My role on the team was to fabricate the mechatronics that were responsible for developing the overall architecture that made the quiz logic, servo control, and sensor input all talk to one another as well as develop out the audio queuing portion of the code, I also was the voice talent for the hat!

THE Sorting Hat

For those that don’t know, the Sorting Hat is a creation described and utilized in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. In book, the Sorting Hat decides what ‘house’ each incoming first-year (~11 years old) will belong to at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is done by placing the Hat on each student’s head one by one, where the Hat “reads” their thoughts, personality, and aura to decide what house the student belongs in. Once the hat has made its decision, it shouts out the house for the whole hall of ongoing students to hear.

OUR Sorting Hat

Our Sorting Hat is based upon the imagery and idea that is utilized within the Harry Potter series. At a macro level, our Sorting Hat is worn by one person at a time, while facing a small audience of people.  Our Sorting Hat is shaped like a hat and resembles something that one might find in an old wizarding world. We have purposely made our hat rather large, so that our users and audience members feel like they are 11 year old first year students attending Hogwarts. At a meso level, the “selected student” places that hat on their head, like they would with a regular hat.  The hat then asks them a series of questions through a pre-set quiz set. The “student” then has the option to shake their head “no” or nod their head “yes”, as one would when typically responding “yes” or “no” through cranial gestures. As the “student” answers each question, the hat displays a series of facial expressions, accompanied by a set of audio noises that indicate that the hat is “thinking” and processing the “students” answers.  Once the “student” has answered all of the hat’s questions, the hat yells out the house that the “student” is in and the student can then remove that hat, just like one would with a typical hat. At a micro level, our Sorting Hat relies on people’s hearing, sight, and cutaneous sensing. To utilize these senses, our Sorting Hat includes three motors, an accelerometer, and two speakers in the form of a headset and an amplifier.

Emotionally, our Sorting Hat focuses on creating emotion within both the person wearing the hat and the audience members.  For the person wearing the hat, our goal is to make the person feel listened to and understood, through a personal and private one-on-one interaction with the hat. We also want this person to feel special and and wanted through the personal attention paid to them by the audience members and the shouting out of the person’s house by the hat.  While the person has private moments with the hat, we want the audience to be on the edge of their seats in excitement and expectancy as they wait for the results from the hat. These emotions are created through the curious and thoughtful facial expressions and noises that are portrayed through the hat.