Author: Vivien Hao

1. 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.

After building the circuits and add potentiometer for the drawing machine, I think I now have a clear understanding of how to use potentiometer. In order to include the uses of a potentiometer, I would like to build a machine that needs back and forth rotations with artificial manipulations. A project that requires that kinds of functions would be the project that I am currently working on—a music box that allows the player to manipulate it by twisting the potentiometer in whatever he prefers. An actuator is a device that can convert energy into motion. It can be used in devices like motors, switches, pumps, and valves. The digital manipulation of art means converting art into a form that could be manipulated digitally. For example, in the project that I am currently working on, we are trying to change the traditional and boring piano practices into something that could catch children’s attentions. If they twist the potentiometer in a way, then the music would play. If they twist it in a different way, then another music would play.

1. 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?

After reading through the brief explanations of those artworks, I really like the goal that “Time’s Up” is promoting in the project. The artists for “Time’s Up” are trying to raise people’s awareness about their dependence on the natural environment. Thus those people can also realize how important it is to be environmental friendly in their daily lives. In “Time’s Up”, the participants need to be fully involved with the project. They have to stand on the platform then they would be able to bend the gravity map. However, in the Drawing Machine exercise I did during this recitation, participants are less involved in the process. The only thing they would need to do is twisting the potentiometer. Since the artwork allows the participants to rotate on the platform, so I think they have chosen an actuator that allows movements and rotations. They might have chosen servo or potentiometer. Either one might work in this case.

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Interaction circulates around our daily lives in so many ways. It may have various definition. In my own definition, interaction is how machines collaborate with human beings in order to accomplish a goal. The collaboration process may require listening, thinking, and speaking processes. So many projects out there that require interaction. Some might contain more interaction process. Others might not include so much.

One project that I have found that clearly aligns with my definition of interaction is “The Evil Eye-Optical audio record by Indianen”. The artist of this project builds the project mainly to “investigate how printmaking could produce another kind of information, transforming material into an object with a new meaning” (Visnjic, 1). The project asks you to put an audio record on the record player, then it would pass through a device that has a light sensor. The next step would transform this audio into an electric signal by the device. This project is one of the many projects that includes interaction throughout the processes.

 Like I have mentioned earlier, there are some projects might have a different definition for interaction than I do. For example, “Anti AI AI-NN wearable for recognizing synthetic voice” is a project that has a different definition for interaction. The Anti AI AI is a project that is designed to recognize the synthetic voice of the wearer’s environment. According to the article by Filip Visnjic, the artists of this project say that “We wanted the device to give the wearer a unique sensation that matched what they were experience when a synthetic voice is detected” (4). From my understanding, the wearer simply has to put on the device, then the device would do all the detection processes for the wearer. In that sense, I do not see much interaction that requires listening, speaking, and thinking processes in this project.

Last but not least, in our project—Magical Mirror—we intended to communicate a sense of interaction throughout this project. As a group, we do think that interaction requires communication and collaborations between the device and the human being who is actually using it. We did not the device simply does all the work for the experiencer. In addition to the sense of interaction, we also wanted to include a bigger meaning for the existence of this device. We did not want to only solve the issues of choosing what to wear for certain occurances. But we also want to solve a serious environmental crisis behind this not knowing what to wear issue. We have made the device interactive by giving the experiencer the opportunity to talk with the device. The experiencer also has the right to reject any suggestions from the device. So it is not like that the project can determine anything for the experiencer. It is just limiting options for the experiencer. In the sense of solving a serious environmental crisis, we intended to make all the clothes that are in mirror’s considererations to be sustainable. The clothes are either made from recyclable materials or they have been over-used with professional cleaning processes. With these two core values in mind, we have come up with this “Magical Mirror” idea.

The first sensor that had caught our eyes was the moisture sensor. It was kind of hilarious of how after we finished building everything the sensor could not test out the humidity when I put it on my hands. We doubted ourselves for a second. Then later we found out that because my hand was too dry, so the sensor did not work. After I poured water on my hand, then the number went up tremendously. Since the moisture sensor can test out the humidity, so I think it is a useful tool for people who constantly need to figure out the level of humidity and collect the data for their work. In this case, people who work for weather casts might find moisture sensor to be very useful. They would use the moisture sensor because it could make their jobs easier by collecting the nearly most accurate data for them.

Coding, unlike writing, it does not have the freedom to let you spit out whatever is in your mind as long as you are logically making sense. When you code, of course there are several coding options for one task. But you do have to follow the guideline. For example, you have to start a statement then close it properly. Otherwise, an error message would appear on the system. This is no different from cooking. Whenever you cook, you also have to follow the guidelines even though you also do have several options lying ahead of you. But heating up the pan, then pour oil, etc, are the processes that can never be skipped.

Computer exists everywhere in these days. A lot of us rely on computer in many ways, such as collecting data for work, recording documentations for a class, finding out the outside world, etc. Computer makes our daily lives much more convenient and opens up so much more opportunities for us.

Recitation 2: Vivien Hao

We have built three circuits during Recitation two. All of these circuits require inputs, processing, and outputs. In fact, most projects that need physical computing also require these three processes. In the passage “Physical Computing”, the author mentions that most physical computing projects can be broken down into these same three stages: listening, thinking, and speaking. Or he says that in computing terms they should be renamed as input, processing, and output (20). While we were building the circuits, we had to use the codes that were already provided, of course under circumstances that no codes are given then we would have to write our own codes. And then finish building the input part of the project. Building up the breadboard would also be counted towards the input part of the project. After we have finished building the board, we then could move on to the processing part, in which we do expect a wanted output. If the output does not meet our expectations, then we need to go back to the processing part and also check the input part for any possible errors. The reason why that we have to use a 10K resistor is that the pullup resistor can define the input pin at 5 volts. And then the button can connect the pin to ground and the pin goes to 0 volts.  If I had 100,000 LEDS, I would make a starry ceiling for kids. I want to make the LED lights to be movement sensitive. Kids could simply use hand gestures to turn the lights on and off. Moreover, they can also change colors of these lights by using different hand gestures. Ordinary starry ceilings can only be lighted up when the room is all dark, but this LED starry ceiling would solve this issue.

Components in the circuits: Resistor, LED, capacitor, voltage regulator, variable resistor, push-button, speaker, power, wire.

Resistor: A resistor is a two-terminal electrical component that resists the flow of electricity and can be used to control the flow of current.

LED: a light that examines the buildups of the circuit. If the circuit is built up successfully then the LED should blink.

Capacitors: store electricity and can also be used to stabilize the flow of electricity. Voltage regulator: it is used to regulate voltage levels.

Variable resistor: attached to a knob that can output an adjustable voltage.

Push-button: it is used to trigger the system.

Speaker: it is used to play sounds when electricity is pushed through wires.

Power: Gives the circuit abilities to function. Such as producing sounds, blink, etc.

Wire: Carries power from one point to another point.

Pictures: Door Bell      

  Lamp      

 Dimmable Lamp

Throughout the entire building circuits process, we have encountered several obstacles where the circuits did not function properly. For example, in the doorbell circuit, the speaker did not work at first. We accidentally connected the wires in the wrong direction. We asked the LAs for help. And they kindly reminded us that we always need to connect the wires back to the ground.

The three circuits we have built during recitation time clearly show interactivity. Each group member had to do hands-on works in order to successfully build the circuits. We have to connect wires, insert all the components that each circuit needs to have. For the doorbell circuit, we had to press the push button in order for the circuit to produce an audio sound.

Interaction designs are usually physically made by the artist. In Zack Lieberman’s video, he illustrated an example of how they helped a paralyzed graffiti artist to keep on drawing while he is in a hospital room. They built up a system that allowed the artist to just make eye movements to draw. And the team would project those drawing on many walls throughout the city. He said at the end of the video “We’re helping people to breathe.” Interaction designs help to open up possibilities in impossible situations.