The Beauty Cam 2.0

My original experimental camera was a beauty cam that adds beauty effects on the user's face. Users can read more information about the camera if they click on the “more info” button, and they can access the webcam and enter the beauty cam interface if they click the “enjoy” button. Once they enter the beauty cam interface, users have the freedom to adjust the beauty cam effect by using the slider. They can also check the checkbox to remain in the colorful “disco” effect of the beauty cam. In my flowchart, there are three DOM elements: button, slider and checkbox.

Design Concept

In Beauty Cam 1.0, which gives a fixed size of “eyes” and “lips”, users are assigned with the same beauty effect, implying many beauty cam attach the concept of beauty with a standard. Some people think that using the beauty cam makes them look beautiful, but sometimes the effects are over exaggerated - creating a “fake” looking person. For this revised Beauty Cam 2.0, I aim to give users the controller of their beauty. People should be the one who defines beauty for themselves. So if users are able to change the visual effect of the beauty cam, they can then compare to see what best fits them - larger eyes and thicker lips, or intermediate sizes of them, or plain face with no effect?

Design Process

For the consentful interface of my beauty cam, I would like to give the users more information about the camera, so that they don’t feel skeptical to turn on the webcam. The users can turn on/ off the camera at any time. With the slider, users will be able to adjust the beauty effect on them until it best fits them. Users can check/uncheck the checkbox to access/tshut the colorful strobe light effect because not everyone feels comfortable with the constant flash. When the users turn off all the visual effects, they will see the plain faces of themselves.

Assignment Reflection

As for the F.R.I.E.S, first, my camera well informs the user about this project, and clearly states that it does not record any data. During the usage, users can turn off the camera at any time they want, which makes the consent reversible. The camera also gives users the freedom to adjust their beauty effects, and also give them the choice to remain the colorful strobe lights or not. I originally used MousePress to access the colorful strobe light, but not everyone feels comfortable about the flashing light, so I put this effect into the checkbox - only by checking the box, the strobe light effect will be turned on. In this way, users are not “forced” to use the flashlight when they click on the screen or use the slider. When doing this project, I consider myself as a user, and I think about what I like and dislike to develop the consents. I also asked my roommate to try the beauty cam. She was able to access the information and the camera fluidly with no doubt, and she also had fun using the slider to adjust the beauty effect. The only flaw for the camera is that the checkbox doesn’t seem to work well, and it makes the program buggy because sometimes the camera runs without problem, and sometimes it stops working after a few seconds of normal usage. I need to work on it more to make the checkbox function flawlessly.