Theresa attends ITP

interPlay (working title)
A Modular, Energy-Generating Play Space

What if the ACTION of play could be EDUCATIONAL in a whole new INTERACTIVE way that is RELEVANT to our modern concerns?

CONCEPT
We have developed a proposal for an energy-generating, indoor playground that educates children and parents about basic energy principles. The components of the playground harvest and store the kinetic energy of play and route it to illuminated educational interfaces. The extra energy generated is routed to power outlets that are accessible to parents and on-lookers.

PLACEMENT
We are proposing an iteration of this playground in the new jetBlue terminal at JFK. The benefits to jetBlue and its passengers may be illustrated through several benefits:
1. EDUCATION: Sustainable living is going to be an intense and necessary focus of the next generation. The concepts around large-scale issues like energy and conservation are difficult to explain. Our playground creates a very clear, linear method in which to explain some major concepts about energy. For example, the illuminated interface might only light up to a certain point when a certain amount of energy has been stored. 5 minutes of play generates a different amount of energy than 30 seconds. This allows children to learn and experiment through play.
2. SUSTAINABILITY: Children learn key concepts and passengers can sustainably power their personal devices, including cell phones, PDAs, or laptops.
3. LEADERSHIP: jetBlue is in a unique position to be an industry leader in the green movement by bringing these principles inside the airport. In keeping with their One Thing That’s Green initiative, jetBlue could pioneer steps to tackle the consumer carbon footprint problem head-on. Small actions lead to bigger ones and jetBlue can take the lead on promoting more constructive education and solutions.
4. COMMUNITY: This proposal provides yet one more reason for passengers to laud the forward-looking design and planning of the jetBlue experience. Additionally, extending the playground experience past the airport walls would further help strengthen the ties between jetBlue and its customers. This could be achieved simply by creating a complementary online experience that families can visit after their travel is finished.
5. COOPERATIVE: All travelers could benefit from a smoother experience in the airport. With this proposal in place, children benefit by expending energy in a safe, educational environment. Parents benefit by having a destination for their families. Fellow airline passengers potentially benefit by having a smoother travel experience with fewer distracted families. All passengers benefit by jetBlue promoting a thoughtful, educational dialogue around sustainability.

BEYOND THE AIRPORT
This project could potentially have a place in many different arenas, including museums, green community projects, municipal parks, and other transportation hubs.

A small in-class project for Media Arch ended up becoming an amusing exercise in capitalizing on unusual spaces. The assignment was to design an experience for a “darkened tunnel” — no visuals, no LED displays, no projections.

Our classroom has this weird nook that is surrounded by pipes and has a little door near the ceiling that opens up to look out on the lounge. There’s a ladder leading up to it from the lounge as well as in the classroom (442 I think).

With David O. and Anaid, I worked on a small site-specific piece/proposal to turn the classroom into a changing soundscape. The idea is to stick your head in the hole and experience a different world every time. The sounds we used for the presentation ranged from jazz songs to boat sounds to car crashes. It worked out pretty well. David rendered a little image of what it might look like. Thanks David.

This project is a bit of a stretch for me, but I think there’s something to it. Consider this: you’re walking down the street, something catches your eye, then BOOM: an idea springs to mind. Anxious not to lose the thought, you scrounge in your pockets and scribble down a note on the back of a cab receipt.

Maybe this never happens to you (you lucky, organized, PDA person, you) but it happens to me constantly. And it doesn’t help when I tap it into the notes section of some device because I inevitably forget to check it.

So, what I’m working towards is a dynamic web solution that is both a repository for those must-dos and vague ideas that keep getting overlooked. I’m dreaming of something you could simply send a text message to whereby your note is saved and then the system systematically reminds you via text or email at random. You can go into the web interface to change your settings (remind me daily, twice daily, monthly) but the beauty is that everything is there. It’s the poor man’s secretary.

Another key functionality I hope to build is random reminding. How can the system more closely mimic the way our minds work? I’m not one to tie every thing or event to a schedule, so I’d like this system to have the flexibility in its reminder functionality to surprise me and capitalize on serendipity.

It’s here in all its rough, pre-natal glory and needs a frightening amount of work…

I’m still toying with the ideas and title behind this one with my team (Hulya, Drew, Ohad), but it’s essentially tying together some of the concepts I’ve covered in three of my classes this semester. Here it is in a nutshell:

Concept and Prototype: Generator See-Saw
(sustainable energy, working title of course)
Building on my midterm proof-of-concept, a common, well-known playground structure is used to generate energy through simple physics and mechanics. The action of the mechanism rotates a motor and subsequently generates a voltage. The voltage is stored in a capacitor through a circuit that includes a bridge rectifier to capture the generated energy on both turns of the motor. This working prototype will be recreated with a new, stronger frame, a larger DC motor with greater torque, and a larger capacitor. Indicator LEDs will provide user feedback regarding the energy created and stored. An outlet will be wired into the circuit to allow common, daily devices to charge by draining the capacitor. Through simple, fun, social, and collaborative interaction, children will be encouraged to both play and learn about sustainable energy solutions.

Larger Proposal
Extending on this simple working component, we propose developing a plan for a new “energy harvesting playground” model. This playground will be populated with devices that encourage physical activity while mechanically generating and storing energy. Potential components at this stage include swing-sets and merry-go-rounds.

Placement
(media arch)
A possible venue for this project is the new JetBlue terminal at JFK airport. Currently under development and construction, the terminal is slated as being the first airport terminal created since September 11th. Considering the forward-looking nature of this construction, we propose including an iteration of the “sustainable playground” in the terminal. For JetBlue, this is a unique opportunity to be green, encourage sustainability, and strengthen its brand. At the same time, it provides JetBlue passengers with a useful, positive play-space suitable for both children and adults.

Additional Sponsorship
(interactivity for all)
A secondary goal and/or proposal is to extend the “sustainable playground” into an educational experience. As a satellite exhibit of a local science center or museum, this project offers an ideal opportunity for off-site advertising, visibility, and sponsorship for the partner institution. Users have the added bonus of an educational experience that enlightens them on the nature of energy and a chance to consider sustainable living in daily life.

Last semester in an attempt to organize, I made the stupid decision to separate my Comm Lab blog from my PComp blog. I’m trying to tie together all the pieces now. Here is one of the more amusing projects that came out of the class:

stop motion animation created by Dan Imal and myself, sub-title: Bead Madness

I developed a proposal earlier this semester with my stellar teammates Daniel Liss and Ana Gutierrez. We developed a site-specific plan to release thousands of printed fortunes on the financial district. Ideally occurring over the period of a year, this project would be a celebration of the ephemeral and a meditation on the nature of life and time. Additionally, it’s a tongue-in-cheek look commentary on finance and globalization. We’ve documented the proposal on the class wiki here.

Throughout this semester, I’ve been asking myself the question above. I think it’s healthy to have some reflection on where all this interactive play is going and to force me to get back to the basics of what I’m interested in. For starters:

Movement should not be taken for granted

In the digital age, let us not forget the corpus. I tried putting together a portfolio in the past couple weeks and it’s been difficult because my varied experiences seem so very varied. But I have noticed a trend: I’m constantly creating work or involving myself in projects that encourage or promote physical experiences. Our body is the conduit through which we experience everything. We should not limit this to static interactions with screen-based media. The world is big. And fun. And hopeful. And needs our attention.

Space is key

Space affects our psyche. The area surrounding us (above, below, peripherally) deeply affects our emotional state. This is not limited to walls and structures, but to atmosphere, light, sound. Space shapes our sensibility of a place by shaping our sensory input. We should take more care in how we inhabit and use the world.

The bigger picture is more interesting

There is an encouraging trend toward the life examined. Especially in a dense urban environment, we often get caught in the life rushed and full of doing. Perhaps it would be better to more carefully consider why we create and use what we do. Otherwise, the ever-present question in my life: why?

I should get better at documenting my projects

This is obvious. So much of what I’ve made has been lost to whim and my resistance to documenting over doing and experiencing. I’m trying to fix that. Starting with (sigh) blogging and just taking daily notes.

So, until next time…

The Energy Harvesting See-Saw
Theresa Ling, Drew Burrows

The Problem

In our discussion of kinetic energy harvesting solutions, Drew and I both found an unfortunate trend in the existing energy generating devices: if human powered, most solutions are solo operations and while virtuous, not very fun. In essence, they feel like work. How, we wondered, can we strike upon a solution that is social, cooperative, and fun?

The Solution

We came to the see-saw after some false starts in other areas, but settled on this device because:

a) it uses the strength and weight of 2 people

b) it has a well defined and understood range of motion

c) they’re loved by children for a reason: they’re fun (when was the last time you played on a see-saw?)

In creating our prototype, we made an adult-sized see-saw with a larger range of motion than those typically designed for playgrounds. This was achieved by raising the height of the fulcrum point to allow the plank to rise and fall an additional few degrees. This addition, we found, made a substantial difference in the voltage output of the motor. The rise and fall of the plank turns a flywheel-belt mechanism to turn the motor, which is a DC gearbox motor. We built a very simple circuit that essentially fills a small 2200µF capacitor on both turns of the motor through the addition of a bridge rectifier. For our prototype, we have 2 indicator LEDs that are being powered directly by the opposing motor turns and 1 more that is taking voltage from the capacitor.

Energy Analysis

With the components we currently have, we calculated that the observed power of our mechanism is 0.0014 W/s. Given a larger motor with a higher gearing ratio and/or more torque along with a much larger capacitor, this device could be much more efficient and powerful. In our next iteration of this project, we’ll look into these possibilities.

SINGLE WHITE ANDROID

BRIEF SYNOPSIS
My final for Intro to Physical Computing was a life-sized robot called Single White Android (SWA), created in collaboration with Jason Krugman and Scott Hoffer. He (it is male because the face is male, not because of any gender defining characteristics or attributes) was an exercise in creating an interactive object of no particular use except to elicit a confusing emotional reaction from the viewer. The interaction is very simple. Touch SWA’s glowing stomach, and you trigger a chain reaction of “happiness” — the video face smiles, the body brightens to full wattage, and the motorized arm reaches for you when you release your hand from the stomach as if to say, “come back.”

CONCEPT
My thinking behind the project was to play with a few different ideas in a humorous and engaging context. After a lot of back and forth about what to make, we finally settled on the SWA because of a series of discussions about loneliness in the digital age. The human condition of loneliness of course stretches far beyond the digital age, but seems exacerbated by it because our attempts at communication through current mediums is more isolating than not in terms of the physical experience. Skyping on a computer to a distant friend is never as rewarding as visiting them, and really, is virtual anything as good as the real thing? I concede that I prefer physically removed engagements like text messaging or emailing when I would prefer not to see someone, but that’s another situation entirely. From this point of loneliness, we also became fascinated with people who prefer the company of inanimate objects to other people (see the Guys and Dolls documentary at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3710987618964917848). This all led to our idea of creating a robot whose own “emotional state” depended on the presence of a person.

MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
SWA is made entirely from, wood (the skeleton), styrofoam, bubble wrap, newspaper, rice paper (for a skin-like, blood vessely effect), Saran Wrap (a lot), 3 strings of white Christmas lights for the body, a plastic dome for the belly, 2 red incandescent light bulbs for inside the belly, a repurposed LCD screen (face), our trusty QT 113 capacitance sensor, 2 servo-motors, 2 dimmer switches attached to the servo_motors, and a 24V DC motor (for the moving arm).

Constructing the entire project took quite some time, but the circuitry, as expected, took the longest. Jason put together a nice diagram of our convoluted circuit: http://jasonkrugman.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/circuitrydiagram.jpg

The motor and electrical issues surrounding it were beyond the scope of our knowhow, but with many thanks to the significant help we received from various sources (shoutout to Greg), it all worked somehow.

In its final state, the QProx sensor triggered everything. The default state of SWA was a pulsing red stomach, dim lights throughout the body, a static body, and a video face run through Processing that looped a segment of a movie clip with a sad face (thanks Scott). When a touch was registered on the stomach (thanks copper mesh), the servos dimmed up the Christmas lights in the body, the Processing code jumped to the happy segment of the video and looped that instead, and when the touch and release was registered, the DC motor in the arm was triggered to high until the potentiometer attached to it reached a certain reading.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
The most fun part about this poject was watching people very clearly understand the interaction with this object. I have always tried to create work that speaks very immediately to people, and while I haven’t always suceeded, I feel that this project was a sucess in that regard. We had the good luck to showcase SWA in the Winter Show, and it was interesting to watch people react with either abject horror or delight to SWA. With more experience, we could’ve fleshed out the interaction into something more complex and providing more narrative, but that’s for next semester.

Controlling a Motor

I belatedly completed this lab (midterms and the subsequent post-midterm coma kept me down a bit) and actually found it quite easy and straight-forward.

There’s not much to report except to say that I did it. I had a little trouble at first figuring out that I was not supposed to use a servo motor but was saved from a near servo-disaster by a kind on-looker. So anyhow, here are some pics of my motor experience:

And then creativity. Hmm. This could have interesting applications on a really simple level as a knitter’s sidekick. I knit (yeah, I know…I knit) and something that’s always driving me crazy is winding yarn and then pulling out enough at a time for a few stitches. If you don’t have enough slack in the yarn, it pulls at your stitches and makes your whole piece bunch and crumple in weird ways. A yarn motor could help make organized yarn spools and also easily let out yarn…like a fishing reel. I’ll post some pics of that when I finish it…