I just completed my "Sensor Walk" and had an interesting experience. Similar to my "mental sensor walk", I started at my apartment in Park Slope and walked to the subway at Atlantic Ave. I noticed many things along the way from ATM's, to street signals/lights, to apartment buzzer systems. I found my "gold mine" to be underground in the subway system. I found touch screens, magnetic(?) card readers (swipe and go), turnstiles, and subway doors. What struck me most about all of the sensors I encountered was what was required of me to get them to actuate. I found myself much more drawn to sensors that required more "dynamic" movement or force from me. For instance, I became fascinated with the subway turnstiles that allow you into the subway. I had never stopped to think about it before, but, these turnstiles require a force to be exerted on them in order for you to enter the subway. I decided I wanted to measure this force and so went home and got a scale (see pics below). I found that waist height turnstiles require approximately 3 pounds of force when operated as far as possible from the fulcrum (pivot or rotation point of turnstile). I also tested full-height turnstiles and found that these require approximately 5 pounds of force when measured from the middle of the "cage".
I found it interesting that I was much more drawn to interactions with sensors that required more of me (in terms of force) than interactions that were fairly easy, like the touch screen. This brings to my mind the different ways of interacting with subway turnstiles->
1) Lets say I'm in the mood to exert a larger amount of force over a shorter distance..I should try walking as close to the pivot point as possible. My torque is minimized here so I must personally produce a larger amount of force to get myself through the turnstile.
2) If I want to output less force but am willing to give this force over a longer range of motion, I should walk as far away from the pivot point as possible. This will maximize my torque but will require me to output a smaller amount of force (than 1) over a longer range of motion.
I think this exercise has made me aware of what is a personally rewarding experience with a sensor for me. I will trying to keep an account for interactions with sensors in the coming days and weeks that speak to these and other observations.
