Concept
The inspiration for this idea came from the different colored LEDs included in our kits. I saw each representing a different element/object in nature (blue-water, red-fire, yellow-sun, green-earth/plants), and I delved deeper into that to develop my idea. I would like to create a system in which the user can interact with the Arduino and see on the screen and on the Arduino their interaction with ‘nature’. Similarly to my midterm project, “Zen Garden”, I find nature to be very relaxing and an important component of life – and technology somewhat draws us away from nature by taking up a lot of what could potentially be ‘outdoors time’. This is my way of once again bringing nature to the technology.
Implementation
For the implementation, I intend to have a switch to switch between the different elements – or 4 switches so the used chooses which element they would like. P5js will show simulations of rain for water, fire, leaves falling off a tree for plants, and the sun and its rays for the sun. To create a slightly more immersive feel, I will use the RGB LED which will light up in the appropriate color, and animate dimness and brightness according to what is on the screen. Furthermore, there will be a potentiometer with which the user can control a different magnitude for each element. For water – the amount of raindrops, for fire – how large the fire is, for plants – the wind direction in which leaves fall, and for the sun – the number of sun rays shown.