Mar 27

Final Project – Music Visualiser

My final project will be a music visualization system for live audio, specifically catered to small live bands. The system will consist of software to drive the visuals and hardware that allows the musician to interact with them. The visuals will be projected and will show a history of the sonic environment, not constantly changing but rather a somewhat cohesive evolving form that is effected by music over time. The visuals are fed into a controller that lets the visual projectionists fine tune the visuals as they happen.

In addition to visualizing the audio environment, I’d also like to pair this with a sensing element that the performer can wear. This will be a motion sensor or similar that tracks movement and allows the performer to interact with the visuals. I’m thinking of this as an open source project that will be well documented so that other people could use it and adapt it for their own audio projects.

I plan to begin by developing the software component using an audio analyzer that I developed in MAX/M.S.P. last semester and building off of that. For the hardware component I’m still investigating whether I want to use something pre-existing like a WII-Mote, or if I want to work with a wireless/bluetooth arduino. I also need to do a lot more research of current/past music visualizations in order to situate the project in the appropriate context.

 

Mar 27

Final Project – Brain App

Introduction

For my final project, I intend to manifest my project concept from the Social Media project. This will entail developing a mobile app (either iOS or Droid) that synchronizes with an external neurofeedback device – a device that I am building for an independent study with Katherine.  The purpose of the application will be to allow the user to track and manually annotate their own neurofeedback.  Ideally I will be able to also create the functionality for a user to be able to share his or her personal research with  a central server, though this will be a bonus feature that I probably won’t get around to.

Phases (Priority List)

1. Get neurofeedback serial data to successfully send and store to mobile phone

2. System for annotation of external stimuli/moods

3. Some type of simple visualization of data

4. Interactive visualization system (charts, graphs, with settings)

5. Share capability with central server

Goals

– Learn how to develop mobile applications for iPhone or Android (preferably iPhone but Droid would be easier)

– Have a crude application that stores personal EEG research and can be revamped (v2.0), replicated, and used by others.

Concept

 

Mar 27

Proposed Idea for Final (Very Early Stages)

I’m interested in memory preservation, and how we can continue to share the data we are documenting today in ways that remove it from the traditional “network” model (i.e. the dead drops projects). I’m also interested in bio-tech and the ability to incorporate ecology into technology. This weekend I’m participating in the bio-reactor workshop. Ideally, I would like the create a self sustaining, cloud using a bio-reactor for perpetual power.

Mar 27

Final Project ideas

I have a few vague ideas for a final project that i have not settled on yet.  I am still considering mobile yelp style application that takes user input and uses a mapping system that finds the closest and heap drink specials near you, mainly “happy meals” or a shot and a beer.  This project would be great for me to get my feet wet when it comes to launching an app for android as well as give me insight to generating user content as well as mapping systems.  another positive is that I will not only learn process to make something like this happen but i feel i will be able to make this happen in the scope of the rest of the semester.  Although this is not necessarily the artistic direction i would like to take my work I feel that it is a solid concept and is something that could live beyond the scope of parsons.

some other project ideas that i have been tossing around in my head is a way to make advertisements disappear from physical view in public space without changing the physical characteristics of an ad, basically keeping it within the legal limit.  It would be a sort of add blocker addon from the internet transformed and made for physical public spaces.  I have no clear idea how to tackle this problem or how the project will actually manifest but it is something that interests me and aligns itself with my personal belief system.

other interests of mine which i am going to try to keep vague which may help me settle on one or another in no particular order: Graffiti read write public space, hip-hop and hype(no rapper raps about being second best just like no product claims they have the second best product out there), bears(bear detector idea is not totally ruled out), something that truly helps people(pretty vague) DIY culture and the maker movement.  How i would visualize these projects in a completed stage is still uncertain.

Mar 27

final project description

During the brainstorming session I came up with a concept for connecting people who are freelancers, or may be out of work, or between jobs who also spend the majority of their time in coffee shops. Given this community of coffee shop “squatters” is already well established, I thought it would be a good idea to garner their skill sets through a series of project proposals displayed on a website, posted in the coffee shops or around a specific neighborhood.

The site offers up a series of projects that have are more or less great ideas that have not been fully developed, and then lists out all the specific people and skill sets that would be needed in order to make the project come to life. Where would these ideas come from you ask? Well, there are many great ideas floating around the 12th floor and in other graduate design and art schools that students build out in a few weeks or half a semester.  Most of these projects end up by the wayside due to a technical encounter, or lack of resources. Despite there being a great idea, projects like these are not fully realized.

However, on some occasions these initial ideas end up as thesis projects, where students have the opportunity to build out working prototypes and collaborate with others. Under the right conditions, these projects end up becoming businesses, but most do not. What if there was a place for graduate students to take their thesis projects, or any project for that matter, to the next level and fully build out? This could be looked at like the Kickstarter before Kickstarter.

There would have to be incentives of course for others outside of the academic community with technical skills sets or years of working experience to take part in someone’s project. There should be constraints on the project timeliness, like must be able to submit to Kickstarter in “X” amount of days. There are many logistical issues that need to be explored in this area.

In the next steps I would begin searching for precedence and get a feel from others if this is a reasonable concept that people would take part in. I would need to interview current students (not only in DT but at other schools) and also go to some coffee shops and ask people what they think. I need to discover the motivating factors in order to begin pushing this concept out.

Mar 27

Rough idea for Final Project

I am interested in pursuing different ways of mapping of an object in such way, that it would be interactive.  I would like to work on unusual ways of mapping objects, unusual surfaces, using projections.  I am drawn to issues of Self/Other . “Self image” is a mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change. “Self” can also result from how others perceive the individual.
Cognitive or Memory biases deal with memory errors that are common to all human beings. Memory biases may either enhance or impair the recall of memory, or they may alter the content of what we report remembering. store, retain, and subsequently recall information.
There are also Social Biases that affect one’s everyday interaction.
We also have Amnesia  during which memory is widely disturbed.
I am thinking of setting up a camera to take snapshots that would then be projected and somehow distorted unto a surface.
That surface would be an interactive platform, with light and sound.
I am thinking of a wearable table.
Words related to my project would be: DISRUPTION, SELF, OTHERS, MEMORY BIAS, COGNITIVE BIAS, BORDERS, PUBLIC, PRIVATE, LOOKING/SEEING, INVITATION.

 

Mar 27

Final Project Ideas – Block Party

So I initially wanted to continue the idea I came up with in class, but then I read the guidelines for the Final project and I kind of backtracked a little. I began to think about interactive projects/installations that involved public spaces and it took me back to a project I learned about last semester where people walked in front of a display that would move according to their movement. I wanted to try something similar with music. Dance music would play as they walked in front of the display, and silhouetted figures would dance according to the music. I wanted to have a mirror ball in front of the display.

Mar 27

Spider 1.0 – Virtual Maze Write Up

Here’s a link to my formal write up for my Virtual Maze Project. There, you can view pictures about my project and my creation process, like the ones below. Also, click on the screenshot above to view and check out my website.

Mar 24

Cite tweet MLA style

for anyone interested there is a correct way to site tweets now in mla style

http://edudemic.com/2012/03/how-to-cite-a-tweet-in-academic-papers/

Mar 23

Distance Interaction Project – ‘vidshare’ FINAL

In the final iteration of vidshare, I was able to build out 2 pages of the website showing the “logged-in” homepage and the page for viewing messages. As explained in the presentation, I encountered a technical hurdle in implementing the video player with recording and playback capabilities. After doing some research, I discovered that currently the only applicable means of adding this feature, cross-browser capable, is by using a Flash plug-in video recorder. To date HTML5 does not support video recording capabilities. It would take me some considerable amount of time in fully building out this feature.

Below are some screenshots of the site (click on the below images to go to that page):

'logged-in' homepage

 

view message page

There are a number of next steps that I would implement should this project be further developed. One aspect that I need to explore more, is a user scenario. By implementing a user scenario I could further strengthen the overall concept. Here is an example I have sketched out:

Jerry and Elaine had worked together for years in New York and became really good friends. After 4 years of working together, Elaine was offered a big promotion inside the company, and she accepted. However, the promotion would land her in London, but regardless of the distance the job was too good to pass up. Clearly this put a strain on her friendship with Jerry, and they attempted to commute as best they could through email and Facebook, however both preferred video chatting. 

The issue they consistently encountered is that in order for them to video chat between New York and London, they had to deal with the 4 hour time difference. Between both their schedules and extracurricular activities, they found it nearly impossible to meet up online at the same time, but also did not prefer long email exchanges, or posting random messages to each other’s Facebook walls. Video messaging (or video mail), would greatly accommodate their desire to continue communicating through video, but at times that would fit with their own schedules. 

Other next steps would be to further explore how other sites are using (or not using) video messaging and find the gaps where key components or better implementation could be pursued. This way I can find a small space that has not been heavily explored and expand on it. The end result of such research could then improve the design and layout of the site as it currently is.

I will be considering further development and exploration of this project for the final, however I feel it also important to brainstorm for a few days and see if I can come up with other ideas or concepts for the final.