For this recitation, I never got to complete the final exercise as I broke my arduino. While it could have been many issues (wiring with the h-bridge, power supply, etc.), I feel that the cause of this was that I had accidentally left the 12V power supply plugged in while I went to upload a sketch to my Arduino. Also possibly due to some messed up wiring, these two factors were likely the reason why my Arduino ended up malfunctioning.
For the sake of documentation, I will include the progress which I made before I broke the equipment along with any more insight into what could have gone wrong. The first part of the circuit we needed to make was rather complicated with the addition of the h-bridge. Along with this factor, I generally tend to get confused when looking at diagrams of circuitry, so this did not help me in any way. However, I ensured that the h-bridge was in the right position and checked carefully to be sure my wires were connected to the correct parts of the bridge. While I tried making a place for the ground, I think I accidentally made two grounds and forgot to connect them once I integrated the potentiometer. This is also another likely factor as to why things went wrong. In terms of the coding, I used the example sketches, so everything in that aspect should not have been an issue. I also used the map function after connecting the potentiometer so that the steps of the stepper motor could match that of the potentiometer.
After this recitation, I feel a bit hesitant to work with larger motors, but after using one in my midterm project, I found that you just need to be careful — especially when working with higher voltage power supplies. Aside from this, motors are a great tool when it comes to the manipulation of art. Combined with aspects of sculpture, motors could add another dimension to the work being created. Therefore, I feel that there are many possibilities for what we could create with motors.
Question 1:
In my previous experience, the things I most enjoy creating exist only on a virtual level, but through this class, I am looking to expand my experience and explore the relation between the virtual, the physical, and the mechanical. Eventually, a project I would be interested in creating would be a sort of mixed reality. This mixed reality would rely heavily on virtual elements along with physical controllers and inputs. In my work, I like to work with “uncanny” elements, especially in 3D design. I feel that the in-between state of things in the so-called “uncanny valley” become great tools when looking to create something which reflects on the human experience. For the physical piece of my mixed reality, I would heavily focus on the user input. I would like to purposely make it feel awkward to create a challenge while users navigate the mixed reality. Much like the project Gravitron by Time’s Up (mentioned in Wilson’s Art + Science NOW, pg 126). With inputs, I like to explore how the human body is used to navigate through a virtual space. While taking a class led by visiting artist and professor Sheldon Brown, I worked closely with VR design, and became interested in how users reacted and navigated with respect to a virtual space. Therefore, I would be interested in creating a user input system which would exploit these factors and would hence give a more “natural” feeling while navigating a mixed reality.
Question 2:
Firstly, I found this reading to be incredibly insightful, especially in the discussion of robots. On page 110, there is a section that reads “Robots are potent cultural objects, representing both hopes and fears about the limit of what machines can become…Artists, on the other hand, often create sophisticated robots intended to inspire reflection on the human condition…” The concept that robots can now be considered as a “cultural object” is something of deep curiosity for me. I do agree that our world and the work of humans is becoming less focused on physical aspects, and I also believe that robots are now going to replace many of the physical tasks which used to play large roles in the aspect of human work.
In terms of art installations, I would like to discuss two, one from the reading, and one created by Sheldon Brown, a professor whose class I attended last semester. From the reading, I was particularly interested in Firebirds created by Paul Demarinis. This work was particularly inspiring to me due to the uncanny feeling one gets while looking at a flame creating a perfect imitation of a human voice. Alongside this, the setup of the display works perfectly to create feelings of eeriness. Within this work as well, there becomes a juxtaposition between the human and the mechanical, wherein mechanics are made to reflect a natural phenomena of voice. Though this work is not very interactive, it is perfectly reflective of the overlapping boundaries between human and machine.
Here’s a great video with Firebirds in action (link).
The second work I would like to bring up is Sheldon Brown’s Scalable City. Scalable City is an interactive installation where users must interact with a virtual world via a scrolling ball input, moved by the user’s hand. The world itself is based off of data visualization and utilizes photogrammetry, a 3D modelling techniques which uses photo scans of objects to replicate them in the virtual world. Within Brown’s Scalable City, when you move using the ball, you create a destructive path throughout the world, but the more you move, the more you create a visually-appealing design throughout the seemingly perfect city. This project isn’t as mechanic as a robotic system may be, but it instigates a certain kind of response within the actor who interacts with it, and for that I feel that it is worth mentioning. The interaction used makes the user rely heavily on physical input and it bridges the gap between the virtual and physical.