Recitation 10: Media & Controls by Celia Forster

In this recitation, I built off of previous abilities to connect Arduino and Processing by implementing visual and audio functions. The first exercise was to use the Arduino to Processing reference code to use a physical controller to manipulate the display of some media on Processing. I chose to use a potentiometer to control how clear an image would appear. At first, I tried using some reference code from the previous in-class work, but it was not working properly. The potentiometer seemed to not be sending the values to Processing, so I decided to re-write the code and try again. Using the blur filter, it began working, where the photo would become more or less blurry depending on the position of the potentiometer. A video is shown below:

The second exercise was to use the Processing to Arduino reference code and make a servo motor move according to input from the microphone. I struggled for a while, trying to get the microphone input to send from Processing to Arduino. I found that I could use the map function and the sample code for audio analysis. A video is shown below. I was running out of time, so it was hard to tell how accurate it was. But as people were speaking around me, the servo motor was moving according to the volume.

In “Computer Vision for Artists and Designers”, the author discusses various ways in which human-computer interaction can be created in the world of art. Some interactive technological art installations are introduced, with many requiring the movement of the human body, which is tracked by a digital program. One of these that is particularly interesting is Rafael Lozano­ Hemmer’s Standards and Double Standards (2004). It features belts hanging from the ceiling which turn with servo motors towards the user walking through the room. Although pieces like these are on a much larger scale than those made in class, I see the connection between the two. Similar to those mentioned in this article, the recitation features human-computer interaction when physical devices act according to movements or sounds made by the user, and conversely the movement of a physical device manipulating an image or sound.