Nien Lam

Elemental Stick

Using your breath, you will remotely control the 3 elemental forces of nature, wind, fire and water, through a 6 foot bamboo cane.

http://www.nienlam.com/itp-blog/category/pcomp-final-project/

Classes
Introduction to Physical Computing


The idea is based on the Chilean rainsticks that recreate the sound of rain when they are flipped over. The stick I created allows for control of the sounds of wind, fire and water by the use of your breath. Mother Nature or God would perhaps use this type of interface to control the elemental forces. The stick is made of a 6 foot bamboo cane that houses the electronics(w/ Xbee), speaker, and fiber optic cables. The remote is a shorter bamboo cane you blow into. It also has an Xbee in addition to a thermistor and an accelerometer. A visitor will blow into the remote and the sounds of wind, fire, or water coming from the long bamboo cane will grow louder and the fiber optics will become brighter. Twisting the remote, ie. altering the tilt, will change the control between the 3 different elemental forces.