IDAT101 Group Project Interactive Installation Deployment

Plan For Deployment : We need to carefully plan out how we are going to install our interactive installation into the area. 

• From the research we have done the space tends to be very busy during the day so prefered time of installation would be the evening/ night when there are less people around and the shops would be closed, therefore we wouldn't cause as much disruption.
• We need to ensure the software is in order and working, this envolves coding the programs and making sure the RFID tags are connected to the program.
• The screen will have to be as thin as possible as we cannot place it into the ground as we do not want to disrupt the brick work thats already been layed. We may have to taper the edges of the screen if it does sit too high above the ground to ensure that people walking by do not trip over the edges.
• The RFID tags need to be placed into the balloons and ensure that they work and send information back to the computer when they are in the entire area. This would involve tests that need to be carried out before we install our screen.
• We need to plan out where the equipment will be placed, such as the computer, to ensure it is in range of all the equipment.  

Timetable : We can't make a specific timetable just yet because we do not know the length of time we would need to set up all our equipement as we do not have any of it yet. Hopefully it would not take too long to set up because all the programs and RFID tags would be set up and ready to go before we had got to the space. We would have to go to our space in the evening as well as this when the space is quiet so we would not cause too much disruption to those walking through the centre. I've created a mock up timetable of what we could do but this would be open to change ;

19:00- Arrive at space, ensure the area is ready to be used, clean etc
19:15- Unload the van
19:30- Start to set up the equipement
19:40- Lay screen and ensure that it is flat against the floor with no outstanding edges that someone could fall over
20:40- Connect the screen to the computer
20:55- Set up RFID tags and put the balloons in the correct place
21:00- Ensure that RFID tags work and are connected to the computer
21:15- Test an RFID tag to ensure the tag, screen and computer program work
21:30- Ensure all the wires are away and covered
21:45- Clear area of all excess equipment
22:00- Pack up and leave. (Come back the next day to run the screen)


What Needs To Be Purchased : There are a number of items that need to be purchased before we can install our equipment:

• Screen, or monitor, large enought to fit into our space, with an interactive foil overlay that would allow us to make the screen interactive for those who stood on it. A company such as arcsream av would be able to supply what we would need, http://www.arcstreamav.com/living-image/
• RFID tags, these need to bought and could be very expensive, I found one website, http://www.buyrfid.com/catalog/ , that sells RFID tags and all the equipment to go with them but they are very expensive so we may have to look elsewhere, could possibly do a deal for advertising to get some discount if we bought in bulk.
• Animal balloons so that we can put the RFID tags into them and allow people to take them around the town centre.

Work That Needs To Be Done :

• The program needs to be coded or installed to ensure that the screen and computer are linked up and the movement of the RFID tags shows up on the screen. Also need to make sure that the screen is touch sensitive and that when it is touched it responds to the program.
• Balloons need to be bought and tags inserted into the them so that passersby can take them.
• Screen needs to be purchased and tested to make sure it works.

Possible Problems : There are a number of different problems that we could face when installing our interactive installation into town so we need to be aware of the possible problems and what we can do to prevent them happening.

• Forgetting to bring some equipment- the night before we need to do a mock set up of all the equipment and pack it all away at the same time to ensure we take everything we need. Probably best to pack multiple items of the same thing such as the cables and wires just incase they don't work when we get to our space.
• Program doesn't work- We need to ensure that the program works before we leave. If possible we should try and find mulitple versions of software that we could use in the event of our main program failing.
• Screen doesn't work- The screen is going to be quite expensive so we can't reallty bring two with us incase it fails because we wouldn't be able to afford it. The only way we could get around this problem is to ensure that we test the screen before we go to space to make sure it works.
• RFID tags will not cover the area in terms of range and sending information- When buying the RFID tags we need to make sure they cover the entire area of the shopping centre and link back to our computer. We will have to measure how far the longest RFID tag will go and make sure that it still shows up on our screen. It is also important that we base our computer as central as possible in the shopping centre to make sure the RFID's cover the area.