Concept
The psychological theory behind our idea is “operant conditioning”: get rewarded for desired habits. Hence, WonderLamp responds with positive actions when people are getting things done. 

Interaction Model
WonderLamp communicates through emotions. We chose three basic emotions to deliver a concept of how WonderLamp works: Encouraging, disappointed and happy.

Once we mapped out the basic concept of WonderLamp, we refined details by generating low to high-fidelity prototypes. 

Two low-fidelity prototypes were constructed to decide the mechanical requirements.

From the prototype above, we learned that a "pan and tilt servo" could accomplish all three emotions (encouraging, disappointed and happy). We added a third joint on the bottom for the lamp to respond to different directions..

I constructed the prototype on the right. We chose Arduino Uno, micro servos, RGB lightbulbs, and Infrared Reflective Sensors from this prototype.  

A mid-fidelity prototype was constructed to build lamp motions.

I constructed the prototype above to code motions such as "Dance",  "nod head", and "shake head". Due to the nature of the Arduino servo library, each servo movement is deconstructed down to precise angles. For instance, to accomplish “nodding”, I programmed the servo to move to a 100-degree angle, then to 170-degree, then back to 100-degree.

We created a chart with five scenarios. The angles of the lamp's three joints were specified in the chart. Below are the five scenarios: 

• When the lamp is off;

• Turn on the lamp;

• Add the to-do item;

• Take off the to-do item;

• When the to-do item is overdue.

Quick Validation
After programming the lamp movements, we asked three people to read wonderLamp's emotions. We learned that the transition between each motion was too fast, which left users a little time to respond. We also learned that users interpret WonderLamp's neutral position as "looking guilty" because of the low angle. We adjusted our code based on feedback. 
 

A mid-fidelity prototype was constructed to gauge the look and feel of WonderLamp.

To measure whether WonderLamp communicates emotions, we conducted three user tests.  We prompted users with a random scenario (i.e., "imagine you have an exam to study...") and provided basic instructions. 

Based on users' feedback, we added blinking lights to convey better "happy." We tweaked some details (i.e., more exaggerated nodding) to enhance the emotions.

We took WonderLamp to "Prototyping Studio Final Salon" and "UW Area 01 Maker Summit". From visitors' feedback, I developed four areas for improvement:

Synchronizing with Other Services
WonderLamp could synchronize with other services, such as Google Calendar.

Task Urgency and Importance
WonderLamp could react based on the urgency and importance of tasks. For instance, "buy milk" might be unimportant and should be tolerated when left undone. 

Mobility
Currently, the interaction only happens on one desk. Other mundane objects could also adopt similar interaction: Imaging your couch gets uncomfortable when you are watching TV instead of working.

Diversity of Lamp Motions
Users could create new lamp motions/emotions. We created a Github repository for WonderLamp. In the future, we are planning to make it public.