Daniel Chin – Page 3 – IMA Documentation

March 29, 2019

Recitation 5: Processing Basics, by Daniel Chin

Instructor: Marcele

This is a write up for Interaction Lab SP18 Recitation on Processing Basics on Mar 29, 2019.

Motif

This photo of a grafitti by Tony “TEMPT” Quan is taken from a TED article.

My drawing

They have animated textures.
They pulsate.
They wiggle.

Explanation

I chose the motif because we learnt about the grafitti artist (TEMPT) in earlier lectures through an assistive project. I feel grafitti would be a great genre to replicate in Processing.

I used OOP to draw random lines to form strokes.

The coordinates in my final creation are directly taken from the original motif. So, the structure should be identical to the original work. However, my creation is an animation. Details and colors are simplified, but the movements add some expressivity.

Processing is the perfect tool to achieve my design. Processing provides the right amount of builtin tools for me to easily focus on what I want to do. The OOP provided by Java also helped me generalize the graphics.

Source code

The code is too long (5KB), so please see my Github repo.

March 15, 2019March 15, 2019

Recitation 4: Drawing Machines, by Daniel Chin

Instructor: Marcele
Recitation partner: Andres

This is a write up for Interaction Lab SP18 Recitation on Drawing Machines on Mar 15, 2019.

One Revolution

Demo:

Knob Motor

Demo:

Scheme:

Drawing Machine

We didn’t have time for the drawing machine when the recitation ended.

Problems and how we solved them

There was only one problem today:

As the screenshot shows, the potentiometer input has a random noise of ±2. As a result, the stepper motor shakes restlessly.
We added the following code to solve the problem:
delta = poten - last_poten; if (abs(delta) >= 5) { // smart technology last_poten = poten; myStepper.step(delta / 4); }
Which completely filtered out the noise:

So it was a success.

Questions and my answers

What kind of machines would you be interested in building? Add a reflection about the use of actuators, the digital manipulation of art, and the creative process to your blog post.

The drawing machine actually gave my midterm partner and I our idea for the midterm project. Amazed by the actuators, we decided to utilize the mechanism of drawing machines on a vertical plane. The user would control two servos to move a point in 3D space.

The actuators were controlled by two parameters: speed and steps. According to Tristan, the step() function is blocking, and it only returns when the stepper motor reaches the target position. That is very different from servos!

The drawing machine is especially fun because it involves two players. It was unfortunate that we didn’t have time to do step 3, but we observed other students do it. The creative process was full of unpredictability.

Choose an art installation mentioned in the reading ART + Science NOW, Stephen Wilson (Kinetics chapter). Post your thoughts about it and make a comparison with the work you did during this recitation. How do you think that the artist selected those specific actuators for his project?

This reading reminds me of a childhood experience.

In elementary school, I saw an article in the Children’s Newspaper about a set of VR equipment. It used cameras to track human motions. A pair of gloves with nano-needles simulated haptic experience and made your fingers feel texture, vibration, temperature, and friction. I was deeply amazed by the technology.

Growing up, I have become increasingly “careful” regarding what to be amazed by. Ego. Not a good thing. It was like, if I thought something non-cool as cool, that would indicate my lack of taste. What is interaction? What is not interaction? Let’s think of a definition so advanced that I can use it to privately look down upon other people’s projects. Such was the way I tried to distinguish myself.

The reading made me miss the kind of simple amazement I had in elementary school. The reading mentions a lot of projects that aren’t so useful. Many of them are “artistically not to the standard”, too, if you know what I’m saying. There could be critics, “look at those people, wasting resources, making useless things!” That is a valid opinion, and it makes part of me feel ashamed to like those interactive projects. However, what is my honest feeling? I like them!

That is when I realized, just like how one cannot be “all-round political-correct”, one cannot always address every doubt regarding their passion. Sometimes it is okay to let it pass and be content with honest feelings. Maybe the interactive arts do not solve social issues; maybe they are artistically childish; maybe they use out-dated technologies that are not “fashionable” anymore; but I like them. I don’t think everything needs to find their meanings right away.

Comparing their works to what we made in the recitation, I think their works shout originality. Looking at them, you can feel the creators try their best to express what they have to express. You can feel the creators tweak the projects in the exact way they liked them to be. Artistic creation is dictatorship. Appreciation of artwork is democracy. I vote up for their works.

I think the artists selected the actuators based on the required power output, precision, required speed, size constraints, safety risk, and heat dissipation.

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019

Group Project Blog: Interaction ⬅ Attention, by Daniel Chin

My definition

Interaction is giving and receiving attention.

Interaction with physical computing is:
A dead thing making a living thing feel they are given attention.

2 projects I researched

Parasite of Alexa

This project is a Man In Middle between Amazon Alexa and the user. It acts as a firewall, protecting the user’s privacy. The device sits on top of an Alexa, playing a random noise to the Alexa’s microphone. Only when the device hears the user speak specific wake words will it stop playing the random noise for a while.

I think it is a good initiative, but not an interactive device. Its idea very well manifest social science priciples like the Division of Power and Mutual Supervision. It protects privacy. However, The human uses it as a mere tool. The “encapsulation” is so good, the user may as well forget about the existence of the device! It is not a bad thing, just not interactive.

Smart Home Counterspy Agent

This project is a router for smart home devices. It displays the traffic of each smart home device with intuitive graphics. The purpose is to reveal to the user how much data their smart home devices upload every day.

This one is interactive. The user feels they are actively protected. The device communicates with the user. Everytime the user looks at it, the user can feel the amount of thought the device put into its job when the user was not around. That creates emotional sympathy. This is what I mean by “a dead thing making a living thing feel they are given attention. ”

Group project

The Super Cup is a flying robot that fills your cup for you.

Why robot? Why not a conveyer belt? Why not some other automatic technology that fills the cup remotely?
The idea is that the user should not take what is provided for granted. A device may be useful, but if the user can easily forget about the device, it is not interactive.
That is why we decided to use a robot. The robot not only provides water, it also provides attention.

More thoughts

Should an interactive design demand attention?
In terms of user experience, when is encapsulation good? When bad?

February 25, 2019

Recitation 2: Arduino Basics, by Daniel Chin

Instructor: Marcele
Recitation partner: Linhui

This is a write up for Interaction Lab SP18 Recitation on Arduino Basics on Feb 22, 2019.

The circuits

Scheme of fading LED ↓

Fading LED working ↓

Scheme of tone melody ↓

Tone melody working ↓

Scheme of speed game ↓

Speed game working ↓

Scheme of 4-player speed game ↓

4-player speed game working ↓

Problems and how we solved them

We encountered several problems during the recitation.

1. Floated inputs give random noise

In 3. Speed Game where two buttons are supposed to serve as input, we accidentally floated PIN 10 and PIN 11, resulting in random noise received. Once the game started, the counter rapidly added up to ten, and a random player wins (Without any human intervention).
We checked the schematic and found out that we missed two cables connecting the other side of the resistor to GND. We added them, and the circuit worked correctly.

2. PIN 13: so special

In 4. Four-player Speed Game, we decided to use PIN 13 as one of the LED outputs. We observed a green LED on the Arduino board lighting up. We remembered that the recitation talked about PIN 13 earlier. PIN 13 is connected to the green LED within the board.

Questions and my answers

Reflect how you use technology in your daily life and on the circuits you just built. Use the text Physical Computing and your own observations to define interaction.

I can imagine the non-technology version of the technologies we have. Imagine a laborer is hired to do repetitive work in place of a machine. We would have to wait longer for the same jobs to be finished, and the laborer would be highly bored. This applies to a lot of use cases of technology. In the Speed Game, we can imagine instead of a circuit we hire a human referee to count our clicks and announce the winner. That would work less well. This is part of the charm of technology. The other part emerges where the speed of processing is so different from that of humans’ that the user experience goes through a qualitative change. That is the unique interaction that physical computing monopolizes in.

So far, what do human interaction monopolizes in? “grand sweeping gestures” (Igoe and O’sullivan. Physical Computing. “Introduction”, xix.), or modes of expression other than a screen of pixels and some speakers. To cross the differences between human interactions and traditional computer interactions is at the key of the development of physical computing.

If you have 100,000 LEDs of any brightness and color at your disposal, what would you make and where would you put it?

First thing first, I would put some of them behind the buttons in NYU Shanghai Pudong Campus elevators. Right now they have gray numbers on a silver background, which a lot of people (like me) can’t see. I would give the numbers a soft violet glow, enhancing accessibility, making the Academic Building more inclusive.

That still leaves us with a lot of LEDs. I would like to attach them onto the handrails of all stairways in Shanghai metro stations. The LEDs should animate some color bands moving in the direction that passengers are supposed to go. That prevents reverse walking. Also, the speed of the color bands should be just a little higher than the average walking speed of Shanghai metro takers. That is a subliminal manipulation aiming at accelerating the people to walk up/down the stairs.

February 17, 2019February 22, 2019

Int Lab Recitation 1 Documentation by Daniel Chin

Writer: Daniel Chin
Recitation partner: Linhui

This is a write up for Interaction Lab SP18 Recitation on Electronics and Soldering on Feb 15, 2019.

Components: what are they?

Breadboard

A pre-organized cable layout, easy to plug in jumper cables and other units’ legs. Good for organizing circuit. Good for when you want to start building a circuit but your mind is a blank.

LM7805 Voltage Regulator

Turns 12V DC to 5V DC. This, with the power supply, gives our buzzer and LED a friendly 5V.

Buzzer

Add direct current and it plays a 2200 Hz pitch. In our circuit, it is the output. It signals the user that the button is pressed.

Push-Button Switch

Use a finger to tell it whether to let current pass.

Arcade Button

A cooler Push-Button Switch. Acts as the input in our interactive circuit.

220 ohm Resistor

Add resistance. In our circuit, it alleviates some voltage off our LED, so that the LED won’t pop.

LED

Consumes electricity and emits red light. Very picky about which way the current goes. In our circuit, it is the output.

100 nF (0.1uF) Capacitor

To let the Voltage Regulator work.

10K ohm Variable Resistor (Potentiometer)

A resistor whose resistance we can control by rotating a disk. In our circuit, it controls the brightness of the LED.

12 volt power supply

Turns 220V AC to 12V DC. Today we plugged it into the wall and we have a safe voltage to play with.

Barrel Jack

The cable of the power supply doesn’t go into the breadboard. The barrel jack solves the problem.

Multimeter

Measures U, I, and R. We used it to find the right resistor. Also, as documented below, we used it to check for short circuit.

Several Jumper Cables (Hook-up Wires)

Cables that are easy to use with the breadboard. Makes building circuits as easy as drawing lines.

The circuits

Scheme of buzzer ↓

buzzer working ↓

Scheme of LED ↓

LED working ↓

Scheme of dimmable LED ↓

Dimmable LED working ↓

Problems and how we solved them

We encountered several problems during the recitation.

1. Voltage regulator: which leg is which?

We found the spec in recitation instruction webpage.

2. Push-Button Switch: Four legs??? We only need two

We asked Tristan. Problem solved.
“Imagine they are claws.” Each claw has two fingers. The fingers of the same claw are connected. The button controls the connectivity between the two claws.

3. Untitled

Before plugging in, we checked for short-circuit with the multimeter on last time.
It seemed to short! (The overall resistance of the circuit was 0)
We checked the circuit and the current flow, and solved the problem.

4. Untitled

When final double checking, we found we missed a cable (from regulator IN to 12V).
We added the cable.

5. Oh no, we still got the legs wrong

Circuit plugged in for 10 sec, Linhui reports abnormal smell.
We detached power immediately. I found the voltage regulator very hot.
We asked Leon. It turned out we got the voltage regulator spec perspective direction wrong.
“Think about it as a chair. This is the back side of the chair.”
We rotated the voltage regulator 180 degrees. Finally, the circuit worked as expected.

Questions and my answers

After reading The Art of Interactive Design, in what way do you think that the circuits you built today include interactivity? Please explain your answer.

I think the circuits we built today provide feedback, but no interactivity is provided as is defined by The Art of Interactive Design. What we built are simple circuits, and are less interactive than the fridge example mentioned in the article. Here is why I think that. As defined in the article, interaction is the repeated process of “listen, think, speak” between two “actors”. In the fridge example, the “thinking” is simple, but the “speaking” is richer than the doorbell and LED we made today: When the fridge light powers on, the user sees the contents in the fridge, and that information input is way more dynamic and engaging than a simple LED.

How can Interaction Design and Physical Computing be used to create Interactive Art? You can reference Zack Lieberman’s video or any other artist that you know.

I personally believe that even a piece of writing, if good, can be interactive. Through carefully designed words, the writer can make the reader read, think, and respond to the text. Of course, the writing “thinks” too, and responds to the reader through the pre-determined but unpredictable chapters/paragraphs.

The multi-model communication that Physical Computing offers only assist the good writing. Certainly, the power of real-time computing makes non-predetermined response possible, but any system, no matter how dynamic, requires “playwriting” or “designing” before the user steps into the picture. I think the quality of this playwriting is critical.

For example, the game Undertale is highly praised for its integration of its relationship/emotion system and its combat system, but what I find interesting about Undertale is its character speeches. They are very smartly designed. It is good writing. Without good writing, assistive technology like an interactive gaming environment can never make an experience truly engaging.

In conclusion, I think Interaction Design and Physical Computing are tools that open more options for expressing and listening, but to make something interactive, good playwriting is at the core. In the end, the creation only speaks for the creator. If the creator does not have something interesting to say, the creation would at most be a fancy toy.