Final presentation: MAKE: digital sketchbook
R&D project about interfacing digital audio-visual systems with the real world by utilizing Adobe Flash, a hardware device called Make Controller Kit and a handful of analog sensors.

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May 28, 2007: Test16 : Light on canvas, installation test

I believe that it is when the technology is hidden that magic happens. If you can see the sensor there is no wonder to how or why it works.
This is a early version of the setup I plan for the installation at the BRIGHTER show. Instead of having a stand with the sensors taking up space I made a solution where light sensors are installed behind a canvas for projection. The visitors can interact with the piece just by blocking light for given hotspots. The video show a projection where I am browsing images and adjusting the brightness by the shadows of my hands.

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May 26, 2007: Test15 : Punch

Punchball with a ‘Bending sensor’ inside the spring.

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May 20, 2007: Test14 : Micro cosmos

These cells will slow down their activities when it gets dark and speed up when exposed to light.

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May 18, 2007: Test13 : Etch a sketch

Classic game/drawing application. 2 knobs to turn, one draw X, one draw Y

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May 17, 2007: Test12 : Rooster

Before the alarm clock this sound would wake people up in the morning.

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May 9, 2007: Test11 : Single button navigation

This is much like the buttons work on many known devices a single pres holds one function a press for longer holds an other one. Here a single press will load next image and a longer press will load the previous one.

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May 8, 2007: Test10 : Making a mixer
1)

2)

Got some new sensors today the “Slide Potentiometer” was the first to be tested
A video of the build and one of a music performance using 3 sound loops that I made really quick in GarageBand on the Mac …cheep, I know but it will do for a demo.
I am aware that this experiment has no graphic output but as the sliders set the volume on the 3 audio tracks it can also be used for other content like mixing images or video.

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May 4, 2007: Test09 : Proximity photo booth

Step forward, get ready, smile!
The webcam will take your photo once you get close.

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May 2, 2007: Test08 : Proximity ‘pressure’ in random drawing

This first video is a simple flash app I made that draw to random x and y positions. The stroke change thickness when I approach the sensor.

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In the next version I used Felix Turner’s “BezierTween” ActionScript 2 class to draw some curves instead of the straight lines only. And also here the thickness of the line is set from my distance to the sensor.

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And here a small clip where you also can see the interaction with the sensor

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April 29, 2007: Test07 : Proximity zoom

Zoom 6 meters by moving 0.6 is kind of the idea here. I think the way this piece reveal information when approached is very effective. It seams to have two main states: first and last frames in the video. These frames could trigger events and display any given content. It would be fun to see how it works if the length of the video is extended like a 100m walk through college by moving 1m in front of a screen.

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April 29, 2007: Test06 : Scroll in thin air…

In this experiment I made a horizontal object containing random coloured boxes and used the Infrared distance sensor to scroll this object back and forth. This simple technique is a very nice base for intuitive interaction with the piece. And yes, those boxes are here just place holders for what could be almost any kind of content.

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April 26, 2007: Presentation format
For my first presentation of this project at college I was showingthis timeline navigation of the videos enlarged. This is the first version of a format that is better looking and more engaging for presentation than this blog page. With a timeline as navigation I believe that the nature of the project as being R&D is communicated effectively.

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April 21, 2007: Test05 : BoomBox, light is volume!

Inside the white box is a light sensor. In Flash it is set to control brightness of the screen and the volume of a sound loop. If I just had more of those white boxes I could do a 8 track kind of mixer but the video should demonstrate the point.

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April 20, 2007: Test04 : Image browser

The video show back and forward navigation in a movieclip using a distance measuring sensor. In this case the moveiclip is my first images for the presentation.

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April 10, 2007: Test03

This is the first example I made using a distance measuring sensor. As I approach the sensor the number increase. The video show this in action.

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April 05, 2007: Doh!!!, I fried my heat sensors

Too quick to wire this thing up so I powered the temperature sensors on 3.5V instead of 5V and I found out when one sensor almost started melting. The other one did give me some values bur instead of a range from 0 to 250 degrees F it started at 250 and increased from there until I disconnected the thing. I have only these two temperature sensors so unless I order some more from the states I think this was it for now when it comes to using heat as an interface.

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April 01, 2007: Test02

Here I have connected 4 light sensors and made a simple piano kind of instrument.
The video show how to play using a torch.

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March 30, 2007: Test01

Ok, I have some sensors now and here is my first simple test. It is based on a sample Flash file provided by MakingThings.
I only had to change some minor stuff in the code – like my IP address – in order to make it work. I also made my own design so instead of scaling a circle, I have it set the _alpha on my ‘BRIGHTER’ movieclip. Anyway the FLOSC server is running and I connected a light sensor (photocell) and placed it inside a toilet roll in order to easy isolate the light. The video show this stuff in action.

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February 24, 2007: Subject

This page is dedicated to my new favourite toy: The Make Controller kit from MakingThings. I am most interested in interfacing with Flash and making interactive installations. I am fearless jumping head first into this and without much experience with electronics at all, so I am sure to bang my head in to some walls in the process. Anyway I should blog this to learn from experience and who knows ..maybe somebody can laugh or learn from my mistakes.
*update: I will be working with this for my final major project at college and my initial post on this can be found here