Final Project Description

Statement:

NuPhase is an experimental interface that aims to provoke the understanding of relationship between the slight temperature variation and phase change phenomenon. Through playing and visualization, it hopes to bring to light more creative uses of this material.

Short tech description:

Processing + Kinect (video function and edge detection)

Acknowledgements:

Dale Clifford

Zack Jacobson-Weaver

Aisling Kelliher

Madline Gannon

CMU codelab

Looking Out

Resinance is inspirational as it created a system of self responding entities. The objects interact with the environment as well as among themselves.


Resinance from materiability on Vimeo.

Looking Out

By creating visual illusions, "Box Demo" created an intense magic experience.
Project by GMUNK.


Box from Bot & Dolly on Vimeo.

Whisker Prototype 3

 

For the third version of our whisker, we aim to refine the sensors ( pressure sensing and light sensing) and the mechanic chains. When pressure and light light situation are presented, the petal will close. Forcing an opposite reaction from what the audience might expect.

During the implementation process, we figured that since we want the object like a flower, we have already form some anticipated outcome in our mind. However, if we could inverse the result and output an unexpected result, it will be more funny. Therefore, we add one more force sensor below the "leaf". We assume that if the object is very huge so that it could be a shelter for people. Then when people approach it, they may expect to avoid the sunshine or raindrops; but when they stand under the leaf, the leaf will close so that the sunshine will raindrops will directly falls on people's body.

In our next iteration, we would like to add some more shape transforms so that the "leaf" could be more flexible and "natural".

Looking Out

Aireal is created by Disney Research. The most attractive quality for me is that it provides tactile feelings therefore add on an interactive element for the audience. The interaction is tangible that users' body can feel it but it is not a direct visual experience as other experiences entail.

Whisker Evaluation: Ding, Yingri

Evaluation of Liang, Wanfang and Ayo's whisker:

The biggest advantage of this whisker is its potential for a system of whiskers. We imagine that each whisker has a very different potential that it can interact with each other in a very distinct way. In our opinions, they have a sound narrative and value about their whisker. At the same time, we also has a question that besides the "heart" lights up, what other interactions or output the whisker can display?

For future improvement, the whiskers can be grouped into different types that can have different abilities. Therefore, this can expand the possibility of provoking more interaction or value gain from the audience.

Also, are we targeting a specific audience or just the general public? What is the main goal or learning point for the users to take from using these "creatures"? Maybe they can serve as a deeper purpose beside locating each user.

We have some other questions about its value such as what is the general direction the makers want to take from this point onwards? What do the makers want to take from the making process by the end the semester?

Overall, this is a well executed whisker with possible expansion in the future.

Evaluation of our whisker:

In the last week’s whisker, we tried to make a mechanical edition of “hedgehog” (or porcupine) whisker, which will retract to make its whiskers outwards when people get too close to it. We want to make it kind of metal structure to simulate animals’ reactions. The first thing we want to achieve is to make it shrink when sensing people get too close, which is our main focus last week.

As our thought, we want to use a gear system to drive two edges of a flexible frame so that it will move toward to the opposite directions. The gear is driven by a servo fixed in the bottom and controlled by an Arduino board with an IR sensor detecting people’s distance.

We made several tries to make it work. At first there has no fixed device to fix the chain so that it easily deviated its desired route. Then we add a foundation bed with four screw caps fixed in the four corner with the distance between those two is exactly the size of diameter of a gear and width of two chains. In this way, the gear could be driven by the servo easily.

But there is another problem after that iteration. Since there is no enough weight on the top of the fixed device to make it still, it’s kind of easy to make the whole frame spin rather than shrink. Maybe next iteration we need to make a bracket to hold the fixing device. With paper model, it’s more light and flexible. When it comes to acrylic and metals, it become less flexible. A 3D print model to make it a whole connection may be a better choice to keep it balance and stable.

Whisker Second Prototype from Patti Guan on Vimeo.

Looking Out 3 - Ying : Modular Pen Made of Neodymium Magnets

POLAR: A modular pen made of neodymium magnets. It can also be used as a tool according to users' imagination.

Polar Pen by Indiedesign

Looking Out 2 - Yingri Guan

Although this is only an online application, the thoughts and concept behind this project really intrigue me. To visualize an invisible force in our daily life with free flow lines, Fernanda B. Viégas’s and Martin Wattenberg’s have opened up so many possibilities of data visualization. 

See the Wind Map

Making Assignment 1: What is Your Whisker?

Whisker: Making Assignment 1

**You all have write privileges for this post.  To edit the post click "Design" at the top right, "Posts" from the left column, hover of the name of the post to reveal "Edit", click and go to it.

Please Post:

• Photo
• Your Evaluation in response to "OUR GUESS"

watch this:

OUR GUESS:
Mauricio/Chin/ Nissa:
what is it: mole cam, search and rescue, detect density of materials, way finding, egress creation.
tech: mobility, vibration/ acoustic sensing, noise/voice detection/ microphone, GPS/ locater, communication channel/ voice, gas/ organics detection, networking/swarming behavior,
value: rescue, survival assistance,

OUR EVALUATION:
Our project resembles a mechanical analogue of a land based creature that can sense things around itself using whiskers located at the side of its head, underneath and on the top of its body. It can also see using its large eye. 

The main properties of the first part of my whisker is its magnetic attraction, as a response to its own surrounding. In essence the whisker acts as an antenna to send out electromagnetic signals to allow for an animal to respond to a predator that is nearby.
OUR GUESS: 
Amy:
what is it: death trap, ancient time traveling machine, electric mustache, electro magnetic antenna, communication device compass, 
tech:stationary base, heavy material, jamming/discreet radio,
value:

OUR GUESS:
Austin/
what is it: angler fish, environmental mapper, neurotransmitter, data collector, autonomous medical device, biological surveyor, skin, white blood cell, random number generator
tech:RFID, chemical gas detection, 
value:data collection

OUR GUESS:
Liang/Wangfang/Ayo
what is it: invaders, armies, potential actor, team/ swarm
tech:satellite transmission, networking, discreet communication, accelerometer, gyroscope, capactive technology
value: affective (?)

MY EVALUATION:
We hope to create things interactive, adorable, and functional. This could be a set of intelligent agents that have the ability to communicate with each other. They perform different roles with specific shape/structure and sensor technology. For example, #001 could detect vibration and orientation by attaching four accelerometers on each stand; #002 could recognise its rotation, orientation and vibration with accelerometer and gyroscope attached on the outer cross-over point of the framework. In addition, the "cells" in the centre help it detect the position of user's touch on the whisker with capacitive abilities; #003 integrates both features of #001 and #002 and uses a core mechanism of a toy - a transmission device - to tell the spin of the whisker. They could work in various ways: work alone to express emotional feedback; sense the surrounding environment; work together to complete a task... In one word, we hope to design something smart and helpful, from but more than a natural whisker.  



OUR GUESS:
Yingri/Ding
what is it: a wind device, a flower that only blooms once, shape changing antenna, responsive machine, skeleton, Bowser, insect, helmet
tech: receiver for multiple inputs, electric capacitor, gyroscope, 
value:

Whisker One:
This whisker is inspired by the mechanisms by hacking into ink cartridges. Through rotation and pressure between two points, it analyzes the possibilities of different stimulations.

Whisker Two:

This whisker is inspired by the plant touch-me-not. It it intended to be "shy" when there's any king of disturbance. So the leaf-like structure closes when they are touched and closes when the disturbance is lifted. 

Whisker Three:

This draws inspirations from hedgehog. The small whiskers are meant to be sensitive and if they detect any kind of environmental changes, it will induce the shape of the base to change and hence result in a very different structure which will give feedback to the environment.

Gaby/Andre/Maya
what is it: squeaky floor machine, geiger counter, communication system, mating caller, evolutionary binary, instrument, distress signal, 
tech: genetic algorithm, 
value: fun

OUR GUESS:
Jake/
what is it: human detector,echo device, record/ repeat, stimulation simulation, infinite feedback loop, a thinking machine
tech:piezo, 
value:

MY EVALUATION:
This could be an expressive instrument, or a fairly effective human detector as was guessed. The wooden whiskers amplify the piezo's ability to detect vibration.  The whiskers also take the piezo's functionality into 3d space.

OUR GUESS:
Meng/Yang
what is it: an expressive machine, acting machine, emotional abstractor, projector, (hand shadow)
tech: input/output filtering,
value: emotive

OUR EVALUATION:
The whisker 01:we want to explore the interaction between human and whiskers. What is the reflection if we pull the whiskers? shake them? The change become more interesting if we use shadows to express them, they can show the face which the masks do not show up.

The whisker 02:the idea behind this project is to make a Whisker to have a very nature of the Whisker, growth. We used a band of hard paper to be the shell of a Whisker made of wood line. The Whisker go back inside the shell when we squeeze the shell and vice versa, which produce an effect that it can actually grow.

The whisker 03:the idea behind this project is to make the Whiskers very light and thin so it can provide visual and voice feedback when people passing by. 

Looking Out 1 - Yingri Guan 08/30/2013

Scentography – Analogue Odor Camera

Why? As an international student, I often have cravings for specific tastes. One day, a friend made a comment that if we can record the smell of the food, it will relieve the nostalgia to an extent. My initial intention was to research on how to do this, until I came across this.

How: explaination 

Who: Amy Radcliffe

Michael Hansmeyer: Building Unimaginable Shapes

Why? Instead of working to create geometric shapes, Michael Hansmeyer controls the processes that create the shapes. He creates the system other than works within a system.
How: The columns are generated through algorithmic computations. Each layer of the columns are then laser cut and assembled to create the final outcome.
Who: Michael Hansmeyer