Author: Jiayi Liang

PROJECT TITLE

Happiness Vending Machine

CONCEPTION AND DESIGN:

For my final project, I am working on how to connect my project to the society. As an unique individual, I think every one of us has the duty to take care of each other as a community.  My project is called “Happiness Vending Machine”, which is an interactive vending machine that sells happiness. Happiness here is “those happy moments that can make someone feel happy”. It can be a small incident in life, an interesting picture, or a beautiful song. We can put this vending machine in big shopping marts or university campuses to spread happiness and comfort more people.

The vending machine focuses on urban people’s prevailing mental issues that they always feel stressful and upset in their daily life. According to my research, there is a popular new trend called “丧文化“ –“disheartenment culture”, which means people’s pessimistic attitudes towards life. Just simply takes me as an example. When I was working on my EAP final project, I cannot help complaining about the huge workload and difficult tasks that are impossible to fulfill. I always say, “I feel like I am a waste” “Why do I choose NYUSH?” “I will definitely get  F”. However, I ignore that there is also something enjoyable in the project. It is nice to cooperate with my group member. It is fun to interact with others to get more information that is useful for my research. After I finish my presentation, I feel a sense of self-pride. These are all good moments in my final period, but I just choose to ignore them and fall into a mental mood of sorrow. 

.

↑A super popular image that stands for 丧文化 —— a middle-aged man lying on the sofa with a sad face

Thus, I come up with an idea that maybe I can collect those  ignored but joyful things in our lives to comfort more people who has faced the same dilemma as mine. Then, I work on finding ways to share those happy moments. I find a vending machine may be a good way by the use of interaction. Usually we can see vending machine selling food or drinks, but it is rare to see it selling abstract products like happiness, which can draw users’ attention and arouse their curiosity. The vending machine here is a metaphor. You don’t actually needs to pay money for it, however, you just use your interaction– raise your hand in front of your sensor– to buy it.  This machine creates a utopia that you don’t have to take great costs to get happiness. It is the one and only vending machine that doesn’t require money stuffs just like a fairy tale, which is healing for us who live in a busy metropolis.

Recently, there is a kind of toy which is popular among youngsters called blind box. Not knowing what exact cute figure really is in the box, buyers feel a sense of surprise when unpacking the product, which adds playfulness in the process of purchasing. Thus, I am going to take the random policy on my happiness vending machine , which makes the buyers feel more surprised.

FABRICATION AND PRODUCTION:

My first step is to collect the happy moments from my friends. I send a message on wechat, and many people share their own ideas to me. Actually the process of collecting information has already healed me. Their contribution ranges variously. Through the process, I feel I am more engaged with my social circle. 

Then I make these contributions into cute and adorable pictures. I classify these information into three categories. A. simple sentences B. photos C. songs.

A.

B.

C.

see more on google docs: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UwE5T8zDDEsuJ1LK87foyfl99ZrMSl5MsjROrVcUBrs/edit

the songs

https://music.163.com/#/song?id=1336856864

https://music.163.com/#/song?id=1366036963

https://music.163.com/#/song?id=1314353013

I make my vending machine into a model in wood. All the users need to do is to stand in front of the machine, raise your hand to collect the “happy power” and wait for a little while. Then, you can select a button to  purchase a happy moment shared by others by paying the happy power he or she collects. I made a instruction front page to guide the users.

To make my project work, I list two main codes to write. The first is to write a code to count the happy power. The second is to make the button work — if you press it, the machine will show you a picture.

For the first task, I use “analog write” to get the information received by the distance sensor. If the distance sensor senses something is getting closer, the code will add one point to the total happy power. 

Code for task 1 in arduino:

The second task is much more complicated. I set a value called “button state”, if the first button is pressed, button state goes to 1, second to 2, third to 3 and forth to 4. At first I get lost when I use the example while code on the internet. I face a problem that the distance sensor only works when I am pressing the button. Then the fellow tells me that I should just us if sentences to realize my goal. I face another question that I misconnected three pins of the buttons. The result is that the buttons do not work for a long period. Luckily I find the mistake at last. The biggest problem is that if I keep pressing the button, the image keeps changing. I add one more value of the previous button state to solve it. The picture only changes when the button state is different from the previous one. (This also leads to one more problem that I cannot press the same button twice, so I add one “return” button). I also add some lines that once a button is pressed, the happy power will be reduced by 20.

The complete arduino code:

I use the processing to store different pictures. Once Processing knows that the button state from arduino has changed,  it will randomly show the relevant picture( and song). I use the array function to store the information. I edit the songs into clips of about 15s.  I also add some sound effects to make it sounds like a vending machine.

Finally, my project works like this.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, my project pays attention on people’s mental issues that they have a pessimistic attitude towards life. The happiness vending machine sells happy moments to people in order to heal and comfort them. My project aligns with our definition of interaction because there is a procedure of “input, process and output” as Crawford claimed . The vending machine interacts with the audience by noticing the users’ action to collect “happy power”, receiving their request of buying happiness, and offer them a funny picture of music as an output. The uniqueness about my project is that it is raising people’s awareness on the tiny but certain beautiful moments in their life. By sharing them an adorable cartoon image, they feel more relaxed and happier. This vending machine create a utopia space that is different from the busy and boring social life. In front of the machine, you can get rid of the busy life and confusing material stuffs, gaining pure happiness without paying money. All you need to do is spend a little time to relax and enjoy the happy moments.

However, there are still lots of space for revising. I get feedbacks that maybe it is better to add more interesting instructions on the buttons instead of just using ABC. For example, “if you are angry, press this”. And I will also add more descriptions at the beginning to let the user realize what this machine is for.

For the subsequent projects, I will add one more function to the vending machine to make it more interactive. The buyer can upload their own happy moments to the machine too. Thus, the project can also work as an illustrated handbook that record people’s various kinds of happiness.

References:

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0712/c90782-9240823.html

The Art of Interactive Design, Crawford (pages 1-5)

Blind Boxes

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%A7%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96/19892924?fr=aladdin

In this week’s recitation, we have a workshop for map() and the fellows set up 3 more different workshops to further explore processing skills on different aspects. I choose the object oriented programming because I think the skill can really help me a lot on my final project. It helps me create lots of images in the similar format in a more effective way. Also, the skill is what I feel a little bit confused about during the lecture.

The basic principle object oriented programming is that you start two labels in a project. The second one is the framework. For example, I want to create a picture that is full of cartoon bears with different colors and positions. I use class() to write the code to create one bear. And then, in the first label, I write codes to display the bear by plugging in different exact numbers. This technique is quite useful and efficient, and also make the code displayed in a more clear layout.

During the process, I faced one question that although I have declared some X and Ys in the code, it failed to recognize the X and Ys in the subsequent codes. Tristan taught us that because it is common to face problems like this, it is better for as to write things like float x or int y at the very beginning of the code. It is not only clear for us, but also helps to decrease the risk of such errors.

After the 1-hour practice, I manage to understand how the object oriented programming really works. The skills are really useful when I want to create different images for each person. I think I can also include arrays to make the process even much easier.

In this week’s recitation, I am asked to work individually to create a Processing sketch that controls media by  using a physical controller made with Arduino. I choose to use potentiometers to control an image. 

My Processing Code:

PImage img1;
import processing.serial.*;

String myString = null;
Serial myPort;

int NUM_OF_VALUES = 2; /** YOU MUST CHANGE THIS ACCORDING TO YOUR PROJECT **/
int[] sensorValues; /** this array stores values from Arduino **/

void setup() {
size(800, 800);
background(0);
setupSerial();
img1 = loadImage(“angel.png”);
imageMode(CENTER);
}

void draw() {
updateSerial();
printArray(sensorValues);
background(255);
image(img1,400,400,sensorValues[0],sensorValues[0]);
filter(BLUR, sensorValues[1]/100);
tint(255,sensorValues[0]/3);
}

void setupSerial() {
printArray(Serial.list());
myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[ 3 ], 9600);

myPort.clear();
sensorValues = new int[NUM_OF_VALUES];
}

void updateSerial() {
while (myPort.available() > 0) {
myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 ); // 10 = ‘\n’ Linefeed in ASCII
if (myString != null) {
String[] serialInArray = split(trim(myString), “,”);
if (serialInArray.length == NUM_OF_VALUES) {
for (int i=0; i<serialInArray.length; i++) {
sensorValues[i] = int(serialInArray[i]);
}
}
}
}
}

I use the first potentiometer to change the size and the transparency, and the second potentiometer to change the blur length.

Since I have practiced how to use arduino to control Processing, this week’s recitation task is quite simple. All I need to do is to use the Pimage to load an image and use tint, blur etc. to edit the image. I think if I have more time, I will try to load more pictures to let the characters seem like interacting with each other by changing their positions and sizes.

Reflection:

After reading  Computer Vision for Artist and Designers , I got a lot of inspirations.  The article introduces various types of computer vision techniques. The project mentioned in this article I am interested in most is Messa di Voce’s interactive software. It visualizes the sound. If the user is speaking, the sound he or she made will be transformed into an image. This makes me think of one writing skill I learned in my high school —synaesthesia. It inspires me that different senses can be associated with each other. I can comment  a song as blue to show that it is sorrowful, and I can define a girl’s smile as sweet to show that she is so cute. In my project, I can also use this kind of skill to use people’s different senses to fertilize the interaction process.

Project Title Animal Mirror

Project Statement of Purpose

This project is an interactive mirror that change people’s face into an animal image. When we look at the mirror in the first minutes, the mirror will reflect the real human face. After you knock the mirror, the image will gradually turn into an animal face, which looks like the magic mirror in Snow White. The mirror can customize a unique animal-like image for every user according to their personal feature that be used as a personal avatar.

Nowadays, many people are confusing with one simple but sophisticated question: who I am.  I think my project “Animal Mirror” can help the confused users to have a clearer understanding of their personal identity by giving them a cute and vivid animal avatar.  The different animals will stands for different features. For example, herbivores embody the women and carnivores embody the men. What’s more, it challenges on humans’ previous arrogant attitude that humans are superior to animals. Contrarily, it uses animals to describe humans.

Project Plan

 My project aims at using the facial recognition technology to replace human face with an animal figure. To make my project come true, I point out several important steps I have to complete in each specific time. The first step is to design basic animal images. What I want to do is to create some sample animals such as rabbits, lions, wolves and cats, and randomly change the fur color accordingly to the users.  Step 1 is due in 11.23. The second step is to make the frame of the mirror. I want to use the laster cut technology to make a wood frame. Step 2 is due in 11. 26. The third step is to write the code to realize the main part — replace people’s face with the animal figures I have created. I have researched on the Internet that the combined use of processing and faceosc can help me realize I want to do. The coding work will be complicated so the due date will be 12.4. Step 4 is to make the mirror much more like a magic mirror. I will  write a code that if the noise sensor hear the knock sound, the arduino will send message to the processing and the animal face will appear. The 4th due date will be 12.6. In the following days I will work on adding more extra effects to the mirror. For example, changing the background into a forest. The final project will be a mirror whose animal-like reflection will act according to the users, which make the audience understand that the animal in the mirror stands for themselves.  

Context and Significance

I was originally inspired by a Japanese Cartoon called <Beastars>. The story mainly tells about the conflicts between the herbivores and carnivores. I think the cartoon is reflecting something happening in real life. The animals may stand for different social groups in society, such as male, female, the black, the white etc., which is a very common technique that is used in books, comics and films. For example, <Zootopia>,<Animal Farm> and<Maus>. Thus, I come up with an idea that using animals to stand for personal identities.

Then I work on how to deliver the concept in an interactive way. I researched on several projects, and I find the interactive mirror very useful. The mirror is used as a virtual dressing room in a department store. When I am changing positions, the clothes I wear on the screen is changing too. This project gives an idea that maybe use the item mirror to enhance the users’ empathy when they see the animal figures. When the user is looking at the mirror, they are seeing themselves. And after they do something, for example, knocking the mirror, their faces turn into an animal figure. With the facial recognition technology, the animal will act vividly according to the users’ face, which make them believe that the animal is an embodiment of themselves.

The Animoji on iPhone lets the users to choose cute images as a personal avatar. It tells me that people love using cartoon images to stand for themselves, which gives me confidence on my project.

Thus, based on my research, my proposal is that using a mirror to reflect people’s different social identities(black and white, male and female, tall and short etc.)  by turning their faces into animal faces.

My project aligns with our definition of interaction because there is a procedure of “input, process and output” as Crawford claimed . The mirror interact with the audience by seeing their faces, recognize and analyze their faces, and change their face into an animal face as an output. The procedure is cyclical because it is constant. The uniqueness about my project is that it is raising people’s awareness on their social identities in a funny and acceptable way. By sharing them a vivid animal figure, they get to know more about their person features and their social status. Compared with Snapchat that only using the facial recognition technology to decorate the selfies, the project is reflecting something deeper on self recognition. My project is intended for every member of the society to offer them a chance to review their identities. 

For the subsequent projects, I will make a kind of illustrated handbook to record the different animal images, which shows the diversity of a society. Thus, the project can teach people to accept, tolerate and respect the diverse society. 

Work Cited

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhOzN2z3wtl

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFqOjoQcIro

The Art of Interactive Design, Crawford (pages 1-5)