creating a soothing soundscape that drew people towards our exhibit during an exhibition showcasing student designers' work from the semester. We successfully piqued people's interest, and many of them perceiving the tranquil effects that these pillars would have on the baggage claim experience. I produced a final prototype video below which showcases some footage from that night.
This was my first sound design project, and I loved it. I am invested in learning more about how sound can improve mental health, and this project offered me a chance to learn a multitude of new things while still pursuing that curiosity. This quickly became a passion project that exposed me to tools and software that I am still practicing today. I enjoyed the whimsical, limitless nature of this problem space and managing a team with a variety of skills and perspectives.
