Category: Spring 2019

Bret’s article “A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design” was an a very stimulating read. I really enjoy reading half-formed ideas that do not necessarily serve the purpose of strong arguments and persuasion, as much as they serve as an inspiration- which can push us in challenging the status quo in our way, regarding even such banal scales as the design of things we use daily. As mentioned in my previous posts, I struggle a lot with making myself think outside of the known forms – just because one thing was designed in a certain way, with only subtle alterations throughout the years, it does not mean that we should continue on building on the very same design of “yesterday’s technology”. Yet I need to constantly keep reminding myself.

Here I found Bret’s central point of designing technology for humans particularly useful: he articulates the struggle I already had, yet with attentive observation of human nature. Though he did not bring anything concrete to the table, his remarks regarding the sensitive use of hands, through which we can feel instant feedback of almost any object (apologies to Crawford), well highlights the need for observation of human behaviour when designing a future interaction. Technology can be mended easily, human behaviour not that much. Yet the way Bret describes it, is that this behaviour is unchangeable – and that if designed badly, the interaction will remain unsuccessful, inefficient and uncomfortable.

I immediately connected this problematic to what I ran into in last couple of weeks. I recently started drawing on a tablet with a stylus – and I could not wrap my mind around the weird sensation I experienced while using it. Though the designers put a lot of effort into making the stylus of similar shape and weight as a pen/pencil would feel, as well as decreasing the distance between the glass and tip of the pen, there was something inherently funny and unsettling about the interaction.

Yet I would not say it wasn’t tactile the way Bret describes screens – on the contrary, maybe it was a way too tactile, making my hand being very confused about the flow, friction and feedback – the whole drawing interaction, as a sudden replacement to an interaction between a hand, piece of paper and a pen. Frankly, I was not completely convinced by the argument that we changed the tactile for the visual with touchscreen- we still experience both, but as creatures of habits, we tend to get very whiney and uncomfortable when the known form we are used to changes. It made me think of what is the main obstacle we should focus on in terms of predicting human behaviour regarding interaction: is the problem habits that, however, can be changed the way technology can be mended, or is it the human nature that is unchangeable and deeply encoded within our genes?

And, to leave this with a lighter note, here is a quick meme to balance the heaviness of the text, that, however, weirdly relates to Bret’s explanation of human capability, tool and need, and the whole futuristic spirit of the article. 

For my midterm, I wanted to expand on my last weekly assignment, which was to build an instrument using tone and servos. What I had in mind, then was to have a self-made band, or in other words creating a cover for a song using what I have.

The song I have chosen is “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People, and it is actually a cover of the acoustic live version of that. Here is the cover.

So basically, if you listen to the song, there is the drum, the bass guitar, and the acoustic guitar. I will now describe how each component will be re-created through Arduino.

Drum: I have already started on the drums. I made a small kit, as you will see in the video below, and now I just need the servos to be attached and do the job for me. I will also have to code the speed at which the servos, or should I say drumsticks, will move up and down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbI4eq4lDOw&feature=youtu.be

I do not know why this video is not showing as embedded, but the link should redirect you to the video.

Bass, Acoustic: Both the Bass guitar and the acoustic, I believe, should be recorded on Tone. However, as you can see, while the bass plays constantly throughout the song, the acoustic solo is only partial. So I have to make sure while one is looping constantly the other should only play once when I perform a certain action.

All of this will be performed through an analog input. When I fiddle with the photoresistor, for instance, the drum will start playing, etc. I want to make sure that each layer is added when I start the song, and hopefully my singing voice will be the last one to be added, completing the cover for the song.

I have always been interested in the intersection between visual arts and technology, and Interactive Media acts as the perfect middle ground for those interests. For my midterm project, I am considering creating a small art installation or performance; which will combine the use of a certain medium (paint, graphite, ink, etc.) with different sensors and motors to facilitate the process of producing a work of art. The installation will be interactive in the sense that the user can decide which movements or brushstrokes will be undertaken by the motors, through operating the different sensors.

For the midterm project, my ideas centers on creating an interactive piece using analog sensors and different sounds. The LoopMusicBox will be a an enclosed box with three labeled buttons for discoverability (SAVE, PLAY, RESET), a buzzer/disc, and a proximity sensor that allows the user to create music with notes decided with the user’s physical movement.

When the piece is powered, the buzzer will play a note where the user can simultaneously change the frequency of the note depending on the mapped value from the sensor – the close your hand is to the sensor, the higher the frequency of the played note.

When the user presses the SAVE button, the program will save the note with the respective frequency at the time the button is pressed and places in an array of saved notes. The user will continue the process until the PLAY button is pressed.

When the user presses the PLAY button, the program will play the notes that are saved in the array until the RESET button is pressed. Then, when the RESET button is pressed, the program resets and it restarts the process from beginning.

My midterm project was inspired while we were talking about having water on our projects and exploding.

I want to make a boat that has an Arduino attached to it. The boat will be made of plastic material so that it doesn’t sink (maybe inside a water bottle?) and will be enclosed so wires are not expose to the water.

For the sensor, I would be using an ultrasonic sensor for distance sensing, so that the boat knows to not go any further if it is near the surrounding wall of the box. I will attach two servo motors that is attached to some propeller looking object (I’d probably make the propeller myself from plastic). These two servo motors will control the direction the boat will move in.

1. Moving forward — left moves counter clockwise, right moves clockwise
2. Moving backwards — left moves clockwise, right moves counterclockwise
3. Moving left — left motor rotates
4. Moving right — right motor rotates

Users will press different buttons to move whichever motor. For example, if you want to go left, you would press a button for the left motor and another button for the direction of the motor.

“Art is but an imitation of nature.” –Van Gogh

For my midterm project, I want to create some sort of arrangement that imitates the relationship between sunflowers and the sun, an ode to my favorite artist. I am aiming to use servos, LEDs and photoresistors (and hopefully either a motion detector / humidity sensor too).

The author, coming back to answer questions on his rant, addresses a few more important details. His point about technology such as iPads not being bad but good for now is critical as the world engages in more research towards more interactive technologies.

I think his emphasis is on creating technology that allows humans to deal with tactile interfaces and not deplete our existence to immobility is important. However, I do not agree with his argument, using the neuroscientist’s words, that “while a blind person may simply not be able to find this or that object, the finger-blind cannot understand its inner meaning and value.” This seems a little exaggerated as humans are not only limited to their fingers to find meanings or value in things, we have four other very reliable senses that exist to help do this too. Therefore, I don’t think “finger-blindness” is the end-all and be-all of all things in future technology if we don’t achieve the tactile immersive technology the author is seeking.

 

With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?

The author rants about how the future of interaction forgets to include a critical component: the human capability of using our hands. The many levels of manipulation we can achieve with our hands is probably only limited to these limbs specifically and yet they are not given that much thought in the ‘future’ of interactive design.

I agree with the author because reading his rant reminded me of the the VR headsets that the world went crazy for a couple of years ago (and still does in a few places). Although they provide a new way for consumers to immerse themselves in an alien environment, they do not offer much more than just moving our heads left and right. Most forms of VR headsets do not allow for movement within the environment or any real acknowledgment of depth. In most, you can’t even see your hands and use them to manipulate the environment. So they make me question, how futuristic are they really?

Although the author does not offer any real solution, personally, I believe haptics are they way forward to provide the future of interaction with more ability to manipulate and actually make use of our bodies.

 

 

For this week’s project, Nick and I decided to create a cover for one of our favourite songs, “Shooting Stars” by the prominent Disco/Tech group Bag Raiders. Our project was divided into two parts, the beat (using Servos) and the melody (using Tone).

In total, we had three percussion-like instruments. The first, being a cork attached to a wooden stick, banging on a piece of wood, functioned as the underlying drum that would provide the 1/4 beat. Next, we had two metal rods attached to two different Servos hit glass cups to create clinking sounds that would harmonise with the Tone produced by the buzzers.

Our Tone had 4 buttons, namely four sounds (E-flat, E,B,A-flat). Each button would make the sound designated for 300 milliseconds, and with code we just had to make sure that we were using F-sharp, for example, the different name of A-flat since those weren’t registered in the library.

So below is the result of what we have created, since midnight yesterday when we first joined forces. Hence the name “Midnight Band”. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/G1A2rHHSoMI

// Include the Servo library 
#include <Servo.h> 

Servo myServo1;
Servo myServo2;
Servo myServo3;
int pos1 = 0;  //variable for number of degrees for servo1
int pos2 = 0; //variable for number of degrees for servo2
int pos3 = 0; //variable for number of degrees for servo3
int buttonPin = 2; //activating pin 2 for Push Button 
int buttonPin2 = 4; // activating pin 4 
int buttonPin3 = 7;
int buttonState = 0; //variable for Push Button
int buttonState2 = 0;
int buttonState3 = 0;
 
int angle = 0;

void loop() { 
buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin); //reading buttonPin and storing it as buttonState.
buttonState2 = digitalRead(buttonPin2);
buttonState3 = digitalRead(buttonPin3);
//Serial.println(buttonState, buttonState2,buttonState3); //telling computer to print buttonState. 
if (buttonState == LOW){ //if button is pressed...
  
  myServo2.write(180); //setting servo2 to 180 degrees
  delay(500); //wait one second   
   //setting servo1 to 180 degrees
  myServo2.write(20); //setting servo2 to 20 degrees
  delay(500); //wait one second
  }
if (buttonState2 == LOW){
  myServo3.write(20);
  delay(500);
  myServo3.write(180);
  delay(500);
 }
 if(buttonState3 == LOW){
  for(angle = 0; angle<180;angle+=6){
    myServo1.write(angle);
    delay(15);//setting servo1 to 20 degrees
  }
 }
}

void setup() {
  // attach the servo to pin number 9
  Serial.begin(9600); //activating Serial Monitor
  myServo1.attach(9); //activating pin 9 for servo1
  myServo2.attach(11); //activating pin 11 for servo2
  myServo3.attach(10); //
  pinMode(buttonPin , INPUT); //setting Push Button as an input
  pinMode(buttonPin2 , INPUT);

}

 

Since my primary passion in life is bringing technology into theater, I am interested in making a small model of a stage. In this model, I would have some set design that is attached to servos and leds/string lights to light the space. I would then be able to change the set and lighting design from a board on the outside of the model.

Features would include:

1) Lighting changes

2) Set changes

3) Curtains pulled back at start

4) All controlled from breadboard using sensors and buttons

I will be focused less on the entertainment side of IM and more on the functionality of it and its application into theater.