<aside> 💡 I worked together with Stephanie Sinwell on this - read her write up here.
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One of the first things that we brainstormed about was to think about the things we struggled with learning as we grew up, and how those things can possibly be made more easier to digest with an electronic device. One of the things that we discovered in our discussion is that we both spent a portion of our childhood playing piano. Stephanie played competitive piano, while I was more of a casual learner. But the one thing we struggled with was learning how to memorize and identify musical notes. I had resorted to taping my piano with an adhesive label (one for C,F,G). Stephanie’s main issue was that there will be moments where she’ll blank out and then doesn’t know what to play. She also finds herself no longer able to read sheet music now.
Our learning game combines a simple piano and the classic “Simon Says” game.
The idea is that the device we constructed will be able to play a series of notes, and each of the notes corresponds to a light bulb. After the notes play, the learner will be tasked to “repeat” the sequence by pressing a button. The device will then tell the learner whether or not they have successfully repeated the sequence. The light bulb also provides a scaffold by color coding the musical notes, so that learners do not have to rely on their memory and hearing alone.
It is hoped that by using the device, the learner will be able to -
