casher-ocannoli-Automaton

"Skipper's Dreamhouse"
    

"Skipper's Dreamhouse" is a scary house that first reacts to movement at a far distance, then waits for the viewer to come closer. Once the viewer is at a certain close distance, a random timer is triggered and the deconstructed Barbie doll, Skipper, pops up to scare the viewer. Throughout making the project, various decisions were made often having to compromise aesthetic over practicality; however, on the whole the house fits the spooky, homemade, childish vibe. If we were to further this project, we'd love to add sound, either with sound effects or music that reacts to the viewer, etc. As for the title, we slowly created this narrative that Barbie's little sister, Skipper, wanted her own dream house and it is terribly spooky. We joked that it could represent somewhat of a critique on Barbie and the stigma surrounding her, as we have deconstructed the doll to just her flailing limbs, showing how her appeal consists only of mindless, emotionless body -- an ultimately ~spooky~ idea to be teaching little girls. We contributed equally to the concept of the project and problem solving, where Cassie contributed more to the Arduino software and Olivia to the outer appearance. Overall, although we hit a lot of speed bumps, it was fun and the problem solving resulted in a satisfyingly spooky project.