Wearable Table System Pt1: Testing Max Msp, Arduino and Conductive tape switches

FINE PRINT: for some reason i can no longer upload active links to this blog. It all worked splendidly until last week. I don’t have this issue with other blogs…cut and paste pls

http://vimeo.com/40909656

Final Project updates – What is the Future of the Internet?

During the research process I began to focus on specific issues that I would like to tackle for the final project namely what sorts of governmental legislation we can expect to be up against in the future that could potentially infringe on our freedom to use the Internet as we do today. With the recent success of bringing down SOPA and PIPA, the general public is now more aware of what these laws are and what how their implications could affect us all, or are they?
The goal of this project is to create an interactive dataset where users can explore the characteristics of legislations like SOPA and PIPA to get a sense of what industries and companies support them, how much money is contributed to their passage and what goes on “behind the scenes”.

In addition to a dataset, I would also like to create a simple poster which highlights these issues, and present it in public for a good old fashion street-intervention. I would like to interview people to discover what they know, what their perceptions of these laws are and by revealing some new information to them provoking a call to action. The interviews would be videotaped and posted to the site along with the data.

call to action poster during street protest in January 2012

While doing research, I discovered that most people were not aware this legislation was taking place until websites like wikipedia were blacked out; people need to take more active measures in learning what new legislations are before major funding and lobbying begins.

Wikipedia black-out page protesting SOPA PIPA bils

By showing how industry spending on bills effects congressional legislation, people can be made aware just how much these companies can be detrimental to us. Industries should not be able to give unlimited amounts of money to congress for things that are not in the best interests of their constituents.

A key component in designing both the website, the poster and the street interviews is to keep it simple. By presenting facts in a clear cut easy to understand 2-line descriptions, the information will be easier to digest and process. This will be one of the major goals of the project, present clear, concise and relevant information.

Use the iPhone’s Safari Browser to Find location

This uses Javascript to find your location using the browser without having to write an iOS app.

Update: Programming Solenoids

My solenoids valves arrived and are all in working order. Finished rigging up solenoids to be controlled by arduino. Basic code is just alternating HIGH LOW every second.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk3LT450icM&feature=youtu.be

The Jig Is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future

First, you should check out this JOTLY ultimate app:

( p.s. I don’t know why for some reason the links are not clickable…)

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/11/jotly-the-ultimate-app-for-sharing-everything-with-everyone-psych/247866/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QIWpbfZHHzc

 

and here’s the “The Jig Is Up” article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/04/the-jig-is-up-time-to-get-past-facebook-and-invent-a-new-future/256046/

MoogBot – Final Project

Okay, so I think from today’s conversation, I was misunderstood, so after mulling over my ideas for this project, I’ve decided to try to explain this concept again, and finalize what I’m going to do for the next month. This is basically me laying out my battle plans for the next couple of days of things I need to complete for my project. There’s still some computing components involved but they’re relatively simple or should be simple to complete, once I ask around or figure out how to do it. I’ve done some sketching and will probably be doing more sketching in the next days or so, so look for another post from me.

Anyway, to start off, I really want to make a toy. I initially wanted it to be for the blind, but it doesn’t have to be just for blind kids either, although I don’t want to completely disregard blind users, and I’m thinking about ways I can include or incorporate their needs during user testing. I never really imagined that my toy would be 100% audio, and there will definitely be some trigger action involved regarding the interface of the toy/game and how the user plays with it. My precedent for the kind of toy I would make would be the Leapfrog toys with multiple built in interactive games.

The game element is still going to be a huge part of my toy as well, with most of the story/action being audio driven. With that said, you’re not just hearing sound, you’re also touching strange textures. I did a rough sketch to show you what I mean.

Continue reading

Conor’s Final – iOS Arduino Modem Communication

This link will take you to my blog where I detail how I intend to interface my Neurosky Mindflex with my iPhone using an Arduino and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modem communication:

IOS INTERFACING – FREQUENCY SHIFT KEYING (FSK) FROM ARDUINO

Communication Over A Distance, Complete!

Finally, DONE

We were asked to find creative ways to communicate over a distance. My original concept was a wearable technology which enabled one user to communicate with another through a haptic/physical feedback system. After more thought and fine-tuning I arrived at a scenario where one user could communicate a written message or image through a mechanical pen. With only a few weeks to create a prototype I scaled down this concept to something more manageable and technically feasible. The result, a decoder-pen. How does it work? One user creates a drawing or message using the web-based Java drawing tool. Once done, this user sends the other user this message via email (in the form of Arduino code) which they can then load onto the pen and manually decode. In the age of internet and immediacy, the decoder-pen presents a unique, tedious, intimate and somewhat secure way to communicate over a distance. While I don’t expect the FBI to be adopting this technology anytime soon, this may be something Inspector Gadget had used at one point in time.

The decoder pen features a hacked blackberry trackball, directional LED array, power mode toggle switch, start button, Teensy 2.0 microcontroller, coin batteries, and an acrylic housing.

More details found here, on my website.

Final Project (LOOMIS) notes from today

L O O M I S
F I N A L P R O J E C T P R O D O

Q U E S T I O N / P R O B L E M

Can we affect a person’s relationship to an object by infusing said object with a living organism? If so, how will this adjust interaction/ what ways can interaction be controlled to produce a specific effect? What is an appropriate effect to produce?

C O N C E P T

Having participated in the BIOMOD workshop with ANGELO VERMEULEN, I would like to continue working in the area of technology and ecology. The concept for the LOOMIS PROJECT is to create an interactive “exoskeleton” to house an algae colony (Chlorophyta). Algae colonies are a low maintenance way to drastically reduce Co2 levels and improve air quality. Algae is also an aesthetically pleasing material to work with, luminescent, semi-transparent and vibrantly green. The “exoskeleton” would serve to create an aesthetically pleasing bio-reactor, its exterior would look semi-organic and plant-like, yet would be made of a series of interwoven transparent acrylic tubes containing an algae colony. The colony would be constantly filtered through and pumped– giving the piece a pulse and thereby making it more lifelike.

I N T E R A C T I O N

This project would be categorized as Activity Centered Design (ACD) rather than User Centered. Since a user has no need to use this object on a daily basis the interaction must be centered around an activity, which is tending to the colony.

Emotions to exploit: responsibility, motherhood, god-complex. Caregiver is to sun as people are to algae, he/she must leave and return, bringing with him/her light, warmth, and comfort.

P O I N T S O F I N T E R A C T I O N

Speech: speaking will affect rate of water aeration. The higher the volume/ tone of what’s being said the more air will be pumped into water. Since aeration helps the colony, speaking to LOOMIS is helping it. A call and response interaction could also work here, where LOOMIS repeats sentences with bubbles. (working…)

Motion: on detection of motion, heaters will warm water, LEDS will illuminate to a warmer hue. Again, algae need a warm environment and so this will reaffirm responsibility for the colony. Stay away too long and the LEDS will illuminate to a colder hue.

E Q U I P M E N T

+-200′ Acrylic Tubing (6 feet tubes)
1 Water Pump
1 Aeration machine with multiple valves
1 motion sensor, 1 mic
1 arduino
RGB LED
Ultraviolet LED (water purification)
Servos/solonoids to control valves
Extra plexiglass for reservoir tank and bracing
100′ aquarium tubing
Algae Chlorophyta
Florescent tube lights
Miracle Grow

P R E C E D E N T S

http://www.designboom.com/cms/images/jayme01/wallpiercing/wall02.jpg

http://www.botanicalls.com/

R E L A T E D F I E L D S
Ecology
Bioreactors
Human ecosystem
Cybernetics
Memetics

DESIGN AND PROTO FORTHCOMING

Final Project, Part 4

Okay I added some ramps, spent three days fixing the serial funk, and created a very simple steal-the-flag game. Connor and Mehdi tested the gameplay with good results. Still a long ways to go…. the gameplay is looking a bit sad at the moment.