Physical Computing Final Documentation

To view the documentation for the final project for physical computing click here

Physical Computing Midterm Assignment

Documentation for our midterm assignment is here

Physical Computing Idea

An Idea for a Project
Having spent a lot of time with Eddo Stern's show at Postmasters (as I am reviewing it for Art Papers) it inspired me to try to make my own moving figure. I like the idea of lazer cutting plexiglass into the pieces that would make a figure and fashioning it together so that the joints could move. I guess each part would be wired and when a viewer pushes a button (an on/off switch) the arms, legs and head would move. I know this is simple but since i have never made anything that moves like this its a place to start. The figure would be attached to a wire rod and that attached to a block of wood. It could sit on a small pedestal and when a light shines onto it, it would cast colorful and moving shadows on the wall. Here is a sketch:

Physical Computing Midterm Assignment

I met with Mike and Seanita to discuss ideas for this project. I threw out the idea of beginning with a blind person's cane and attaching sensors to ti so that when it came in contact with a wall or curb it would send vibrations or sounds to the person using the stick. I was even thinking it could record images and send those to the user as well, perhaps inside a headset giving the blind a picture of what they could not see. while this idea has possibilities we moved on to talking about Mike's ideas of recording body movements for example the involuntary motion of legs bouncing. if we attached sensors to socks and could capture that motion perhaps we could also turn that into a sound or visual collage. We tossed that idea around for awhile, then i saw the eraser sitting on the table...what if, i said we recorded the motion of a person using the eraser, as they wiped the text or images off a white board. Everyone got excited about that idea. It is simple but possible to execute. Mike knew what kind of sensors and tracking devices we could attach to the device to capture the motion. It would be easy to get numerous erasers to cut apart and attach wires to and there are plenty of volunteers we could solicit to help us track a motion. What interest me most is the motion is gestural, a drawing in essence, that is recorded as a series of numbers that we can then turn into visual and or aural data making a hopefully beautiful sound/image collage based on the movements of people interacting with the device. What I also like is while erasing we are also creating. We will see where this goes in the coming weeks. Documentation of our discussion was recorded by Seanita and Mike and can be seen here.

Physical Computing Lab 4

For Lab 4 we were instructed to attach the servo (motor) to the arduino. I got it to work without much trouble, making it spin through varying the light coming in through the photo sensor. With mike, we were able to tweak the high and low range of input, (a bit of math I do not really 100% understand) so that the numbers matched the high and low value in the program. I also was able to adjust the frequency of sound coming from the speaker using this same code.

Physical Computing Observation Assignment

JeaYoon and I did our observation assignment together.
What we saw and though can be found here

Physical Computing Lab 3

For lab 3 we were to use the potentiometer to regulate the light coming from the LEDs. I did that last week so to continue, I took apart a toy cell phone and disconnected its speaker. Then I attached the speaker to the breadboard and then used the potentiometer to make the sound coming from the speaker to get louder and softer which worked, but also to change the frequency of the sound. On the Arduino page there is a code for a melody and I cut and pasted this to get the sound. I would like to be able to do this programming myself instead of cutting and pasting but I guess that will come later. Below are some images of this assignment. Sorry for the poor quality of the images, My camera does not do well in low light nor does it focus close.







This image represents my idea:



What I want to eventually be able to do is to go back to my toy phone--and use the key press as a button (or switch) to have LEDs light up to make a figure (or a word or series of words).

Right now step one will be for me to connect the inside of the phone back to the speaker and when the buttons are pushed the sound (now connected to the breadboard) plays. Once this works, I can try to use the phone as a trigger for LEDs. Mouna said to set up a grid of 9 switches and have them each light up different or sequences of LEDs on the bread board. Once I get this to work I can go back and "hack" the phone and use it as the switch. where each of its different button causes something else to happen. I would also like to be able to build a nice looking object abotu 4 x 4 inches that has this grid of LEDs but thic can come later. I will try to get to the first few steps of this idea soon and then move 1 step at a time. Its all so foreign to me. I know what I would like to see but do not really have a clue how to get there.

Physical Computing Arduino

After much trouble and a lot of not understanding I finally set up the breadboard and the arduino and got it all working. Todd helped me set it on a piece of wood and now I understand that this set up can stay this way and be used for other things. I was able to get the code into the arduino program and make the switch turn on and the leds blink. I then connected the potentiometer but don't really know what is supposed to happen with that.
This is about the most confusing stuff I have ever tired to understand.

Physical Computing Art Presentation

On Saturday I visited many Chelsea art galleries and kept track of any interactive projects or projects that used physical computing. This month there are many. (see art log)

I wanted to present two of my interactive installations. Both were programmed by other people and one of the reasons i am here at ITP is because I want to know how to do these things for myself.

My first interactive installation was called Disembodied Voices and it was a 5 projection installation. Four of the projections were looping DVDs. Just the fifth (center screen) was interactive. 10 toy cell phones were suspended from the ceiling, these were the triggers for the interactivity. When the buttons on the phones were pushed the key press in Flash was activated through the hacked key board we used, causing sound to fill the space and the icon on the screen to grow.

This is a picture of the component we used that was attached to the computer and the phones.

The project's documentation can be seen here:
http://www.jodyzellen.com/dvx_index.html

The other installation I created was when I had a residency at Pace University. I worked with the computer science department to create an interactive installation where viewers triggered sounds and projections as they moved up and down the stairs. Processing was used to interface between the sensors and the flash animations I created. Documentation of this instalaltion can be seen here:
http://www.jodyzellen.com/pace2.html

Physical Computing Observation Assignment

Observe people using technology.

Early in the morning I went to the gym and the attendant scanned my gym pass. Often this technology is not working as as many days as they scan the card, I have to write in my number.

Walking up Broadway is usually a chore as people are on their phones talking and texting as they walk.

When I went to order my coffee at Starbucks, I noticed that the cashier types in my order and it appears as a label on my cup.

At the grocery store the items I bought are scanned.

Later in the afternoon I saw an electronic billboard and was struck by its changing imagery as well as the luminosity of its display.

When I had to buy a new metro card I paid attention to the interface of the machines. These are much better designed than any bank machine I have used. The display is clear and the steps to purchase or refill a card easy to use.

In most of my observations I was sruck by how we take advantage of technology without realizing we are using it.