Category: 2022 Fall Interaction Lab

Recitation Friday!!! 

The two former classes had shown us the basic functions and usages of Arduino.Therefore,I would use the Arduino circuits to make 3 fun devices this time.

   

Since it was my first time using the Arduino toolkit, I had some troubles connecting the computer with the Arduino Uno.Later,I clicked” Select other board and port” and typed “Arduino Uno” in the selection bar to search for the right port.The problem was quickly solved.

For the first task,a LED, a 220 ohm resistor and the breadboard were connected to the Arduino by wires.I typed the code according to the example to exhibit the whole process of light’s fading.However,when I upload the code instructions,the light didn’t work.Then I realized that the positive and negative terminals were connected backwards,so I fixed the problem and every part did its job. 

(The demonstration)

For the second circuit, the buzzer was probably the most important element because the code defined each note as a specific tone. For example, NOTE_C4 was middle C. NOTE_FS4 was F sharp, and so forth.Since I’m fond of music,I really found the beauty of playing melodies with codes.Besides, I think the sound is similar to the music in the 8-bit games.Hence,the design can actually promote further thinking into game industry or contemparary arts.

Speaking of the third circuit,it was much more difficult and complex than the other two circuits due to its requirement of elements,including one buzzer,two LEDs,two buttons,four resistors and more than ten wires.Even though the code wasn’t hard to complete,the connection of circuit was a big challenge for me.What’s worse,my own design on the breadboard and the example are mirror images,which meant that I had to swtich several positive and negative terminals.Luckily,I managed to build the circuit with the learning assistant’s help.Once the code was uploaded,there would be guidances shown on the serial monitor.The two players had to try their best to press the buttons as the rules said that who pressed most won. Here is how it worked.

Question 1:

I will replace the original switch with the ball switch.The operating principle of ball switch is to tilt the switch so as to let the metal ball brought into contact with the two leads.In my new design of circuit 3,the winning condition is that the person who tilts the switch faster after seeing the instructions on the serial monitor wins.The new game is all about reaction and I suppose it will be fun and interesting.

Question 2:

To help limit the current that passes through the button so that it doesn’t get damaged and the circuit won’t short out.

Question 3:

In the book”Getting Started with Arduino : The Open Source Electronics Prototyping Platform“，the author explained the main idea of Arduino:”The Arduino philosophy is based on making designs rather than talking about them. It is a constant search for faster and more powerful ways to build better prototypes.”(Banzi, Massimo, and Michael Shiloh 5).Among the more detailed philosophies and events,”We Love Junk!”impressed me the most.It argued that junk could be useful in designing and motivating new ideas.In addition,it was much cheaper than buying a new one.

(Pictures are from the Internet)

“Plastic reflection” is an interactive device which uses 601 pieces of plastic pieces from the world and sets motion sensors to record the movements of people and bulid the reflection image with junk,which perfectly matches the idea of “We Love Junk!”.More importantly,it reminds people of the importance of protecting the environment and everyone should deal with waste problem.

1.The Veldt—Dimension door
In the story”The Veldt”,the main characters are able to open the nursery’s door and thus entering a virtual world with lifelike creatures such as lions.Inspired by the idea,I want to design a dimension door.A huge cardboard box will be used as the main material of the room,and there’s an automatic induction door on one side of the cardboard box.Inside the box,projectors,mirrors,lights and kaleidoscopes work together to build the moving images of the African savannah.Through sensors,the images will change as people turn their heads.Besides,electric fans may be included to simulate the winds and thus creating a better atmosphere.The idea of changing views based on people’s visions is a little bit similar to VR or AR,which is widely used in game fields.But my design focuses more on the elements of lights.In addition,there are artists inspired by dimension door,but they tend to design the interaction outside the box or devote to creating holographic portrait generator.The new problem caused by the invention will probably be immersing oneself in the virtual.

2.The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas—Bright outside,dark inside

After reading”The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”,I feel sorry for the child’s misfortune.Therefore,I want to create an artifact to imply or show the misery but not in a direct way.A house built with all black materials sets up a depressing atmohphere.Inside the black house,an old electric lamp is swinging at the top.It gives off a faint light at interval,which indicates the glimmer of hope.The most interesting part is the door:the door is nearly closed but leaves a seam of light.However,everytime a person tries to open the door,it will automatically close after a second,which means no matter how hard we try,the child in the story can’t be rescued due to his and the city’s destinies.Besides, the artifact is also inspired by the idea of “Useless Box”,a box that will automatically switch to “closed” when a person press the open button.But in my artifact,I regard the”useless” as a way to imply the child’s misfortune.The new problem caused by the invention is that people may feel amused by the door’s design instead of feeling sympathy for the child and thus the artifact lacks far-reaching implications,so it’s necessary to mention the background and brief introduction of the story.

3.The Plague—Petrifaction

“The Plague” story is about a widespread epidemic whose common symptom is petrifaction.At the moment,the world is still suffering from covid-19.Inspired by this,I want to create an artifact about the process of petrifaction.First we have to build the bone structure of a bird.Next,we may put the artificial(3D-printed)feather equipped with sensors on the surface of the bone structure.In this way,the sensors capture people’s visions. When people look from the bird’s head to its feet,all the feather will turn into disorganized and strange shape to imply offensive behaviors in society.But when they look from the feet to its head,the feather will get back into good shape.Actually,my inspiration is from the first class of interaction lab when Rudi showed us the design of 3D-printed design that catched people’s views and my design is not as complex as that one.The new problem caused by the invention is that people may think that 3D-printing is too far away from daily use and may have a negative attitude towards 3D-printing.

My first recitation is inspired by the morse code which was frequently used in the 19th century.I also consider this recitation as an interesting way to show my respect to the great invention.The main idea is to build circuits and use the DIY Paddle button to control the lights and the “beep”sound.

First of all,we cut two pieces of wire and removed the insulation at both ends of the wires.Next,we used a copper tape to stick it on one side of the cardboard.Then we sticked the wires to the cardboard and used a heat gun to melt the iron wire and soldered the yellow wire with the copper tape.In this way,the DIY Paddle button is done!

The second step was to build a basic circuit with a 5 volt power supply,a buzzer,a breadboard, a Push-Button Switch and many wires.However ,my teammate and I were so unlucky that we happened to use a broken breadboard.Hence,even though we had built the right circuit,the buzzer didn’t make a sound.Later,we asked the Learning Assistant for help and it took her a while to test each component.At last,we found the problem and quickly solved it .After changing the breadboard,the circuit worked well and the buzzer made a sound as we pushed the button.Task 1 was finished!

For the third step,we connected a LED-light and a resistance in series and then put them in the original circuit to create a multiple circuit. We just tried once and it worked.Hence,we hurried to the next task.

To do the fourth step,we connected a Variable Resistor, a LED-light and a resistance in series and then put them in the circuit designed in the third step to create another multiple circuit. However, we made a mistake that we connected the positive wire to the negative terminal while the negative wire was on the positive side. After testing a few times and we fixed the problem. Only one step left!

For the final step, we substituted the DIY Paddle button for the Push-Button Switch and used the wires to connect it with the circuit. We finally made it! 

Additional Questions:

1.To help limit the current that passes through the LED1 so it doesn’t get damaged.

2.

3.Nearly all the components in the circuit includes interactivity,because they all have to “listen,think and speak”,namely,”input,process and output”.For example ,the light receives the signal of electric,let the electric wave pass through it and then shines as a way to output.

4.For example,Zach Lieberman wrote a software which could follow the movements the moving car and then output the letters.It seemed that the car worked as a paintbrush and ground was like a huge drawing paper. In this way,physical computing can be used to create Interactive Art.

Though we faced many difficulties at first,we still managed to overcome the obstacles.What I learned from the recitation 1 is that we should never give up and don’t be afraid to make mistakes,sometimes it is the mistake that enables us to know our shortcomings and leads us to a better future.

The word”interaction” has gone viral during the recent years.However,it seems that there is no clear definition of interaction.After viewing many artistic works and checking information which is related to interaction,I have a new understanding of interaction.From my perspective,interaction means acting with each other ,whether it is the acting between people,computers or between people and computers. More importantly,this is a two-way acting,which means both sides have to respond to the other’s reactions.Here,I will give two examples to illustrate my definition further.
(1)(2)
This is a device which uses wires to connect a helium-filled sphere with 15 drums.As the people play the drum,the sounds are converted into light waves and then reach the sphere.When the sphere receive the signal of light waves,it will show flexible points on the screen.Of greater interest is that the intensity of points depends on the speed and intensity of the people’s drumming.During the process,it’s not hard to find that not only the sphere but also people act–for the former,it’s about receiving the signal and changing it into variable images;for the latter,it’s about playing drums and watching the changes of image.As the action goes back and forth,the two sides’ respondings match my definiton of interaction,which is”acting with each other”.

(3)(4)

Here is another example.This is an optical illusion maneuvering device,which is inspired by the Penrose ladder.The artist want to create a visual illusion to make people feel calm and relaxed.The only movement of the device is to spin in one direction when feeling someone is around.A question came to my mind when I was appreciating this work: can we use the word”interaction” to describe it? Although the work is attached with a light sensing sensor to feel if someone is nearby,but it doesn’t make any changes when passerby try to go around to observe it.Therefore,”reaction” seems better to describe this situation and there’s a huge difference between interaction and reaction,namely,two-way and one-way.In this case,the reaction of the device is to feel someone coming and start spinning.After that,it won’t change anymore until the people leave, just like a stubborn person who refuses to receive any other information or feedback from other people.Hence,it doesn’t aligh with my definition of “interaction”,especially the word”two-way”.

In addition,there are other common cases like people having conversation with each other or computers running their programs and exchanging information.As long as it’s a two-way acting,I will consider the act as interaction.

Above all,that’s my own definition of interaction.Through further communication,I believe that we can have a better or deeper understanding of interaction.

(1)(2)Peter Erskine’s CROMOS_ Solar Spectrum Rainbow Art,Peter Erskine    Mana   https://www.manamana.net/video/detail?id=70417#!zh

(3)(4)涡——视错觉机动装置,郑洱汗  Mana  https://www.manamana.net/video/detail?id=1644769#!zh

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