I´m born into a house with no computer

So, school started. It´s been a bit crazy this days but it´s been fun. Meeting new people, making new friends, learning new things
I wish I had only school to focus but I still have to finish other projects to start to focus only at ITP!!
almost there!!...is going to be a long week

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Simplicity (1) (2) (3)

Complexity (1) (2)

Week 1 Assignment:
Make a “thing” that communicates what you are interested exploring in this class.

Response:
I´m interested in exploring social interactions in Public Spaces. ( main interest at ITP)

Keywords:
People + Interaction + Public Spaces = an object

This is tough!! My head is hearting me --- too much thinking the last days ---- anyone knows where is the switch ?

I start with some ideas but I was missing one of the key points of the assignment: Public Space. I was trying to explore the idea of making the invisible, visible. How can we represent through an object the connections between people and how can we measure/quantify that connection?
I came out with some interesting ideas that I can develop later, i guess.

So I went back to the beginning and start thinking that the " function " of this object that we will "use" in Public Spaces, is make people interact/ communicate
People <--> object && People <-- object-- > People

I thought in simple forms, like rectangles, squares, balls as a starting point in define the object. Something to be for example in a park, static or in movement, that require multiple interaction, input from people to breathe and live

Meanwhile, i remember one project i saw sometime ago, that was a wall made of wood with embedded sounds and that required that the "user" to get closed to the wall to ear the sound. I think it was in London..i don´t remember quite well... but it make me think about using sounds within the object.

Since my idea is to create something low tech and with sound, one idea is to use the participant's voice as the input. They can sing, yell, talk, speak. So people create sounds ( need somehow a place for input) and people listen to the sounds created by the others participants (place for output)

Idea:
The Ball of Sounds is an object that lives in public spaces that needs simultaneous human voice input to "live". It works as communication device and it aims to encourage social interaction in public spaces. The Ball is reacting to the input of the participants, inflating and deflating based on the amount of input from the participants. If you don’t use it, he will die/fall and if people make him happy he ´ll become bigger and happier.

Object
An inflate transparent ball with a labyrinth of tubes inside. The idea is to have at least
10 to 12 tubes and having some tubes that work as input and others that work as output of the sounds created. Some of the tubes will be connected together, making the different sounds mix together. The idea of using a transparent ball is to bring some kind of visibility to the project. You can see the different participants and their location but at the same time, since there is a labyrinth of tubes, you don't know to who you are talking.

How to do it ?
A) Create the inflate ball, using the instructions kindly gave by that Huong Ngo, an artist based in NY that created the Pop-Up Studios based in inflated structures.

B) Find a malleable material to build the labyrinth. I though on one way to make it and I have to build the structure..i guess

C) Think in a system for the grown of the ball.

D) Hope it will works...at least i not going to crash (hihihih)

Problems:

Wind: maybe the object will fly...
Sound of the generator/fan that makes him live
Find a material that can inflates and grow/swell
Find a material to make the tubes

1. Prepare Breadboard -- Ready to Go!

2. Basic LED Circuit

4. Components in Series -- Add a third ( no enough voltage)

5. Components in Paralell

6. Generating a Variable Voltage with a Potentiometer

Find the right material to create the prototype :

So I spend yesterday running from one store to other, trying to figure out how I can build this object.
I was thinking of using plastic bags to create the inflate ball ( reusing materials) but I decided to change and use a ball already made, like a beach ball to create this prototype. I went to Canal Plastics and bought 2 half transparent circles made of plastic that was ideal to build this prototype since I had to put the labyrinth of tubes inside the ball.

To create the labyrinth, I bought plastic cables that is used to protect wires and with sculpture wire inside I shaped them to create the desire effect of a labyrinth.

One of the most difficult part was to decide how to create the holes on the plastic ball, in order to create the inputs and outputs and also to put each individual tube out of the ball. First I thought in using the drill but I decided to try using the solder iron to "burn" the plastic and this way create a hole. Yes...the soldering iron is dead..maybe i can use it again to burn something else..but it worked perfect to create the holes.

Here is the result of this experiment:

My first time working with arduino!
This week was easier that last week. Besides the fact that everything is really well explained in the website, sometimes electricity doesn’t flow the way we want and I hope I’ll learn (need to practice more) to " debug" it better.

Starting Point:

IT´s´not easy to understand which input/output pin is which....it got better after
a while!

End Point

And the funny thing is that was exactly between this moment ( and the repetition of it) that I had the idea for the combination locker.
Amazing! I hope this method will work for the rest of the semester.

The first thought, as a graphic designer, that came after class where we talked about modularity was about modular typefaces. So I though about playing with shapes for my assignment, but I didn’t had time to explore this idea. But here are some interesting ideas related to this theme

Modular Type/ Pixel Fonts

Max Kisman

Toypography
"Fragments of letters, that can be put together to either form English or Japanese letters and characters. The thing about Toypography is, that Japanese expressions can be transformed into English expressions of the same meaning"

Modular Tape

The idea for this assignment was to make something simple. This doesn’t mean that simple is easy. What I learn with this project is that the idea u have in your head and the end result are entire different. (no time, no experience at all, getting crazy). _Lesson number 1: practice a lot!!

Idea:
Create 3 light cubes that must be in the right position to light up

Aim:
Learn how to use and create your own switches.

Result:
The direction was to explore more the physical interface rather that the code itself.
Each box was a different position of the switch that only connect with the right switch place on the board. The code is only analyzing if the 3 switches are on and if yes, the led´s inside the box will light up. ( see code below)

Problems:

Creating the contacts. This was the hard part of the project, for sure. The plastic boxes were very fragile and the box did have enough weight to " force" the contacts to work. Also the " base" where the user put the cubes should be #. Should be with squares holes where the user put the boxes.
When I took the pictures the system was not working so well, The box in the middle wasn’t making the contact and also the others needed a finger help to work.

A combination locker is a kind of game, always. The combination locker we have at school is a game that I would prefer not play everyday --- is a bad interface.
I know that I have to follow 3 steps to open it but I do i know that the first number or second number was ok? Each input should have a feedback, something that tells me that --yes--input number 1, correct!!
I didn’t had time to finish this part but the idea was to give some visual feedback to the user if he put one box in the right position. First, he had a clue that he was doing the right thing (putting the boxes on the board) and second, if he puts one box in the right position, he had know that at least that one was ok. The idea was to create a blink effect feedback.

Applications:
Now that I look for the result of the project, one project that could use this kind of interface is a game of words for kids. Each cube has a letter and when the cubes together for a word the lights of the boxes light up.
( maybe there is something similar on the market, for sure!!)

Schematic: ( have to scan the drawing)

Code:

// declare variables:
int switchPin1 = 2; // digital input pin for switch1
int switchPin2 = 3; // digital input pin for switch2
int switchPin3 = 4; // digital input pin for switch3
int oneLedPin = 6; // digital output pin for 1 LED
int twoLedPin = 7; // digital output pin for 2 LED
int threeLedPin = 8; // digital output pin for 3 LED
int switchState1 = 0; // the state of the switch1
int switchState2 = 0; // the state of the switch2
int switchState3 = 0; // the state of the switch3

void setup() {
// defining input and outputs
pinMode(switchPin1, INPUT); // set the switch1 pin to be an input
pinMode(switchPin2, INPUT); // set the switch2 pin to be an input
pinMode(switchPin3, INPUT); // set the switch3 pin to be an input
pinMode(oneLedPin, OUTPUT); // set the 1 LED pin to be an output
pinMode(twoLedPin, OUTPUT); // set the 2 LED pin to be an output
pinMode(threeLedPin, OUTPUT); // set the 3 LED pin to be an output
}

void loop() {
// read_get something
// read the switch input:
switchState1 = digitalRead(switchPin1);
// is always reading the state of the switch but analizing the pin 2
switchState2 = digitalRead(switchPin2);
// is always reading the state of the switch but analizing the pin 3
switchState3 = digitalRead(switchPin3);
// is always reading the state of the switch but analizing the pin 4
// condition for all switchs
if ((switchState3 == 1) && (switchState2 == 1) && (switchState3 == 1)) {
// write_ do something
// if the 3 switch is closed:
digitalWrite(oneLedPin, HIGH); // turn on the 1 LED
digitalWrite(twoLedPin, HIGH); // turn on the 2 LED
digitalWrite(threeLedPin, HIGH); // turn on the 3 LED
}
else {
// if the switch is open:_ state 0
digitalWrite(oneLedPin, LOW); // turn off the 1 LED
digitalWrite(twoLedPin, LOW); // turn off the 2 LED
digitalWrite(threeLedPin, LOW); // turn off the 3 LED
}
}

Morning Observation:
From home to school, I decided to observe how people use technological devices in everyday life. I realized that more than a communication device/interface, the cell phone as other main purpose in modern days: replacing watches. I saw a bunch of people using it to see time in very fast movements, maybe 5 sec, the time to take it out of the pocket or bag, open it up, looking at it and closing it. There was a girl near my house that was doing that when I was passing by her that reminded me a cowboy, pulling his gun as fast as possible.
In the subway, besides cell phones (I still don’t understand quite well if there is network or not but a few people seem to have access to it or otherwise they are crazy, faking conversations) the most seen device we see people using is the MP3 player, not to say the Ipod or other brand since today all brands are normalizing their look - but people that use mp3 players, nowadays, are recognized by the white earphones. In this particular morning, I didn’t saw any physical manifestation of the input they were receiving - music - or even I saw any of them with the device in their hands. They were calm and static - maybe it’s was because they were more introspective or maybe because they were still in sleep mode. But I love when I see people feeling the groove and the rhythm of sound and dancing or singing on the subway ---in those moments I just smile and feel happier, for some reason, but it wasn’t the day.
But one thing interesting happened. From queens plaza to the 8th street station, a young guy sat near me (or maybe I sat near him..eheeh..yes that right). He was listening to music (same color earphones) and playing with a PS3. I thought, hummm, this is interesting!! He was sat, a bit curved, holding the device with both hands and he was moving his fingers and pushing buttons slowly, from time to time. I didn’t have the chance to look to the screen to see what was he playing but certainly it was not requiring a strong action. Maybe because of the game or maybe, again, it’s was very early. What was very interesting it’s was the fact that he was all the time changing his position, the way he was sitting. I don’t know how long he was on that train but he was not comfortable at all.
In this video that is not happening but at least u have an idea of the set up:

Missing pict´s:

Setting:
People interacting with a huge metal box

Physical Orientation of the Person:
Standing

Interaction: ( A.User / B. Device)
A. Press button (up or down – arrow buttons)
B. Light show up
A. Looks up (moves head up)
B. Devices tell the current position
A. Wait
A. Wait
B. Devices tell the current position
A. Wait
A. Press button again
A. Wait
B. Door open -- Sound
A. Walk in
A. Press button – choose floor
A. Press second button
A. Wait
B. Delay
B. Door close -- Sound
B. Sound and visual feedback – moving upper
B. Sound and visual feedback – moving upper
B. Sound and visual feedback – moving upper
B. Sound and visual feedback – moving upper
B. Another sound – stronger
B. Door open
A. Walk out -- finally

Lab exercise --analog inputs --using potenciometer:

Lab exercise --analog inputs --using FSR 1

Lab exercise --analog inputs --using FSR 2 -- creating delay btw both pair of led´s


Assignment: Luv-o-meter

I love the idea of creating a luv meter but ideas are not passing by my head in this moment so I decided to face this assignment as an exercise.
The idea I have is to create a kind of wearable - a pair of gloves - that a couple can wear. In each glove there is a heart (made of led´s) and a force sensor resistor.
When the couple grabs their hands the heart will light up!

The idea doesn’t work as a luv-meter, it’s just a physical representation of the gesture of being together.
For the purpose of this exercise and because I’m using a FSR I want to work and explore the possibilities of this kind of variable resistor. So if they grab hands stronger they will light up the led´s in a certain way.

This doesn’t mean that I want measure love with force or pressure. That is not my concept of love..so it’s just an exercise.
Another thing that I figure it out, when exploring the possibilities of the FSR, in the breadboard, is that, this is not the right sensor to use in this particular situation.
The FSR is very sensitive and this one that I borrow from a 2-year student (thanks, eric) is big. I saw one smaller on the Sensor workshop page, maybe this work better for this purpose. But I think it will work better if it is attached to a fixed position and not a glove -- our hand is always moving around!!

" I tested force and resistance characteristic with 10ohm, 1Kohm and 100Kohm resistors. First, I put from low number of resistor (10ohm) to high number of resistor (100Kohm). If I used 10ohm, a decrease in resistance was slow and needed more force. On the contrary, If I used 100Kohm, a decrease in resistance was fast and required less force."

Let’s try this!!

1. Heart -- 10 led´s ( 5 output´s == one input for 2 led´s in series)
2. Gloves -- the idea is to use conductive thread to connect led´s, maybe later explore this feature
3. Get more control of the FSR -- how attach the sensor to the glove?

Flowers-- the begining ( exercise made with Itai)

For this assignment, I decided to go back to the first project and use the object I created as my module. This object (ball) will function as a module for a system of connected balls .

The idea is to have two or more connected balls that allow “conversations” between the participants of different balls. Like a multi-user environment, where each module is, at the same time, sending to and receiving information from others modules.
If each module alone is reacting to the input of the participants, inflating and deflating based on the amount of input from the participants. When the same module is connected to the system, to other modules, how is the interacting btw them? A question for later.
So it’s like a system (one ball) inside another system (multi balls connected), with interactions at different levels.

My first idea was to create a system of connected modules that are physical connected by a tube, like the tubes that are inside each module but bigger and longer. Each module will function as a sender and receiver, creating a multi-user collaborative environment of sounds, words or music and connecting the different participants.
( an idea: have speaker around the area in the park that output that collaborative work ( even if it only conversations)

The idea of communication at a distance always was an ambition of man and society. With the telegraph and the telephone, the relation btw time and space changed forever and opened the possibility of sending messages “ without body”, as Claudia Giannetti says in her essay “ Ars Telematic: Telecommunication, Internet and Cyberspace”.
This idea of communication at a distance and the way artists in the twenty-century worked with emergent technologies for communication or connecting remotely always seduced me.
The experiments in the late 70´s, when artists started to work with network systems to create live performances creating a real time virtual space, were an important attempt to collapsed geographic boundaries and explore connectivity.

Examples of works:

Kit Galloway
Hole-In-Space: A Public Communication Sculpture

"A three-day, life-size, unannounced, live satellite link allowing spontaneous interaction between the public on two coasts Video cameras and rear projection screens were installed in display windows at Lincoln Center for the Performance Arts in New York and The Broadway department store, Century City, Los Angeles Each screen displayed life-size, full-figure images of people on the opposite coasts There were no signs or instructions Passers-by drawn to the windows discovered an open channel through which they could see, hear and talk with people on the other coast almost as if they were standing on the same street corner Pictured A woman on screen from New York City leans forward to visit with silhouetted people in Los Angeles"

Eduardo Kac
Interfaces

"Interfaces was a live exchange conceived and organized by Eduardo Kac which took place on December 10, 1990, between a group of artists in Chicago and another group in the Center For Creative Inquiry, at the Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh. This piece dynamically explored the formation and dissolution of identities online. It was experienced projected on a large screen in the auditorium of the The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

"Interfaces" established a visual dialogue between the participants in a way that was purposefully similar to a verbal exchange between two people -- bringing the improvised and spontaneous feed-back loop of a personal conversation to the realm of video. This "visual conversation" explored the characteristic top-to-bottom, vertical rendering of slow-scan TV (SSTV), to produce unexpected faces in real time.

Participants in Chicago were not aware of the exact images that would be transmitted by the Pittsburgh group and vice-versa. This unpredictable situation added an element of surprise to the process. As images overlapped on the screen, parts of a face (from Pittsburgh, for example) were slowly scanned over another face (previously sent by the Chicago group). Successive faces were created in the virtual space of the screen as the performance progressed.

The concept of Telepresence, communication over distance, can be today faced as an old concept and we forgot that the Internet is a big Telepresence environment that allows us to be present all over the world in multiple contexts.

My idea is to base my approach in these ideas and concepts, exploring connectivity and collaboration btw # physical spaces. Instead of creating a system of two or more modules in the same location and having them physical connected through tubes, each module is in a different location, maybe another country (exploring different languages and the misunderstanding of language).

Each module has a group of 3 tubes that are connected. Two of them are physically closer in the module, one is the input and the other the output and both are connected to a third one (output) that is on the opposite side of the ball
The input tube will work as the sender to the remote module, the closer output tube will be the receiver of the other module and the third output tube will be receiving both, outputting the conversation btw two modules.

For this assignment I have to think , in relation with the system that I purpose in the previous assignment, how each module is connected to the other and also how the system work in each module. Since inside each module, there is a kind of labyrinth of tubes, how can I create connectors that easily allow me to connect and disconnect individual tubes?

I thought about using connectors that are used in the normal tubing system. A T-joint where I can connect 3 tubes or a 4 joint where 4 tubes can be connect.

An ideia of what can be used to hold the tubes to the inflated module:

This pieces can be made of metal or plastic and they must be also connected to the tubes.

Another thing that I also have to think is the technology involve to send data from one module to the other module. I can use a cell phone inside the module to send the information to the other module or a wireless connection that send data from one module to a computer and then send it to another computer that, again, sends the data to the other module.

As a conclusion of this project, I think that the idea of using the ball as a module of a collaborative environment and having 2 or more modules connected will work better if we think that it will happen as a performance, prepared to happen once. And having just one ball, like the initial idea ( assignment one), as an object that can be installed in a park for some weeks.