Recitation 1:Electronics and Soldering(Alex Wang)

Week 1 Recitation is on basic circuits and soldering. We are tasked with the construction of three different circuits, door bell, lamp, dimmable lamp and replacing one of the buttons with an arcade button.(Schematics below)

Process:

The overall process went very smooth, even when both me and my partner had minimal experience in hardware. The circuit wasn’t functioning properly a few times during our construction(mostly loose connection on the breadboard) but we were able to track down the problem by using the sound function on the multimeter fairly easily.

Videos of all working circuits, including arcade button modification

:

Reflection:

I think this recitation was a very good way of getting us started with electronics. I was a bit confused at first, but with the provided schematics and the reference pictures I was able to figure everything out fairly easily. To be able to make something that works feels very satisfying and fun.

Documentation Questions:

Q1:After reading The Art of Interactive Design, in what way do you think that the circuits you built today include interactivity? Please explain your answer.

I understand interactivity as giving a wanted feedback when given certain action, just like the input and outputs of a circuit or program. As for the circuits we have built in this weeks recitation, we interact with the electronics by pressing on a button or turning on a knob, and in response the electronics would give back a beep or a flash for us to know its functioning.

Q2:How can Interaction Design and Physical Computing be used to create Interactive Art? You can reference Zack Lieberman’s video or any other artist that you know.

My personal interpretation of how art is different from other things is how it has meaning behind it, or the ability to give people certain feelings. And implementation of interactivity with the use of sensors can enable the user to experience art through an medium that gives more interaction to the whole body as opposed to just watching a movie or listening to a song.

Leave a Reply