Visit to NYISE

Today Ellen, Grace and I went to the New York Institute for Special Education to check out sites for the upcoming user trials there. We considered two spaces: along one wall of the big gym, and in the basement rec room of one of the dorms. These are pictured above The basement room is a fairly large rectangular space with small windows high up along one wall. The ceiling height is 9'.  The gym is a very large space with 30' ceilings, except under the running track that runs all the way around the gym, where the ceiling is 11'.  We chose the rec room, because it is not used much, and there's not much natural light, which we are worried could interfere with the camera's ability to see the IR LEDs on the track clearly.

We also decided that it would be easier in this case to mount the track directly to the ceiling instead of using poles. There is an existing pipe to which we can mount the track, using special clips, but the same clips could also be used to mount a track to a sheetrock or acoustical tile ceiling.  I am inserting a sketch of what I have in mind here.  Grace will 3D print some so that we can try it.  A clip will be glued to the end of each of 8 four-foot long sections of track. That clip will be screwed to the ceiling or tied to a pipe. Then, the next piece will be hung up in the same way, until all 8 sections are hung up. I think that this would work for almost any room or hallway, as long as the space is long and wide enough. For tying the clips to a pipe or other existing ceiling structure, we are putting slots through which you can place plastic wire ties for easy temporary installations. A wire will come out of one end of the track and run to the computer, which could be mounted to the wall or on a table.