Category: Eric

Map(Tweeter)

Purpose of Project

The idea to create this project came from my experience going throughout the American school system. In my school district, there was not a focus on current event in any of the classes, despite the knowledge of current events being an important part of education. Because of this, I wished to introduce a more interactive way to have news presented. My original plan was to take the most current events that I would find on Google, and program processing to display what ever news story I chose. While this would have worked, I wished to have information that was a recent as possible. The project “Moon” by Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson, gave me the inspiration to include the news from regular people around the world, and from this we chose to use Twitter as our new source. This project was targeted more toward children, as it has a very whimsical look to it. It would be best used in a classroom setting where children can actively see where in the world they are receiving news from. This helps create knowledge on current events, and it also helps children further develop geography skills. 

Process of Creation

Coding- 

To integrate the use of Twitter’s information into our project, we used the API that connects Twitter with Processing. We had a difficult time getting this to work. In the beginning, we could not figure out how to get the permission to use the API at all. After this, it was a matter of integrating the components of the project into the API coding. We had to integrate the use of buttons, LEDs, the whistle sound, and code the interface in Processing to look nice. The most interesting part about using the Twitter API was that we would place any keyword we wanted into the code, and it would find the most recent tweet that has to do with that key word. This means that this project could be tweaked in many ways to serve more specific projects. We actually thought about focusing our entire project on climate, but we decided to keep the key word as news in order to generate more tweets. This was the most interactive project that I have made because of the programs ability to search for a keyword and then find the most recent tweet. It aligns perfectly with my definition of interaction, two parties able to receive information, think about it, and then respond. Overall, the coding proved to be the most difficult part of this project, but it reaped very cool result when we figured out how it worked. 

Physical Project- 

We were originally going to create the physical box by laser cutting a box, but the map that we used was far too large to cut a box. From this, we decided to use cardboard, but this meant that our original plan of our project being something that you can step on would not work. This proved to be a better option because the project would last longer through testing and presenting. After adding supports to the bottom, the project was very sturdy. The only thing that was a problem was integrating the buttons and LEDs. A lot of hot glue was necessary.

Fabrication- 

Our original fabrication plan was to print a compass and have it spin with a servo motor. We had the compass printed, but then we came back to find it after we had finished the rest of the project and it was no where to be found. In a mild state of panic, we decided to use the old printed parts from our midterm project to create another compass. While we were disappointed to have lost the original compass, our makeshift did the job. 

User Testing

Our physical project did not change very much from user testing. The buttons for Australia and the world did not work, so we had to fix that. The main change came in the interface that the viewer saw in Processing. We originally had the webcam working, and then the tweet would pop up next to the user’s face. The idea behind this was that we wanted to highlight the inclusivity of Twitter, that everyday people are able to voice their opinions. This was not received as well as we had hoped during user testing. We loved the feedback we received, and it defiantly moved our project to a higher level. We were suggested and decided to change the interface to resemble the physical map, and have the tweets pop up over the continent that the user pressed. This was to give the project more cohesion, and I think it paid off. 

Conclusions

I really enjoyed making this project. The interaction between the user and project was interesting because it took the the familiar idea of Twitter and put it into a new kind of interaction. Our final project received very good feedback, people were interested in continuing to interact with it because of the constant updates of information. My continuation of this project would be to make the physical display more like our original idea of having it be a carpet. I would like to continue to work with the Twitter API; to see what kind of projects can be made with it, and to see other ways we can spread news. 

Watch Your Words

CONCEPTION AND DESIGN:

We wanted a model that would actually inform the user of what they had to as they went on through the game instead of giving the user all the information at once in the beginning. In fact, we gave very specific instructions at the beginning that were at the same time not fully complete. Once users got asked what was the last word they saw and are given four-word choices, they now know what they have to do. Another aspect of the project that we really wanted people to focus on, as the name implies, is the words themselves. Our project is meant to improve eyesight and reading skills as well as memory skills. On every level, there was an array of nine words from which the code would randomly pick four. The words were programmed to blink in a pattern were only one word out of the four would show on screen, something we got inspired by my games for dyslexia as a kid. The pattern was meant to make sure the user follows the words. Each level coherently had words that were about a specific topic. For instance, on the beach level, we had shells, sea, and sunscreen. To add to this, we had a soundtrack for each level; on the beach level we had the sound of the sea. The soundtracks were meant to allow the user to have a sensory experience that would enhance their eidetic memory.  To facilitate the already complex process of this project, Sarah and I opted in having a fairly simple design for the Arduino part.  I made an Arduino case with four buttons, that we got from the Shanghai Electonic Market (really cool LED buttons). To us and to the users who tested our project, the buttons worked because the instructions on the code pointed users to refer to the buttoned case to answer. To make it obvious I engraved the case with A, B, C, D for each button.  It was a very personal project for me because we made it wishing I would have had this project helping me deal with dyslexia as I grew up. We wanted to include something else rather than just focusing it on memory and reading in the way we had it already, thus, we wanted to play with incorporating coloring into the equation. Nevertheless,  we had a time constraint.

FABRICATION AND PRODUCTION:

In this section, describe and assess the most significant steps in your production process, both in terms of failures and successes. What happened during the User Testing Session? How did your user testing process influence some of your following production decisions? What kind of adaptations did you make? Were they effective? In short, keeping in mind your project goals, how do you account for and justify the various production choices you made for your project? Include sketches and drawings.

On the User Testing Session, Sarah and I concretized our idea for the project. We were not so sure about how to make the “game” feel challenging for people, but still, make it enjoyable and easy to understand. People would tell Sarah and me separately to make it like a “multiple choice quiz” so people would feel pressured to answer correctly. Back in the testing session, we did not have a background track included in the code. We had planned to have a soundtrack but did not have time to include it. People really stressed to us how much it would help to have sound in the project. People in the testing session wanted us to have “cool” buttons for the visual aesthetic of the project, especially the Fellows. I finally got LED buttons from the electronic market that Eric recommend. Because the design we already had for the Arduino case was way too small, and the time constraint we had, did not allow us to incorporate the LED part of the buttons. 

CONCLUSIONS:

As I have previously stated before, interaction as a conversation,  a dialogue, a transmission and a tool that requires an input a process and an output. For it to be a more complex interaction, there must be an input a process and an output that can go back and forth. By the nature of it, you would need a relationship. To add to what I had said before I would like to stress in one key element: Understanding. In the communication that interaction facilitates there must be an understanding of how and what to communicate. For this final project, we wanted people to communicate with the computer so that people could get a different experience each time (words are randomized). We wanted this dialogue to feel unique and compelling each time. The buttons on Arduino could have easily been taken off; we could have just used the computer mouse or the keyboard on the computer. I think we could have done a better job with the interface’s design. So I learned from this that we could have planned even more and invested time into building something even specifically meant for people with Alzheimer’s like Eric suggested.  I love the idea of using technology as a means to bring art, and social thought together. An insightful element of the project experience was working on something that was constantly subjected to other’s opinions. OnThe User testing we got a lot of valuable opinions. Being open to hearing everything, even when it modified your initial idea of the project and modified your “art”, in the end, you do it for the people.   In fact, our idea of a video game to help people with dyslexia is something I would like to maybe propose to a tech company. 

WorkShop: Serial Communication

Exercise:

Arduino to Processing

processing

import processing.serial.*;

String myString = null;
Serial myPort;


int NUM_OF_VALUES = 3;
int[] sensorValues;
float cl=255;

void setup() 
{
  size(500, 500);
  background(0);
  setupSerial();
}


void draw() 
{
  updateSerial();
  printArray(sensorValues);
  background(0);
  colorMode(HSB);
  if (sensorValues[2]==1) 
  {
    cl=random(20, 255);
    fill(cl);
    ellipse(250, 250, sensorValues[0]/2.048, sensorValues[1]/2.048);
  }
}


void setupSerial() 
{
  printArray(Serial.list());
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
  myPort.clear();
  myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 );
  myString = null;
  sensorValues = new int[NUM_OF_VALUES];
}

void updateSerial() 
{
  while (myPort.available() > 0) 
  {
    myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 );
    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]);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Arduino

void setup() 
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(9, INPUT);
  pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() 
{
  int sensor1 = analogRead(A0)+1;
  int sensor2 = analogRead(A1)+1;
  int sensor3 = digitalRead(9);
  Serial.print(sensor1);
  Serial.print(","); 
  Serial.print(sensor2);
  Serial.print(",");
  Serial.print(sensor3);
  Serial.println();
  if (sensor3==1)
  {
    analogWrite(3, HIGH);
  } else
  {
    analogWrite(3, LOW);
  }
  delay(100);
}