Reflection:
In this first recitation I was certainly presented with a number of challenges, as building circuits is something that is entirely new to me. While the circuits were still very simple, I still encountered a few obstacles with understanding how to translate the diagrams into physical circuits. Finally working through mistakes with the connections in the circuit, we eventually were able to successfully create the door bell circuit.
In this doorbell circuit we used the following materials:
speaker, capacitor, breadboard, wires, push button, resistors, and power source.
one of the first steps in this process was using a soldering iron to solder the push button to two wires which would ultimately be connected to the completed circuit. One challenge with the soldering was trying to hold all of the pieces in the correct place while also keeping the wires in their correct places. With a tiny amount of practice this will become easier.
Question 1:
One of the primary focuses of “The Art of Interactive Design” was the concept of two separate actors engaging. This specifically applies to our exercise in building circuits because we were working with buttons, speakers, and the circuit overall to make something happen. Because we have the ability to turn switches on and off and interact directly with the electronics we built, this demonstrates many of the key points of this article.
Question 2:
What is particularly inspiring to me about Zack Lieberman’s work is his ability to combine his experience in fine arts with physical computing to create works that have especially engaging features. In many ways this takes not only art to a higher level in that it is responsive and communicative, but also computing in that a variety of new design aspects are being considered.