Month: November 2025

Reading A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design honestly made me think how much I take my hands for granted. The author talks about how our hands are designed to feel and manipulate things and it really clicked for me when he compared using a touchscreen to “pictures under glass.”  That idea stuck with me because it perfectly captures what phones and tablets feel like: flat, smooth, and completely disconnected from the sense of touch. I never thought about it before, but it’s true , we don’t really “feel” anything when we use them. It’s weird to realize that the same hands that can tie shoelaces or shape clay are now mostly used to swipe on a flat screen.

The part that resonated most with me was his point that technology should adapt to us, not the other way around, especially when he says that technology can change but human nature cannot change as much. I see it all the time,  people getting frustrated because a phone gesture doesn’t work or because an app “expects” you to use it a certain way. It’s like we’re the ones bending to fit the machine, instead of the machine fitting how we naturally act. Also , with older objects like books or physical instruments, there’s something really satisfying about physically turning a page or pressing real keys. You just feel connected to what you’re doing. With touchscreens, everything feels the same no matter what you’re interacting with.

One part I didn’t completely agree with was how strongly he dismissed “Pictures Under Glass.” I get his point, but I think those devices have opened up creativity in new ways,  like drawing on an iPad or making music digitally. It’s not tactile in the same sense, but it’s still expressive.

The follow-up also made me think about how disconnected technology can make us sitting all day, barely moving, everything done with a single finger. I guess, I am a little scared of a future where we become immobile because there’s too much automation, and we don’t need to do much anymore. I guess we shouldn’t be losing touch entirely with the world around us (pun intended).

Concept

For this week’s assignment, Khatira and I made a small musical instrument using an Arduino. We decided to create a pressure-sensitive drum pad that lets you play different drum sounds depending on how hard you press it.

The main part of the project is a force-sensitive resistor (FSR) that acts as the drum pad. When you press on it, the Arduino reads how much pressure you applied and plays a sound through a small buzzer. The harder you hit it, the longer the sound lasts, kind of like playing a real drum.

We also added a button that lets you switch between three drum sounds: a kick, a snare, and a hi-hat. So pressing the pad feels interactive, and you can change the type of drum as you play. It’s a really simple setup, but it was fun to experiment with.

Schematic

Video Demo

const int FSR_PIN = A0;        
const int BUTTON_PIN = 2;     
const int PIEZO_PIN = 8;     

// Drum sounds 
int kickDrum = 80;             // low drum
int snareDrum = 200;           // mid drum
int hiHat = 1000;              // high drum

int currentDrum = 0;         
int lastButtonState = HIGH;    

void setup() {
  pinMode(BUTTON_PIN, INPUT);  
  pinMode(PIEZO_PIN, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600); 
}

void loop() {
  int pressure = analogRead(FSR_PIN);
  if (pressure > 20) {
    int duration = map(pressure, 10, 1023, 10, 200);
    // Play the drum sound
    if (currentDrum == 0) {
      tone(PIEZO_PIN, kickDrum, duration);
    } else if (currentDrum == 1) {
      tone(PIEZO_PIN, snareDrum, duration);
    } else {
      tone(PIEZO_PIN, hiHat, duration);
    }
    delay(50);  
  }
  int buttonState = digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN);
  //if button was just pressed, we need to change drum sound
  if (buttonState == LOW && lastButtonState == HIGH) {
    currentDrum = currentDrum + 1;
    if (currentDrum > 2) {
      currentDrum = 0;
    }
    delay(200); 
  }
  lastButtonState = buttonState;  // Store utton state 
}

Future Improvements

For future improvements, we’d like to add a potentiometer to control the sound more precisely, allowing the player to adjust tone or volume in real time while drumming. We could also include LEDs that light up based on which drum sound is active and how hard the pad is hit. These additions would make the drum pad feel more dynamic,  and visually engaging.

Concept

For this week’s assignment, we had to make a musical instrument involving at least one digital sensor and one analog sensor. Aditi and I decided to create a simple piano-like instrument with lights whose pitch level can be controlled by a potentiometer. There are 4 buttons (switches) that act as the piano “keys” and play different sounds, while the potentiometer has been mapped to three different levels so that the keys produce a high-pitched, middle-pitched, and low-pitched sound.

Materials

• Analog sensor: 10K Trimpot
• Digital Switch: Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green tactile buttons
• Output: Piezo Buzzer to produce the sound and LEDs for light output

Schematic

Video Documentation

The Code

const int button_yellow=8;
const int yellow_light=7;
const int button_blue=9;
const int blue_light=6;
const int green_light=5;
const int button_green=10;
const int red_light=4;
const int button_red=11;
#define BUZZER 12
int potValue=0;
const int potPin=A0;
int melody[]={262,294,330,349,392,440,492,523}; // notes from C4-C5
int melody2[] = {523, 587, 659, 698, 784, 880, 988, 1047}; // notes from C5–C6
int melody3[] = {1047, 1175, 1319, 1397, 1568, 1760, 1976, 2093}; // C6–C7
int nodeDurations=4;
int increase=0;
int potValue_p;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  pinMode(button_yellow, INPUT);
  pinMode(yellow_light,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(button_blue, INPUT);
  pinMode(blue_light, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(button_green, INPUT);
  pinMode(green_light,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(button_red, INPUT);
  pinMode(red_light, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(BUZZER, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  potValue = analogRead(potPin);
  
  if (digitalRead(8) == HIGH) {
    if (potValue <= 300) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody[1]);
    } else if (potValue >= 300 && potValue <= 550) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody2[1]);
    } else if (potValue >= 550 && potValue <= 1023) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody3[1]);
    }
    digitalWrite(yellow_light, HIGH);

  } else if (digitalRead(9) == HIGH) {
    if (potValue <= 300) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody[2]);
    } else if (potValue >= 300 && potValue <= 550) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody2[2]);
    } else if (potValue >= 550 && potValue <= 1023) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody3[2]);
    }
    digitalWrite(blue_light, HIGH);

  } else if (digitalRead(10) == HIGH) {
    Serial.print("green");
    if (potValue <= 300) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody[3]);
    } else if (potValue >= 300 && potValue <= 550) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody2[3]);
    } else if (potValue >= 550 && potValue <= 1023) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody3[3]);
    }
    digitalWrite(green_light, HIGH);

  } else if (digitalRead(11) == HIGH) {
    if (potValue <= 300) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody[4]);
    } else if (potValue >= 300 && potValue <= 550) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody2[4]);
    } else if (potValue >= 550 && potValue <= 1023) {
      tone(BUZZER, melody3[4]);
    }
    digitalWrite(red_light, HIGH);

  } else if(digitalRead(8)==LOW && digitalRead(9)==LOW && digitalRead(10)==LOW && digitalRead(11)==LOW) {  
    Serial.println("Pin is LOW");
    noTone(BUZZER);
    digitalWrite(yellow_light, LOW);
    digitalWrite(blue_light, LOW);
    digitalWrite(green_light, LOW);
    digitalWrite(red_light, LOW);
  }
}

Reflection & Future Improvements

We had fun making this project, however it was also challenging to make all of the connections. Initially, we planned to have at least 6-7 switches, but the setup became so crowded with just 4. Aditi drew the schematic diagram on paper before we began to build the connections physically, and this made the process much more manageable. We definitely could not have done it without having the diagram in front of us first. Sometimes, the setup for a particular switch would not work and we would face trouble in figuring out whether the issue was in the code or the wiring. In future versions, we would love to have more keys, as well as a tiny screen that displays the letter for the current note that is being played. We would also want to research on more “melodic” or pleasant sounding notes to add to the code.

My initial impression regarding the”Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design” reading was that it was formatted in a very engaging way. As someone with ADHD, I tend to read long paragraphs a lot slower than individual sentences structured this way; this made me trust in the credibility of the author’s perspective on interaction design.

The way the author transitions from explaining the importance of touch to the complete lack of it in our touchscreen technology was really done, and I couldn’t agree more. Using touchscreens is really un-stimulating, and if anyone who has tried texting without haptics will know it feels incredibly unresponsive– but that also seems to be the future we’re headed towards. The images Bret Victor chooses to accompany his texts are hilarious too; there really aren’t many things we naturally need our hands to swipe on other than manmade touchscreens. Victor’s explanation of how humans naturally transition between grip-styles is pretty interesting to me too.

This reading gave me a lot to think about. One of the things that came to mind was the experience of using a controller versus mouse & keyboard when playing video games. For those unaware, let me explain the main differences between the two.

When you use a controller (or gamepad as some call it), you’re primarily using your thumbs for everything from the analog sticks to the surface-buttons. Using just your thumb to control your camera controls can be quite difficult if precise and delicate movements are required.

When you use a keyboard and mouse, your arm and wrist are capable of microadjustments while holding the mouse to input much more precise and delicate movements; not to mention your keyboard hand is using way more than just your thumb to control what’s happening on screen.

So going by what I’ve said, many would probably wonder why anyone would ever use a controller, but that’s the thing– I haven’t explained the one thing that makes this remotely a difficult decision.
Controllers give an extra layer of immersion by both letting the user relax their arms and lean back, but also provide the user with haptic feedback and vibrations in response to what’s happening in-game. Imagine you’re playing a game where explosions are involved– the controller would vibrate violently in your hands as explosions affect your character. This is why you turn to keyboard and mouse for precision but controllers for immersion.

Now onto Victor’s follow-up article– I thought his response to voice was pretty amusing, “I have a hard time imagining Monet saying to his canvas, “Give me some water lilies. Make ’em impressionistic.” It’s amusing because that’s literally how our modern generation approaches stuff they don’t know how to do.

One other thing that really caught my attention in the follow-up was this quote, “The density of nerve endings in our fingertips is enormous. Their discrimination is almost as good as that of our eyes. If we don’t use our fingers, if in childhood and youth we become “finger-blind”, this rich network of nerves is impoverished.” I wonder if late-gen Z and gen alpha have any indicators of finger blindness as so many of us grew up with touchscreen devices as our main source of entertainment.

A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design and A follow-up article

I have never really thought much about it, but if someone were to put me on the spot and ask me which is more important, the visual or the tactile senses, I would probably choose the visual. This rant by Bret Victor has successfully changed my mind, though. I think what really convinced me was the example he gave on tying shoelaces. Indeed, I could easily tie my laces with my eyes closed, but if I numbed my hands or fingertips, I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore. This enlightenment has made me realize that I’ve never even considered the tactile aspect of any of my works, even though the first part of the course didn’t have room for it. I’m excited to take this into account for my upcoming projects since they involve physical human interaction.

I really liked the way Victor described today’s technology of iPads and phones as Pictures Under Glass. When phrased in this way, it actually makes the technology seem so boring and unintuitive. Like what do you mean our “revolutionary” technology doesn’t use the human tactile sense at all, probably one of our greatest assets? It actually gets more absurd the more I think about it.

When I moved on to the follow-up article, I found some of the comments and his response to them quite funny. But amongst all of this, the line that really stood out to me was, “Channeling all interaction through a single finger is like restricting all literature to Dr Seuss’s vocabulary.” I believe this line perfectly sums up the point Bret was trying to bring across about iPad technology only using your fingers. Where real literature’s scope goes to Shakespeare and beyond, leaving a human being with words only from a Dr. Seuss book is the dumbest thing, anyone can see that. So why can’t people see that limiting one’s fingertips- the body part with the highest density of nerve endings- to a flat, smooth screen, is dumb too? Overall, this has been one of my favorite readings so far, very eye-opening.

Bret Victor’s “A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design” reads less like a complaint and more like a plea for imagination. His frustration with “pictures under glass” isn’t really about touchscreens rather about how easily we mistake convenience for progress. Victor’s argument that our hands are not just pointers but thinking tools is relatable. I’d never thought of a touchscreen as “numb,” but he’s right: sliding a finger across glass is nothing like twisting, folding, or shaping an object. He’s asking designers to respect the body’s intelligence, the millions of years of evolution that made us good at feeling, gripping, and sensing the world. I agree with him almost entirely. What unsettles me is how quickly we’ve accepted numbness as normal. We’ve trained ourselves to think that friction is a flaw when it comes to UX.

The Responses piece adds an interesting layer of humility. Victor doesn’t pretend to have the solution. He admits he was ranting, not designing one. Still, his answers to critics are telling. He pushes back against gimmicks like voice control and “waving your hands in the air,” arguing that real interaction should involve the whole body and the tactile richness of touch. I found myself nodding at his line about computers needing to adapt to our bodies, not the other way around. That’s such a simple reversal, yet it cuts right through decades of design laziness. When he compares touchscreen culture to “restricting all literature to Dr. Seuss’s vocabulary,” it’s funny, but it also nails the deeper loss: we’re settling for tools built for children, not adults.

If there’s one thing I’d question, it’s Victor’s nostalgia for physicality. I agree that touch and movement matter, but I also think the human imagination adapts. The digital world is training new forms of dexterity which are mostly mental than physical. Coding, multitasking, navigating layered interfaces – these, too, are forms of “touch,” just less visible. Maybe the future of interaction design isn’t about replacing glass with holographic clay, but about balancing sensory depth with cognitive range. Victor’s rant reminds me that design should evolve with both the hand and the mind.