Author: Aishya Rannan Elysia

Posted on

Week 3 Assignment – Elysia

What are the main challenges in applying mainstream mobile technologies to meet the needs of people who have autism or other cognitive disabilities?

I believe that the most significant challenge for people with autism to use mobile technologies is the large variety of things that you can choose from. Those functions and applications can overwhelm people in the spectrum of autism since they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on completing one single task. For example, if they are tasked to text someone, and suddenly a notification popped up, then they would be distracted and prompted to do the action said in the notification. Another possible challenge is the name of the function and applications. I feel like the names are not descriptive enough for them to understand. Added with the application’s icon, I think that since it would be difficulties, there would be a learning curve for people with autism to get used to each application. However, these challenges are definitely possible to overcome with the necessary effort.

List three benefits of making mainstream mobile technologies accessible for people with autism or other cognitive disabilities.

  1. It would provide a useful alternative for people with autism to communicate with their friends and families in their daily lives.
  2. I also believe that it would be useful to use when they are having a meltdown because people with autism do not like to be touched or hear descriptive words (each case may be different) so they can text their immediate families what they need and what they do not want.
  3. It would also help people in the autism spectrum to be more independent as they are capable of using mobile phones to complete simple tasks such as making a call or texting someone.

How can technologies help to overcome stigma and discrimination for people with autism or other cognitive disabilities?

I think that the use of mobile technologies can help to minimize the stigma and discrimination of people with autism and other cognitive technologies as they would be able to understand and connect with other people more easily. It would also promote inclusivity within society and help bridge the distance between them and society.

Posted on

Final Project Proposal – Elysia

4×4 LED magic square

For my first project, I’m thinking about making something that is similar to the magic crystal ball seen in many movies. In order to make it similar to a crystal ball, I’m planning to make a 4×4 LED square because it is easier for us to organize the electronics. The LED box would be an interactive structure equipped with infrared sensors that will detect hand movement by measuring the distance of the hands. The sensor then will light up the LEDs closest to the hand, therefore making giving the feeling that the “crystal box” is feeling your presence. The box will also utilize a sound sensor right in the middle of the box. The purpose of it is so that people can also ask questions to the box, and have those questions answered with yes, no or maybe sentences. The audio file will be stored in Processing so that it would give a clearer and satisfying sounds.

reference: 

https://www.instructables.com/id/4x4x4-LED-Cube-Arduino-Uno/

Pet Robot

For my second project, I’m planning to make a pet robot that can follow you everywhere. I know that many people love to interact with animals. Sadly, not a lot of them can have a pet. So, my intention of making this project is to give people a happy experience of interacting with a pet.

This robot pet will function with Arduino and processing. It will have one infrared sensor in the front part of the structure and an Arduino in the middle part. The robot will also have two wheels to facilitate its movement. The way this project works is that the robot will follow anything in front of them, so when people walk in front of them, the robot will follow them everywhere. I will also give a way for people to interact with the pet by pressing a certain button on processing to give him food, petting him, or making him do tricks. I will also give conditions that the person has to fulfill in order for the pet to continue following him such as giving the pet food every couple of minutes to keep the interaction going.

reference:

https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/arduino-obstacle-avoding-robot

Fortune Wheel

The last project will be a “wheel of fortune”. The purpose of the project is not only to entertain people but also give them a fun and interactive way to play with fortune cards. The product will use a servo motor to spin the wheel and a temperature sensor at the bottom of the structure. The sensor will act as an input that will be processed by the Arduino and make the motor spin a certain speed and stop to signify the card in which the person’s “future” is displayed. The longevity of the spin and the speed will depend on the temperature of the person interacting with it. I want to use processing as a way to display the cards that the wheel gives them and put the person’s face on the card. This way, the person interacting with it will feel more immersed in the experience.

Posted on

Recitation 7 Processing Functions and Arrays – Elysia

In this week’s recitation, we worked with processing again. This time, we used functions and arrays to create a sketch that would display an object 100 times in random coordinates.

Step 1. 

We were told to create a function that consists of at least three different shapes and contains x, y, and color parameters. I made a square screaming face with two ellipses as the eyes, a small box for the mouth and a big square for the face. After I write the code, I make sure to put parameters in the sizes and one of the color variables. 

Step 2. 

I created a loop function to run my drawing 100 times. The loop contains random float numbers for the x and y coordinates and the three color variations. Below is the code and the drawing. 

 

Step 3. 

I made arrays to store the variables of the color, x, and y coordinates. I fill the array in the setup() with for loop and I made another for loop in the draw() to make my drawing run for 100 times.

Step 4. 

I added some movement to the drawing by adding. I also added a function to limit the movement of the drawing so that it would stay on the canvas. The code looks like this:

 

This is what happens when I run it:

Lastly, I added a function that would stop the loop when the key is pressed. The whole code looks like this:

float[] x = new float[100];
float[] y = new float[100];
float[] col = new float[100];
float col2 = 0;
float col3 = 0;

void setup() {
size(800, 800);
background(0);
  for(int i=0; i<100; i++) {
    x[i] = random(width); 
    y[i] = random(height);
    col[i] = random(255);
}
printArray(x);
println();
printArray(y);
}

void draw(){
  background(0);
  for (int i=0; i<100; i++){
scream( x[i], y[i], col[i], random(255), random(0,255));
x[i] += random(-3, 3);
y[i] += random(-3, 3);

//interaction
 if (mousePressed == true) {
noLoop();}


if(x[i]> width){ 
         x[i] = x[i] - random(width);}
     if (x[i] <= 80){ 
         x[i] = x[i] + random(width);}
         
if(y[i]+40 >= height){ 
         y[i] = y[i] - random(height);}
     if (y[i]-40 <= 0){ 
         y[i]= y[i] + random(width);}
}}

void scream(float x, float y, float col, float col2,float col3){
fill(col, col2, col3);
noStroke();
rect(x-105,y-40,130,130); 

fill(0);
strokeWeight(5);
stroke(col3, col2, col); //#F5E981
rect(x-70,y+30,55,55);

fill(col2, col3, col);//#F59481
noStroke();
ellipse(x-80,y,20,40);
ellipse(x,y,20,40);
}

Question 1: 

If i put my for loop in setup(), the code will only run once. While if i put my for loop in draw(), the code will run repeatedly. 

Question 2: 

Arrays are useful if you want to store a lot of variables in a function without having to write long lines of codes. For example, it can be applied when we want to assign variables that changes values. If we were using the usual for loops, then the code would be long and prone to errors. But if we declare the values in arrays and use them in the function then the whole process would be a lot simpler and shorter.

Posted on

Preparatory Research and Analysis by Elysia

A. When we visited the Chronus exhibition, the first thing that came to my mind was how intricate the projects are compared to other types of art exhibitions. I realized that not only the artist put a lot of work on the physical appearance of his project, but also in the coding of the project. The perfect mixture of both aspects is really what makes it really interesting. Each of the projects has its own appeal and meaning behind it. One that I found to be really captivating is this:

I immediately noticed that there are a lot of small servos pulling strings around the structure. In the middle, they have a box of red strings enclosed by many white strings. The shape of the strings changes as the servo moves. The unique ways of how each of the parts moves in coordination with the others nicely illustrate how technology-based exhibition differs from other types of exhibition. 

B. The project that I think aligns with what I think as a successful interaction is Click Canvas, an interactive project made back in 2018 in Bangkok with the objective of creating a display as the viewers desire.

Rainbow for Pride Day by Phimpharb the FatinThe project is basically a collection of small boxes arranged into a square. The small lightbox will light up with different colors each time it is pressed. This allows people to make a display of whatever they want within the wall. Even though this project is pretty simple and straightforward, people who see it were instantly drawn to interact with it because they find the project really interesting. This reminds me that even with simple type of interaction, it could attract people and give them a long-lasting impression. I really want to make my final project as something interesting that people would remember.

The second project that also inspires me is NailO, a small device that you put in your thumb when cooking to help you use your computer or phone while your hand is dirty. NailO functions as a trackpad that tracks your hand gesture and translate it into your phone or laptop, allowing you to keep scrolling the menu or do your work on your device while cooking. This project compels me to make something useful for others even if it’s on a small scale. 

C. My definition of interaction mainly derives from Crawford’s definition. It involves a back and forth relationship between at least two actors that allows “input, processing, and output” to happen. I am also inspired by the definition from Tate.com, that the most crucial part of the whole project is the “participation of the spectators”, so we need to make sure that the people who interact with it are inclined to do it again, promoting a cyclic process. What I learned from my midterm project is that it is important to make sure that these three steps should not be a one-time thing. The project has to be interesting and engaging. The project also needs to make impactful effects on people, so they will remember the interaction.

References

Crawford, Chris. “Art of Interactive Design.” Art of Interactive Design 

https://gizmodo.com/this-little-device-turns-your-thumb-nail-into-a-track-p-1698423402

https://www.hackster.io/natthakit-kim-kang/click-canvas-an-interactive-wall-04332c

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/interactive-art

Posted on

RECITATION 6 : PROCESSING ANIMATION – Elysia

For this recitation, I learned how to make an animation with processing. I decided to use my last sketch on processing as a base for the animation. I changed the color of each small circle as a variable so that it could interact with the mousePressed function.

the code that I used is this:

 

For the homework, it took me a while to animate it according to the reference but after making some tweaks I managed to make it look better. 

This is the code that I use for the animation and color of the circle:

I made the color change along with the circle size with HSB mode. it is important to note that we have to fill in the circle with the background color to make it look like a loop. 

This is the code for the moving of the circle and the borders:

This is the video: