During our second week in Oldenburg, we all delved deeper into our respective projects. In the project I am joining, we are designing an ambient light display to be used on a car when the driver is considering changing lanes. The display will inform the driver of the car’s distance from other cars in the lane he/she is attempting to change into. I began testing different light patterns on a model and began asking for input from some of the colleagues in OFFIS who had experience with peripheral cues, ambient lighting, and other related topics. I received a lot of helpful criticism that will hopefully help me to create a user-centered design.
One of the biggest things I think we had to adjust to this week was the European aversion to using debit/credit cards. As Michelle said, our favorite past time has become grocery shopping, but in order to do so we had to learn quickly that we should have cash on hand and schedule regular trips to the ATM.
I experienced this while traveling for the first time since arriving in Oldenburg, because my mother also came to visit during the second week. I was turning 21, so she decided to come to Oldenburg and help me celebrate my birthday. She had never been to Europe before, so we took a weekend trip to Thessaloniki in Greece. My mother and I are prone to using our credit cards all the time, so remembering to carry euros was an adjustment for both of us.
Even though the lack of credit card readers was a new experience, going to the beach is typically a tradition we observe on my birthday. It was nice that some things don’t change despite some of the differences myself and the other IRES students have been adjusting to.