learning the ropes

In addition to the adjustable LED level suggested in the lab notes, I decided to program the Arduino board to gradually fade the LED level down from the level set by the potentiometer. Last week when I was working on my game of catch I wanted to have the first LED gently fade in and out during the “wind-up” phase of the throw. This week, I figured out how to do it.

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I tried my first series of observations during my morning commute to ITP on September 14. After our discussion of the observation assignment in class on 9/20, I discovered I had been going about the observations incorrectly. The focus was supposed to be observation — not interpretations.

Here is what I saw during my observations

- 2 iPods
- 1 mobile device user browsing emails
- one tablet PC user (me) observing others
- EZ pass readers wirelessly collecting tolls from cars, trucks, buses going into the Lincoln tunnel — this is transparent technology
- GPS system in a Lexus SUV
- cell phones on the bus (making calls, playing games)
- many cell phone users in cars holding their phones and talking
- Toll-taker at the Lincoln Tunnel toll plaza grooving to his iPod

Once in Manhattan and on the A train, I encountered many more iPods and other personal audio devices: almost half of the riders were wearing earbuds of some sort.

It seemed that everyone was isolated from everyone else.

One lady who boarded the train after me thumbed her Blackberry nervously for about 3 minutes.

Lisa Lurie commented that the shape of the photo collage I assembled was an interesting piece by itself. She also suggested that a black background might increase the sense of being in the room.

Somewhere in the back of my mind were memories of books from my childhood — the kind of books you cut shapes out of that become 3-dimensional objects. The form of the Living Room Composites I was created must have reminded me of the flattened out spheres from those books.

Originally, I was trying to assemble and distort the photos to represent the 3-dimensional space on the flat surface of the computer screen. With the second composite, I worried less about distoring the perspective of the photos and more about matching up each of the rows of shots I had taken. Taking the X-Acto in hand, I was able to transform the flat images back into 3-dimensional space by way of the curved lens through which the light in the room had reflected into the camera. After cutting between the “arms” of the image, I pulled them together into a hemisphere to match up the duplicated parts of the images.

The unknown is whether this satisfies the requirements of the assignment. I worked with thumbnails of the original 3 megapixel images in order to keep the “technology frustration” to a minimum — not having to worry so much about the time I had invested in the slow process of manipulating large images if the concept didn’t work out. As it stands, my “model” is about 4″ across and I’m not sure if it will be possible for people who are unfamiliar with my room to discern the objects in it.

I finished the first version of my catch game.

The schematic is pretty basic…

… and in fact it should be noted that I found a soldering problem on the little board I salvaged. Apparently when I rewired it, I knocked one of the circuit traces loose, which prevented the upper right switch from working. This caused me much consternation while trying to develop the catching algorithm. Thankfully Serial.println helped me figure things out.

I modified my program to use the upper left switch for both throwing and catching. Maybe it’s not so interactive anymore, but it’s done and I have other things like Spatial Design homework to do.

If you like to read source code, you can do so in the full entry.

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I spent a bit of the afternoon photographing my living room. I spent even more time manipulating the images to try to reconstruct the perspective of the room. Am I spending too much time on this? I’m not sure that sketching would be quicker — but it would look more accurate.

I’m working on a game of catch as my first self-chosen project in Physical Computing.

The idea is simple: two players throw a ball (represented by moving LED) back and forth. The thrower controls the speed by the amount of time he takes to release SW 1 after pressing it. To catch the ball, the second player, must press his button exactly when the ball reaches him.

The implementation is not as simple: it appears that I may need to draw a state diagram. The schematic isn’t complex, but I have a feeling that the code will be.

For now, I will keep my goals simple.

1. Test out a throwing algorithm (done). I’ve already made the “ball” move and at varying speeds
2. Make SW1 trigger the throwing algorithm
3. Work out a catching algorithm

In order to get my salvaged switches working, I visually inspected the circuit traces and then poked around measuring continuity until I found the pairs that matched.

I took a trip down memory lane for my Applications of Interactive Technology class. One of the two assignments is to ride the Manhattan M5 bus from it’s origin at La Guardia Place and Houston all the way to its final stop at the George Washington Bridge bus terminal (179th and Ft. Washington).

My original goal for the trip was to collect sound samples for use in my assignment. I wanted to make a sound collage of my journey to fulfill the requirements of the assignment, but I quickly discovered that the only sounds I could capture from inside the bus were the conversations of the passengers and the rumbling of the engine. If I’m going to make this happen, I will have to ride my bicycle along the route another day.

This is only the second time I’ve ridden a bus in Manhattan. My first ride was in a torrential downpour years ago when I was visiting colleges. Although I’ve cycled some of the route the M5 took, I haven’t had the opportunity until now to travel most of the length of the island above ground. Cycling in Manhattan doesn’t allow for leisurely observations or photography.

Summary:
This two minute video explores the interaction between light and space.

Idea:
A melancholy sleepless night is transformed by a thunderstorm.

Details:
- 1′ x 1′ x 1′ (appx) set made out of foamcore
- Sound design created from Creative Commons-licensed elements from FreeSound
- Piano music recorded in my home studio

Note:
This entry is a duplicate of the entry that I tried to post to the Spatial Design blog. Hopefully I will figure out a better way to do this instead of creating entries in both places. Suggestions?

Rode out to Roosevelt Island (history) with folks from class. The view from the tram was quite spectacular. We were in the middle of the air in a space defined by the walls and floor of the tram car — held in place by the cable above us.

I attracted the attention of the Grog Shop’s owner by stopping to shoot a photo.

I was more interested in documenting the duplicated shops signs and the glass-enclosed walkway rather than taking a picture of his shop. He sent someone out to ask me what I was doing. I fumbled a bit for words because he gave me the impression I was doing something wrong. When I explained that I was on Roosevelt Island as part of a class assignment, he asked if I could send him the photo. The Grog Shop doesn’t seem to have a website, though… so I guess he’ll have to wait until the next time I’m on the island — and remember to print the photo.

I found the island to be very angular: many of the buildings had strong prependicular lines jutting out of their facades. It seemed very ordered, controlled, and planned — a stark contrast to Manhattan’s jumble of towers. In some ways it made me forget about the presence of Manhattan. The tall apartment towers on the west side of Main street effectively block off any view or sound of Manhattan.

We spent some time at the northern tip of the island watching passing tug boats. I wondered who Vicki Holland was, but couldn’t find out much about her.

One of the things that intrigued me in our first class with Jean-Marc was his sense of the history of places. I would have to admit that I rarely have had an interest about this — until now. From the small bit I’ve read about the island it has changed drastically over the past forty years from “Welfare Island” into a self-governed (?), intentional community (again? — perhaps this is not the correct term).

I’m in a world of stone — meticulously processed stone. Stone that is drilled and cracked and chipped and polished. Before this trip to the Noguchi museum (and our first class on light I had very little appreciation for the variety of values that texture can produce. The same material, seemingly on the same plane in space can exhibit difference in value just by subtley texturing it.

This is a peaceful space — but an overwhelming one. I have come in contact with the work of one man’s lifetime. There is so much to take in, to try to understand, to appreciate.

The pieces I enjoyed the most were:

I found the texture of one of the pieces really fascinating:

As I learned in class today, the stone is generally drilled in the quarry, but Noguchi used this technique in “miniature” to work details into his work. Note the areas that were left rough and those that were polished