These were very useful readings and did a very good job at introducing me to motors and other aspects of mechanics, which I haven’t heard about or have forgotten. I also haven’t realised that diodes like the Leds we have been using were so important for our circuits. Chapter 6 for example opened up a bunch of possibilities for future projects that could make things we build, like Rambo, a lot more interactive and fun. While the ITP lab also showed how it can be possible to move a lot of bigger things instead of staying within the microcontroller’s range of power. I think because one of the key aspects of biological existence is motion, it should follow that if you create motion, you will be closer to interacting with other things that have motion. Perhaps when something moves, you relate to it more. I’ve heard many people finding it hard to look at paintings vs movies, for example. I think the same principle in interactivity applies (even though neither movies or paintings are truly interactive) as when we see a robot that stand or a robot that carries out physical tasks. Something dynamic is always more “relatable”. Perhaps this might also be the reason why people say movies are interactive, even though they aren’t because there is no response from the movie to the audience. I have been at an exhibition at the National Science Museum in Hungary, where they introduced us to a talking and moving robot that could to some extent hold a conversation. I was scared of it but at the same time it just felt nice to talk to it. One thing it could do really well was shake your hand, which was fascinating. Hand shakes in general are fascinating because the two hands need to work together and feel the other’s response to react and form a good shake. They would require bigger motors with transistors to control more realistic motions as well, such as the bending of the fingers and the wrist, and especially the elbow, to match the position of the other person/object. It would be really exciting to mimic a handshake using motors and sensors such as touch, pressure, or even moisture sensors. I think this could be something I would love to do.