1. Concept And Design

1.1. Inspiration

Nowadays, over-stress has become a very common problem. The idea of my final project is to build an interactive gestured-controlled particle system which can help people reduce stress levels. My project uses Microsoft Kinect and Arduino to detect the user’s gesture and uses Processing to display a dynamic particle system. By enabling its users to interact with the particles using gestures, my project tries to immerse users in the process of waving their hands and thus release their stress.

Continue reading “Zen Place – Liyang Zhu (Tom) – Young”

This recitation, I went to the workshop for object-oriented programming. For the exercise, I made an interactive bubble game with the knowledge of object-oriented programming. Bubbles with random color and size will be generated at the center of the screen. And it’s clicked, it will disappear. Here is a video which illustrates what I’ve done.

This is my code.

My Work

Last week we were asked to create a Processing sketch that can manipulate images with a physical controller made with Arduino. I decided to make a sketch that manipulates the live image from the integrated camera. It provides two modes, and the user can switch mode by pressing the button. The first mode allows the user to change the brightness of the RGB channel by rotating three potentiometers. The second mode is similar to the mosaic program we did in class, but it allows the user to change the particle size and density and opacity with the potentiometers. Here is the video:

I referred to the sample codes of using the camera and manipulating the pixels. My final codes are as follow.

Circuit diagram:

Arduino: 

Processing: 

Reflection

Computer vision is everywhere in our daily life. Changing the color is perhaps one of the most straightforward applications of computer vision. It modifies the data in each pixel. The popular camera filters are essentially the same. There are also more complicated cases, such as face recognition and motion detection. However, due to the limitation of my ability, I didn’t do that in my work.

Step 1: 

Robert’s Project

Robert’s project is about making a battleship game which is a combination of the physical game and digital game. He wants to detect the 3D-printed battleships that are placed on a grid board and display their positions on the screen. My suggestion is that he can probably use a large amount of distance sensor to determine the positions of the physical battleships, but that need lots of I/O resource. I was impressed by his idea of using the physical object to control the virtual objects on the screen. It is like synchronizing the virtual world with the real one.

Kenneth’s Project

Kenneth wants to make a secret room game. In this game, the player needs to find out four different passwords to escape the room. His initial expectation was making a 3D game. However, I told him that it could be a huge task to create a 3D game in Processing. Therefore, he changed his idea and planned to make the game 2D. The significance of his project is that he wants to appeal to people’s concern for people with depression. I think this is a great idea.

Sheldon’s Project

Sheldon plans to make a 2-player game. One player needs to control the rubbish on the sea surface. And another player needs to try not to touch those rubbish. He proposes to arouse people’s awareness of protecting the sea and marine life. I suggested that his game doesn’t create a close relationship between two players. Thus, he probably needs to redesign the players’ tasks.

What I Found

By listening to my peers’ introduction to their projects, I found a similarity–they all plan to make a game. I entirely agree that a game could be an ideal form that perfectly fits most of our definitions of interaction. A game usually requires continuous input and gives continuous output. The input and output are mutually connected. More importantly, a game is always meaningful, as it makes people happy.

Step 2

For my project, I received lots of valuable suggestions from my group. One tip is that I should add more Arduino-based interaction. For instance, I can use the Arduino to receive input data from potentiometers and buttons. Another suggestion is about the significance of my project. I said that my project would help people meditate and relax. But I still need to find more reliable resources online to support my argument and prove the effectiveness of my project.

I decided to name my final project “Zen Space.”
The project title comes from its purpose—the purpose of my project is to provide people with an environment where they can relax, meditate and vent their stress gained from day-to-day studying or working. Nowadays, with the rapid development in both technology and economy, people are encountering with ever-increasing pressure. It is not rare to find from news the cases where people commit suicide due to stress. Moreover, research has shown that constant pressure is harming people’s health in the long run. In a word, pressure has become one of the main problems for every modern urban dweller. Seeing these facts, I chose to address the pressure issue in my final project. My project is mainly for high-pressure people, such as programmers, company executives, and college students. It intends to alleviate their stress, reduce the probability of mental disorder and suicide, and help people lead a happier life.
More specifically, I will create an interactive particle system in the final project. The system will display a ring flow of particles on the screen. Typically, the particles will move slowly in a fixed pattern. When the user makes a gesture, the moving behavior of the particles will change, and the position of the user’s hands will determine the moving direction and velocity of the particles. To achieve my plan, I will integrate my knowledge about Arduino and Processing into this project—Processing is responsible for displaying the particle system, and Arduino provides buttons and potentiometers as an interface to receive the user’s input. Additionally, I decided to use a camera as the primary sensor and to use computer vision to detect the user’s gesture. My first step is to design and laser-print a box to contain all components. The next task is implementing a particle system in Processing, followed by working on the gesture detecting program. Lastly, I will use serial communication to combine different parts.
In my preparatory research, I defined interaction as progress that involves a loop of user’s action and the machine’s appropriate response. And I also assumed that in a good interaction, the device should provide an understandable hint at the beginning. Inspired by my previous research, I decided to add a suggestive animation in the particle system to tell the users that they can interact with this product by moving their hands in the air. Otherwise, I admit that it could be challenging for the user to find out the proper way to use this product. I learned that lots of students in the last year also did some projects related to meditation. But my project will be unique because it uses computer vision and allows people to interact by simply waving their hands. Since my project aims at people with high pressure, it is smart to make the interaction as easy as possible, so that the user can use the product at any time. By using my project, people can have a suitable environment for relaxation and meditation. Therefore, it can go further to alleviate the issue of stress and improve people’s mental health.