Month: February 2022

Recitation2: Arduino Basics

Post author By Ran Xu
Post date February 23, 2022
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Recitation2: Arduino Basics

Circuit One: Fade

We connected the circuit according to the circuit diagram. The mistake we made is that we forgot to switch ports to USB ports and the program can’t run. We soon realized the program and make changes.

Circuit Two: toneMelody

We connected the circuit according to the circuit diagram above. At first, we thought when the buzzer ringed, the light would be on. So we wondered why only the buzzer ringed. We asked the IMA fellow for help and we learned that the ring and the buzzer belong to two separate circuits.

Circuit Three: Speed Game

my own schematic

We signed into Tinkercad and found the Speed Game example (the first picture) We spent a long time connecting the circuit since it is a little bit complicated. We forgot to connect two wires at first and it made player One win immediately. After checking the whole circuit, we found the mistake and finish building the speed game.

Question 1:

I want to change the button into screaming chickens. ( there is one in room 825) People need to squeeze the screaming chicken as fast as they can to connect the circuits. In Physical Computing, author and game programmer Chris Crawford argues that “interaction is ‘an iterative process of listening, thinking, and speaking between two or more actors.’ “. So I decide to change the part of listening, in computer terms: input to make the game more interactive. The limit of input of a mouse and keyboard was broken and people can enjoy a more interesting input method.

Question2:

The 10k resistors work as pull-down resistors that can prevent short circuits when the switch is closed while still biasing the pin to 0V when the switch is open.

Interaction Lab Uncategorized

Reading of Group Project

Paragraph describing your idea for story 1

In the Winter Market, the exoskeleton is powered by electricity and when it is out of energy, people can’t move anymore. Disabled people may die because of that. So I want to create an exoskeleton that can be controlled totally through people’s brain waves. The patch, which collects brainwave signals, can be attached directly to the body and wrapped in a hard exoskeleton to prevent damage. As long as people are conscious, they can’t lose their ability to act. But if the patch breaks, emergency repairs can be a big problem.

Paragraph describing your idea for story 2

I would like to invent equipment that can make use of brain waves and connect people’s brains and let them transmit images and thoughts directly. It may look like an ordinary helmet and can be used in the background of Newton’s sleep. In Newton’s sleep, the author mentioned that people are suffering from homesickness after leaving the increasingly polluted earth. They also have the problem of educating the next generation about the earth. So if there is a machine that can create brain-to-brain circuits and transmit the audios and feelings of another person directly into another person’s brain, it will be more direct and lively for people to learn about the earth.

But this invention may cause confusion in people’s thinking. They may not be able to tell which experiences are their own and which are someone else’s.

Paragraph describing your idea for story 3

I want to create a machine that can help people to remove the effects of time dilation or time compression. It helps regulate the speed of the body clock more quickly. It can be used in “Time Care Unit.” and companies with alarm clocks that have a time compression function. It may be also designed as a clock and put in certain rooms so that outside interference will be minimal. When people feel stressed or uncomfortable, they can come into the room, spin the hands of the clock and choose the degree of their pain. Then the machine can work and release signals to the body. In that case, the body clock can return to normal.

This new invention may exacerbate the disorder of the body clock, especially in companies. The invention may let more employees become lab mice because treatment is easier and the cost of testing has gone down.

Interaction Lab

Recitation 1: Electronics & Soldering

Post author By Ran Xu
Post date February 16, 2022
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Recitation 1: Electronics & Soldering

Materials and their function:

1 * Breadboard: a tool for holding the components of the circuit, and connecting them together
1 * Buzzer: make sounds (“Bi Bi”)
1 * Push-Button Switch: a control that can be used to interrupt the flow of current through a circuit
1 * 220-ohm Resistor: a tool to control the flow of current and protect the LEDs
1 * 10K ohm Resistor: a tool to control the flow of current and protect the LEDs
1 * 10K ohm Variable Resistor (Potentiometer): output an adjustable voltage
2 * LED: lighting
1 * 5-volt power supply: supply power
1 * Barrel Jack: adapter connector (to change the 220V to the voltage that fits for the circuit)
1 * Multimeter: an electronic device with the ability to measure the electrical properties of voltage, current, and resistance, among other things.
1 * DIY Paddle Button: a control that can be used to interrupt the flow of current through a circuit ( work as a change for the switch)
Several Jumper Cables (M/M Wires): connect the circuit

Completed Circuit Working

Task 1: Build the circuit

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Task 2: build a switch

Task 3: Switch the switches and send a message

Description of the process

At first, my partner Christine and I don’t know how the breadboard worked. We spent some time learning how to make the current flow smoothly. When we tried to use the switch to control the LED and the buzzer, we found it didn’t work and the LED was on and the buzzer kept ringing. We tried to change the position of the switch to another side but it still didn’t work. So we asked the assistant for help and learned that the switch needs to be put in the middle of the breadboard to work as a bridge so that it can have the function of controlling. At last, the circuit worked.

Questions

Question 1: What is the function of the resistor R1?

The function of the resistor R1 is to limit the current that passes through the LED1 so that the current can be below the maximum allowable current of LED1 and LED1 is safe.

Question 2: Looking at the following circuit, draw its diagram by yourself.

Question 3 :

After reading The Art of Interactive Design, in what way do you think that the circuit you built today includes interactivity? Which degree of interactivity does it possess? Please explain your answer.

I think the link between our DIY paddle switch, LED1, LED2, and the buzzer includes interactivity because when I press the switch, the lights are on and the buzzer rings. It is a process which each participant (the circuit and me) in turn listen (I listen to the reaction of the circuit and the circuit listen to my order), think (I think about using a switch to control the circuit and circuit think about how to obey my order) and speak ( I press the switch to connect the circuit and the circuit gives me reaction), which is just interaction in The Art of Interactive Design (Crawford, 5)

And since this process is very simple, it is a low degree of interactivity.

Question 4:

How can Interaction Design and Physical Computing be used to create Interactive Art? You can reference Zack Lieberman’s video or any other artists that you know.

In Zack Liberman’s interactive artwork Drawn, the audience can draw their own sketch rather than just watch existing paintings. This part includes Interaction Design. And Through Physical Computing, the sketch can react to visitors’ touch.

Interaction Lab

Research for Group Project

Post author By Ran Xu
Post date February 14, 2022
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Research for Group Project

My definition of interaction

I think interaction is a process of communication between two participators (both objects and people are all right). It is different from communication because it emphasizes the loop of effective listening, thinking, and feedback.

In addition, interaction needs to be programmable as one important part of contemporary new media. This character makes the loop of effective listening, thinking, and feedback smoother. When people find any problem in the loop, it is easier for them to make changes to HTML documents. (Manovich 31)

It’s worth mentioning that interaction in art is more obscure since straightforward verbal descriptions need less. The interaction between the works and the audience requires more feedback from the installation itself and the audience’s thinking and action. Just as Tigoe writes in the article Making Interactive Art: Set the Stage, Then Shut Up and Listen, “ They prescript what will happen. When you do that, you’re telling the participant what to think, and by extension, how to act. Is that what you wanted?” It just makes the work boring.

Interactive art projects I have found

Mechanical famous painting interactive device

This is an artwork that aligns with my definition. It is made by OUTPUT. It let the audience to interact with world-famous paintings by shaking the handle, pressing the pump, pulling the rope and etc, and gives them visual and tactile experiences. The activities and the changes of paintings, such as the changes of light and shade in the picture, the apple falling in the picture are both intereating. What might otherwise be boring paintings become interesting to look at. The audience can enjoy the project with ease. The famous paintings are transformed by the movements of the audience. This equipment keeps listening to the order of the audience, thinking about the right reaction ( through the program), and speaking ( give instant feedback through changes of the paintings ). It deepens my understanding of the important loop of effective listening, thinking, and feedback in interaction. The audience also can notice the details of the paintings. Since this work is created for the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, children can also enjoy the simple fun of shaking the handle, pressing the pump, pulling the rope and etc. The loop of effective listening, thinking, and feedback is smooth and few introductions leave the space for viewers to explore.

INSIDEOUT

This project gives a 360° immersive dynamic sound and light experience. It was created by Leigh Sachwitz, based on childhood memories of experiencing thunderstorms in Glasgow’s garden shed. It did not give a clear textual description to the audience, but let the audience themselves come into the shed and experience the changes of sound and light. This allows the audience to actually interact with the work and tries to guess the attempt of the creator. The equipment constantly changes the sound and light such as raindrops and laser, to restore the scene in the creator’s memory and keep the audience informed. But the feedback of the audience is a little bit weak. The audience just sits in the shed and enjoys. Their action or ideas can’t change the work of the equipment. This work is more like a performance than an interaction artwork. The loop isn’t smooth. So it doesn’t totally align with my definition of interaction.