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| Shelf Portrait | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author(s): | Rich Miller | |
| Instructor: | Schober, Gary Igoe, Tom |
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| Class: | Advanced Technology Sensor Workshop |
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| Keywords: | Physical Computing, sculpture, personal | |
| This is a self portrait as a sea shell on a shelf. It is interactive and audio in nature, responding to touch and a variety of less-direct input with subtle sound ques. | ||
| The viewer will approach an odd, distorted conch shell-like object with a long, tail-like appendage rising toward the ceiling, sitting on a small, wall-mounted shelf. The inner surface of the shell is pink and smooth, with strangely delicate tracery on its surface. Touching this surface , the outside surface, or simply standing close to the sculpture elicits an audible response which emanates from deep inside the shell. the response is tailored by the amount of contact with the object and the duration of the interaction. | ||
| Background: | Through this semester I have focussed on improving my craft in physical computing and on using this to work toward a more personal statement in my own artwork. This project came about as I began to investigate the use of touch sensors from Quantum. In addition to creating a Printed Circuit Board for the sensor and conducting extensive research toward the sensor's use, I have specifically tried to find more expressive ways in which the sensor could be employed. In Self Portrait, I use this knowledge and knowledge gained from previous sculpture and design works to create an interactive artwork. The "shell" aspect of the piece arises largely from an observation that concave shaping of a QProx sensor electrode results in the focusing of the sensor field. This merged beautifully with an interest in working with a seashell metaphor - specifically the conch shell - that arose while visiting my inlaws in Puerto Rico this summer. The natural amplification and distortion of sound, the strange, almost sexual attraction to the inner surfaces of the shell, and the larger, more general protective metaphor of 'shell' all attracted me to use this image in my work. My work in the next three weeks is now to take this knowledge and apply it to artistically the idea outlined above. As it is a part of the requirements of not one, but two classes, its completion is nothing short of mandatory. Electronically, this is a fairly simple matter, consisting of circuits I have frequently and successfully used. The complicated aspects of the project are sculptural, and in particular, in the code. Getting the code to work should be a manageable task. Getting the code to fade to the background, letting the interactions flow naturally and in an interesting manner.... that will be a challenge for me. Again though, I am banking a large part of my success this semester on the success of this project, so I have a great deal of incentive to seek what help I need. I believe I will succeed. | |
| Audience: | people. | |
| User Scenario: | A visitor approaches the object, trying to discern its significance. Detail and surface attract the visitor to touch the interior of the sculpture. as the visitor approaches the surface, sound comes from the within. As the visitor explores the effect, it becomes stronger and more varied. | |
| Technical System Description: | The shell, itself serves both as a physical amplification device like the old Victrolla phonograph, and as a sensor platform of four embedded Qprox (QT240) sensor electrodes. The shape of the work concentrates the sensor fields toward the inside of the "shell", though both inside and outside will be sensitive. The QProx signals a pic (18F1320) at each contact, which responds to the contacts as a whole with a continually varying freqout, using analog data from a temperature sensor and a microphone to shape the frequence emmitted. Timing enables the effect to build upon itself, varying the response. | |
| Conclusions: | This is a first attempt to use my technical knowedge to convey meaning and, as in all such ventures is more art than science. While it is not dissimilar to exhibit design, as my own personal artwork this is new ground for me. I hope to continue in this vein for many years to come. | |