Author: hd1073

Context and Significance

According to my previous research, my definition of interaction is a conversation between the human and the machine. During this process, the machine attempts to satisfy the human’s needs, the human provides feedback to the machine, and the machine caters to human needs more accurately. The machine is also getting closer and closer aligned with human behavior. Thus my project is unique in that it requires the human to think about what to do with the machine and what the coherent rules are. It is targeted towards people of all ages and walks of life, for entertainment and intellectual training. 

Conception and Design

Therefore, my partner and I decided to make an interactive game. We brainstormed all kinds of folk games, from tic tac toe to minesweeping. First, we decided on the pellet game, but it was too complicated to interpret from the aspect of a person unfamiliar with the game. So this decision was banished. Then we thought of the doll machine, but it was too hard to make. It involves a claw moving in six directions with the claw opening and closing, a button to control the claw going down, and a handbrake to control the claw’s direction. Since this is clearly out of our league, we dropped the idea. Finally, we decided on a “lightbox” that incorporates nine LEDs arranged 3×3 with 9 buttons attached, and the LEDs that correspond to the ones around the button would go off. The goal of the game is to turn off all LEDs. We decided to use the laser-cutting method for the box, and we used transparent plastic as the material to keep the appearance of the box simple to emphasize the effects of the box. 

Fabrication and Production

The goal of this project is to let the user engage in an interactive puzzle. To achieve this goal, I followed these three steps in the production process. The first step is sketching. I measured the size of the box roughly and sketched the box on paper. The second step is drawing on Illustrator. Luckily, the kind Professor told me to use a box template to make the parts of the box stick together easier. The third step is fabricating. In this process, I found out that the result was a mistaken-the opening side of the box should be at the back. For testing I used wood, but at last, I used plastic. Unexpectedly, the engraving on the box wasn’t very visible on plastic material. The last step is assembling. Since my partner is responsible mostly for the coding part, I assisted him in assembling the Arduino and the box. In the end, we also decided to put the charger inside the box to make things neater. Unfortunately, we were slow on progress so we couldn’t receive any feedback on user testing. But we later asked the IMA fellows for advice. The initial plan was to have nine buttons attached to the box, but there weren’t enough unbroken ones in the equipment room and soldering would take too much time. Luckily we used a remote control along with an ultra red ray sensor to control the LEDs. 

Conclusions 

In the presentation, we realized that the box could’ve been bigger to contain all the wires and that the sensor could’ve been attached to the box to avoid inconvenience. Also, we could’ve made a success background music piece. Again, the goal of this project is to create an interactive puzzle for people of all ages for entertainment. It aligns with my definition of interaction that it is interactive, but it doesn’t improve itself and cater to the user more. This project is significant in that it leads people to find out the rules themselves instead of referring to instructions. It picks up the ability to think, which has been long lost in the human brain in this era of excessively convenient search engines. That said, we have achieved success and know what to expect for the second half of the semester now. 

References:

This week we embark on processing basics using the Processing software. We will be working alone drawing an image using this software. The image I chose is an untitled picture by Vera Molnar. It is inspiring to me since the significance of it is unfathomable—nine similar squares on a black background and one of them is slightly tilted. What could it mean? An eccentric in a mundane world? A mistake in a pool of success? It’s very interesting to think about. 

For my work, I wanted to draw the exact same image. So I sketched the image on a piece of paper and roughly measured the lengths. The background is black, 400×600 pixels. Each square is 50×50 pixels, with a 25-pixel distance between each. The square in the center is in the center of the whole background. Screenshots of my result and the code are as such. It is mostly the same except for the color of the squares. I am also thinking that I could’ve used boolean structures to prevent long lines of similar codes. 

In my opinion, on one hand, Processing is a good software for drawing in that it is efficient and eco-friendly, especially for complicated drawings and designs. On the other hand, Processing is a not-so-good software for drawing in that there isn’t an obvious connection between the code and the result, so the fun of drawing is partly deprived.

Recitation

In this recitation, we are required to make a drawing machine that draws on a piece of paper in groups of two. Unfortunately, when building the circuit I connected something wrong and burned my Arduino and ran out of time. So I observed my classmates instead.

Questions

Question 1: I would be interested in building an intelligent machine that soothes a person’s feelings when they are depressed. It will use a camera to analyze the human’s facial expression and say something to them depending on the category of their mood. It will also look human-friendly and approachable.

Question 2: The art installation of Mechanical Mirrors: Wooden Mirror by Daniel Rozin appealed to me. It is very simple and ingenious, facilitating wood to reflect a human face. By comparison, this recitation is more dependent, meaning that it draws randomly and doesn’t showcase an existent thing. I think the artist connected all the woodblocks together and applied an overturn function on them. There was also a camera and a color analyzer (in the way I put it) that decided the scale of the greyness of the woodblocks.

Recitation

 

Inspired by a definition of interaction in The Art of Interactive Design by Chris Crawford, “a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak” (Crawford 1), I extracted the keyword “think”. Therefore now my definition of interaction is the process of communication between the human and the machine. During this process, the machine attempts to satisfy the human’s needs, the human provides feedback to the machine, and the machine caters to human needs more accurately. That is to say, if the machine doesn’t analyze human needs and improve, but instead approach humans in the same method with different suggestions, then it is not real interaction. For example, a cooking machine that gives the user different advice on daily meals randomly but doesn’t try to figure out the preference of the user is not an interactive machine. 

The first project that inspired me is the NCAA, standing for “New Craft Artists in Action”. It was founded by Maria Molteni in 2010, based in Boston, Massachusetts. She paints sports fields into rainbow colors, making them lustrous and eye-opening. This project triggers my definition of interaction that a machine should discover human needs—which is color therapy in this example—and try to satisfy them. However, this project doesn’t align well with my definition of interaction in that the color is unalterable and immobile, and the change in color is too energy-consuming.

The second project that inspired me is the “phone framing” art project conducted by South African iPhone optical illusion artist Anshuman Ghosh in recent years. In this project, he draws pictures on a paper and cuts them to align with the iPhone frame to connect virtual and reality. This project triggers my definition of interaction well because it showcases our everyday life coherently. Moreover, it aligns with my definition of interaction that there’s a constant changing process where the drawing is getting closer and closer aligned with general human behavior. 

With that born in mind, our group came up with a project proposal. The project prompt is to make an interactive device in 2119. We believe that life will still be very busy for people living in the city, to such an extent that they have trouble what to wear for the day. So we invent an interactive mirror that gives consumers suggestions on what to wear, depending on the consumer’s schedule, the weather, consumer preference. The consumer’s reflection in the mirror talks to the consumer like a friend. After choosing what to wear, the clothes will be ready in a nearby closet. This project accords with my definition of interaction because the mirror and the consumer engage in communication with each other. What’s more, the mirror uses algorithms to store their conversation in order to cater to the consumer’s preferences. We, of course, turned to the IMA fellows for help. They provided us with feedback that there was an interactive mirror last year, which made us a bit uneasy. They also noted that the 5-minute presentation should be showcasing instead of advertising, so we tried our best to make the scenes close-to-real-life and authentic. Interactive devices as such are bound to be mainstream in 100 years, and I really look forward to it. 

Below are the transcripts of the presentation. 

References:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwzk57/iphone-optical-illusion-artist-anshuman-ghosh

https://books.google.com.hk/books/about/The_Art_of_Interactive_Design.html?id=lefh5rSLbVUC&redir_esc=y

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d37mnv/boston-basketball-court-stunning-rainbow-makeover

Recitation

After the previous recitation on Arduino basics, we are moving on to sensors. The key is to let the moisture sensor engage with water so that the value of moisture will appear on the serial monitor. It was easily done. 

Questions

Question 1: Our moisture sensor could be used to detect the moisture level in the air. It could be used for every human, old and young, for better health conditions. It can be widely distributed in the form of a billboard on the streets and display the moisture level to passers-by.

Question 2: I think code is often compared to following a recipe or tutorial because they function in the same way. In coding, the letters and punctuations make no sense individually. After running the whole program, all codes would make sense. In cooking, the ingredients and seasonings are dull if observed separately. But after mixing them and the results come out, it would make a great dish.

Question 3: I believe computers influence human behavior in the following ways. First, it broadens the human mind by providing tons of information. Online storage, unlike real-life storage, doesn’t require actual space so it can be huge. Second, it makes our lives more efficient. The internet is very fast and the processing of computers is automatic. Finally, it has disadvantages that it damages our health and makes it harder for us to concentrate.