week9

In preparation for the expo Kat took and big sheet of paper and laser cut text and slots for pull
taps. We wanted to focus on the final product rather than the process. We thought the process
might confuse the users in an already very confusing concept. ( The blockchain )

On the paper Kat explained how hashgraphing works as an intermediate step for the final block-
chain cube. As well as how the bitcoin is just a use of the blockchain and not the blockchain, this

was something a lot of people confuse. The final product is place in the middle of the paper to
draw attention and create an “I wanna touch that” feeling. The prototype was very well received by
Inte and Marjolijn. They both were very enthusiastic and haddn’t expected the prototype to look
this cool.

The final product! Yeah! I’m very happy with how the Cube looks and works. The cube is made out
of 4mm MDF and a small sheet of acrylic. I replaced the elevator system with a leadscrew and a
stepper motor. The stepper motor is operated by an Arduino hooked up to two physical buttons
and an IR remote. Once the user solves a puzzle layer he/she can lower the platform to work on
the new layer on the previous level. I also replaced the puzzle pieces their symbols with numbers,
making the pieces more user friendly and preventing myself from running into duplicates. The final
look of the cube looks like an awesome arcade machine.

During the exhibition we showed our working prototype on top of a sheet I created with the
techniques I learned while making the little booklets prototypes. One I used to exlpain what
hash codes are and one to show that bitcoin is not what blockchain is! I also put a little text on
the sides, to make it understandable but still interactive.

I've made this prototype using MDF, Acrylic, a servo motor, leadscrew and the lasercutter. The vector was made on illustrator.

The collaboration between Kat and me went great! We both come from different backgrounds

which made it a little hard in the beginning. Both of us are visual thinkers, this made sharing con-
cepts and ideas easy and painless. The first few weeks were all about learning what the hack and

blockchain is. This is were I was able to assist Kat, as I have a more technical background. In the

middle of the project we started to build our own prototypes and concepts and were more fo-
cused on creating our own ideas rather than collaborating. In the last few weeks we came back

together and joined forces to build an awesome prototype. Kat took it upon her to design an ( very
artsy ) style guide and was able to guide me in this process, Kat has a visual background. In the end
we delivered a well together designed product, were we both contributed to.