Category: Marcela

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Final Project- The Smell of Home-Ruben Mayorga

The smell of home was an idea that came to me when thinking of my experience in children museums during my childhood, I remember that back home the kid’s museum had an exhibition that showcased different smells and textures and as a kid you had to identify the object you where smelling and touching. With this idea in mind, I tried to showcase a cultural experience of different countries and relate that to smell.  The project finally came to life being a table of dinner in which you had to smell the plate to have a memory recounted to you by the computer. The display simulated a dinner table because, I wanted the experience to be of a kind of dinner talk with plates of all over the world, while listening to memories that relate to this smells.

The Smell of Home had many changes during the creation of the project, firstly my original idea involved videos of people talking to the person and projected to the wall. Yet, various experts commented that it would be better to maintain the voice with no video to help imagine the face of the person in contrast to actually looking at them. Secondly, the first display was supposed to be a rectangular table looking at the wall, but was changed due to the change from video to audio. Finally, the other important change that was done in the project was the amount of chairs, in the first idea there were 5 chairs, one for each food. But, because of the confusion that this created changed to be only one chair that could move so only one person would use it at a time.

The production of the project was a bit complicated, setting up the table and making it look like an actual dinner table even with the cables around was difficult. Yet not impossible I used laser cut plates to put as decoration with printed images of the foods with actually food inside for the smell. After that, I placed the aduino inside a box to hide it and on top of that box a wine bottle for decoration. And also, to make the user feel like it was an actually dinner table and not only a IMA project. I used the forks and knives from the cafeteria to decorate and a table cloth to put the finishing touch.

The Code had its difficulties, because each sensor had to be attached to its individual video and had to be triggered only when the user was smelling. The other issue came due to the type of sensor that I was using, that specific sensor was different from the other sensor we had previously used. Because of this I had to use a different code to make it work with the arduino.

The user testing was a very useful method to get to know the problems that the project had, like the position of the sensors and the quantity of chairs in the display. The user testing also helped me to understand that the project needed a little more clarity regarding the way in with the project functioned. Nevertheless, I thought the project had very few and minor flaws that had to be changed. Overall the project was very well received by most of the participants due to it’s uniqueness and creativity.

Finally, the project reflected all the important aspects of the class, it included laser cut plates, processing for the audio and the arduino for the sensors. But, most importantly the project encompassed the interactivity of people and culture. Which is the main idea behind the project and also the class, to learn how to make something that helps with interactivity.

Thank you Eszter and Marcela for all the help 🙂

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Final Blog Post of Interaction Lab 侬说啥？Sarah Armstrong – Marcela

侬说啥？

CONCEPTION AND DESIGN:

 In the original plan, there wasn’t going to be a puzzle, but when the idea of focusing on the kid point of the project was brought in the class discussion, I think that was a key turning point for how this project ended up being designed. 

Going into the class discussion, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make this project so interactive, but the idea of kids playing with it made total sense to me. When I was a kid, I went to my local Boys & Girls Club and then eventually started working there in the summers and after school. Through this background in making programs that kids enjoy, I knew exactly what to design to catch the eyes of kids. When designing, I wanted all of the pictures to be bright and colorful, and the character on the screen that they could move around themselves is supposed to be someone they know (It’s the character Russel from Up). 

The use of the puzzle was also another really good idea brought up in the class discussion because it was a good way to keep kids engaged. I think that if we had just used a screen, kids would not have wanted to play with the project as much as they did at the final IMA show.

FABRICATION AND PRODUCTION:

 I think the most significant steps in the production process were making sure that people can’t move once they start listening to one province’s dialect and the creation of our own “buttons” by using the capacitive sensor. I think making sure that people couldn’t move once they started listening to a province was helpful to contribute to the significance of this project as it helped the message that these dialects are often forgotten or looked over, so forcing people to pay attention was the opposite of what is normally done. I also think creating our own buttons was an important step because it used the natural electricity from the human body to trigger the translation on screen.

From user testing, we learned to use headphones instead of speakers because the environment was too noisy for anyone to actually listen. In addition, we learned that the diagonal motion of the joystick had not been programmed in, so it could only move from side to side or up and down. We also learned that Shanghai is too small for Russel to fit in, so there needs to be some way to trigger the sound once Russel crosses over. 

      

CONCLUSIONS: 

I think this project was able to fit my definition of interaction because it not only involved a human user but also the interaction between Arduino and Processing in order for this to be a success. I think this doesn’t align with my definition of interaction because most of the time the human user is not actually interacting with the Processing part, they are using the Arduino to interact with the Processing, there is no direct contact. Ultimately, my audience definitely interacted with my project as it caught their eye and kept them engaged. If I had more time, I would make sure that the puzzle piece could be wither put in or picked up and out for the translations to be triggered, because I couldn’t get it working the way I wanted it to, and ultimately had to use the capacitive sensor. I really enjoyed getting the freedom to work with my hands and do my project on anything I wanted to. So many people asked me if I was a Global China Studies major when they saw my project, but no, it was just one thing I was interested in, I don’t necessarily have to be that major to have an interest in it. 

I think this project was significant because a lot of the Chinese people who interacted with this project really thought deeply and reflected on their knowledge of their dialect or from one parent why they felt like they needed to not teach their children the dialect of their hometown. I also think it was interesting to hear the stories of my friends from their childhood with memories they cherished with points that made it feel like home. For me, it was also very weird to hear such stark differences between the dialects since most of the time, the only time I compare Chinese is between Mandarin and the dialect. Through this comparison, I now understood why the Chinese government wanted to push the teaching of one unified language as they are so different. 

Photos from the IMA Show

   

Translations and Recordings

             

Link to recordings because I couldn’t upload audio: Recordings

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Workshops

For this recitation, I chose to go to Young’s workshop on Serial Communication because I wanted to get better at it since the communication between Arduino and Processing is integral for my final project’s success. 

Young did not have a formal exercise for this workshop, so I used his workshop advice and knowledge to contribute to my final project. Here is the code with the mapping function as described in Jessica and Eszter’s helpful workshop and the Serial Communication that was used in my final project. This is only the Arduino part as the Processing part is only the basic Arduino to Processing serial communication that was given as an example. 

  int xDirection = analogRead(X_pin);
  int yDirection = analogRead(Y_pin);
  Serial.println(xDirection);
  Serial.println(yDirection);
  xDirection = map(xDirection, 263, 759, 0, 10);
  yDirection = map(yDirection, 261, 761, 0, 10);
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Media Controller

Recitation

// IMA NYU Shanghai
// Interaction Lab
// For receiving multiple values from Arduino to Processing

/*
 * Based on the readStringUntil() example by Tom Igoe
 * https://processing.org/reference/libraries/serial/Serial_readStringUntil_.html
 */

import processing.serial.*;
PImage photo;

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(800,500);
  background(0);
  setupSerial();
  photo = loadImage("May.jpg");
}


void draw() {
  updateSerial();
  printArray(sensorValues);
  image(photo, 0, 0, width, height);
  //ellipse(sensorValues[0], sensorValues[1], 100,100);
  // use the values like this!
  // sensorValues[0] 

  // add your code

  //
}



void setupSerial() {
  printArray(Serial.list());
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
  // WARNING!
  // You will definitely get an error here.
  // Change the PORT_INDEX to 0 and try running it again.
  // And then, check the list of the ports,
  // find the port "/dev/cu.usbmodem----" or "/dev/tty.usbmodem----" 
  // and replace PORT_INDEX above with the index number of the port.

  myPort.clear();
  // Throw out the first reading,
  // in case we started reading in the middle of a string from the sender.
  myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 );  // 10 = '\n'  Linefeed in ASCII
  myString = null;

  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]);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}


// IMA NYU Shanghai
// Interaction Lab
// For receiving multiple values from Arduino to Processing

/*
 * Based on the readStringUntil() example by Tom Igoe
 * https://processing.org/reference/libraries/serial/Serial_readStringUntil_.html
 */

import processing.serial.*;
PImage photo;

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(800,500);
  background(0);
  setupSerial();
  photo = loadImage("May.jpg");
}


void draw() {
  updateSerial();
  printArray(sensorValues);
  image(photo, 0, 0, width, height);
  //ellipse(sensorValues[0], sensorValues[1], 100,100);
  // use the values like this!
  // sensorValues[0] 

  // add your code

  //
}



void setupSerial() {
  printArray(Serial.list());
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
  // WARNING!
  // You will definitely get an error here.
  // Change the PORT_INDEX to 0 and try running it again.
  // And then, check the list of the ports,
  // find the port "/dev/cu.usbmodem----" or "/dev/tty.usbmodem----" 
  // and replace PORT_INDEX above with the index number of the port.

  myPort.clear();
  // Throw out the first reading,
  // in case we started reading in the middle of a string from the sender.
  myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 );  // 10 = '\n'  Linefeed in ASCII
  myString = null;

  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]);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Reflection

I think my project was a low-level version of anything they discussed in Computer Vision for Artists and Designers. I feel like nothing compared to that because I just did one simple thing with an image. I think I should have done something with Capture if I wanted to get close to what they were doing.

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Serial Communication

Recitation


// IMA NYU Shanghai
// Interaction Lab
// For sending multiple values from Arduino to Processing


void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  int sensor1 = analogRead(A0);
  int sensor2 = digitalRead(13);
  /*int sensor2 = analogRead(A1);
  int sensor3 = analogRead(A2);*/

  // keep this format
  Serial.println(sensor1);
  Serial.println(sensor2);
  /*
  Serial.print(",");  // put comma between sensor values
  Serial.print(sensor2);
  Serial.print(",");
  Serial.print(sensor3);
  Serial.println(); // add linefeed after sending the last sensor value
  */
  // too fast communication might cause some latency in Processing
  // this delay resolves the issue.
  delay(100);
}


// IMA NYU Shanghai
// Interaction Lab
// For receiving multiple values from Arduino to Processing

/*
 * Based on the readStringUntil() example by Tom Igoe
 * https://processing.org/reference/libraries/serial/Serial_readStringUntil_.html
 */

import processing.serial.*;
PImage photo;

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(800,500);
  background(0);
  setupSerial();
  photo = loadImage("May.jpg");
}


void draw() {
  updateSerial();
  printArray(sensorValues);
  image(photo, 0, 0, width, height);
  //ellipse(sensorValues[0], sensorValues[1], 100,100);
  // use the values like this!
  // sensorValues[0] 

  // add your code

  //
}



void setupSerial() {
  printArray(Serial.list());
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
  // WARNING!
  // You will definitely get an error here.
  // Change the PORT_INDEX to 0 and try running it again.
  // And then, check the list of the ports,
  // find the port "/dev/cu.usbmodem----" or "/dev/tty.usbmodem----" 
  // and replace PORT_INDEX above with the index number of the port.

  myPort.clear();
  // Throw out the first reading,
  // in case we started reading in the middle of a string from the sender.
  myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 );  // 10 = '\n'  Linefeed in ASCII
  myString = null;

  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]);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Reflection

Before I had only worked with Processing or Arduino separately, so this was an interesting level of interaction between the two programs that was very different than what I was used to. Most of the time, the only hardware I could use with Processing was the keyboard or the mouse, but in this case, I was able to use other things which was pretty cool.