Rest Of You

class presentation – on consciouness

Nelson Ramon — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:10:05 +0000

presentation

Please download the power point file.

My ideas about consciousness gestated through out the readings and class subjects and my own experiences . . . → Read More: class presentation – on consciouness

final Project – winter show 2011

Nelson Ramon — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:07:01 +0000

Saraswathi’s work on breathing seemed to work on the same ideals.

Having technology help you be better, react to your bio feedback, not the other way around (change our behavior to fit into the algorithm). Even though you can argue that you are being conditioned by the machine, I argue back that it is the same condition as when you dedicate your self to practice a sport..there are proper ways to do it, but you end up having your own style, you know the rules, but you make the game.

So we talked and decided we could join efforts for the show, and achieve mutually benefit.

improvements:

the bracelet was rebuilt to run using blue tooth, this way finally achieving the wireless communication and usage that I was searching to achieve during the class. The bracelet is only reacting to a change in signal, is is not processing data or input so it was easy to set up.

For show reasons we did not run the sensor on blue tooth, during the tests, it was not functioning very stable and since the data from the sensor is really important to read properly, the sensor (strap) was connected by usb to the mac running Sara’s screen dimming software and sending the signal to the bracelet.

The usb was masterfully disguised by Sara to look like a umbilical cord. Reinforcing the idea of our connection to computers, their influence in our biology and our bio data.

So the i-breathe project was presented as a two part application to help you train against e-mail apnea,(note: I don’t like this term I feel this is a general problem for us (not breathing correctly o fully) during computation and even on every day commute (yes that was my personal point for the bracelet)). One part was the screen dimming to not let you work until you resume a proper breathing pattern (not shallow), and the other part was having a mobile partner (bracelet) to help you fight against apnea.

Results

we had some pretty good comments on the matter, the screen dimming was very well received, and when there was time and patience from the people, the bracelet also got very good responces.

We were encouraged to keep on with the project.

Future work:

as a prototype,it worked, but a more well built strap has to be achieved, one that can be re sized with not o much hassle, and that can have another type of sensor that wont sag with the use and abuse.

get better with the wireless hardware. And have the sensor run wireless.

develop an app to support and visualize the data, so that you can track your behavior and improvements.

Do a proper product design and construction, for the sensor and the bracelet, make it look more delicate maybe?, and not like a steam punk garment (which it can also be nice),.. or both looks.

Documentation:

here are pictures of the development of the bluetooth bracelet, the umbilical cord and show presentation.

Living Wall – Update

Mi Cha El La — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:48:49 +0000

Still working on this but this is what I presented last week before my computer hard . . . → Read More: Living Wall – Update

iBreathe Documentation and Summary

Saraswathi — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:17:28 +0000

I wrapped up this semester in Rest of You with a project that I’m proud of, which is really a lovely feeling.

Computer Breath, better known now as iBreathe, is a simple sensor that reminds you to breathe by dimming your computer when your breathing shallows.

Linda Stone calls it “email apnea”, people attribute it to poor posture and anxiety, but regardless it’s clear that our health and well-being are affected by one of the tools we use the most – our computers.

Playing with a stretch sensor and breath-graph showed me some of the short term effects of the way we tend to breathe – every time my breath fell I felt a subtle, nagging anxiety – the kind I tend to attribute to personal insecurities. It was a revelation to me that that feeling could have more of a biological than psychological basis.

Researching breath was enlightening for me – I discovered that certain chronic illnesses have been correlated with lowered blood oxygen levels, and there are recommended exercises to counter cancer centered around breath.

Until I get my hands on the video friends took but have yet to post – here’s some video documentation from prior to the show.

Equilibrium

ac3236 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:17:47 +0000

Equilibrium

View more presentations from Ara Cho

Experience motionless and stillness!
Equilibrium is a space to keep your composure. This space is to experience motionless and stillness time. So, you can have time to sit down to try and recover their equilibrium. Your slight movement can ripple the quiet surface of the pond which represents the perfect balance. At the same time, the chaotic noises are created by your imbalance rate. Try to be motionless, then you can hear the soft, faint sounds of water dripping from far away.

User Scenario

Technical Setup Sketch

HeartRacer

Nick Santaniello — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:21:48 +0000

For my final project, tentatively titled HeartRacer, I decided to explore the possibility of changing behavior through game mechanics. More specifically, I wanted to create a light, portable tv-based game that could help manipulate a user’s heart rate into the optimal zone for losing weight and improving cardiovascular health without making them feel like they were doing exercise.

An early prototype.

At first I envisioned a simple arcade racing game where the user’s heart rate would control the speed of the character. The advantage of this approach would be versatility; the game could be played with any sort of exercise with or without equipment, from riding a stationary bike to simple jumping jacks.

Ultimately, I decided that this approach didn’t have a compelling enough interaction; it required almost as much motivation on the part of the user as unmodified exercise. Also, absent any other control mechanism, there wasn’t much for me to work with from a game development standpoint.

The bag next to its output.

Instead, I went with a game where a user’s television is obscured by four objects, the goal being to clear them to continue to watch television uninterrupted. The player clears the objects by punching one of four matching representations on a punching bag, wired with four pressure sensors. The rate at which the objects return is based on the player’s heart rate. A lower heart rate means the objects return quickly, driving the heart rate higher. A high heart rate means the objects return slowly, letting the player “cool off” as well as rewarding him/her for reaching the desired heart rate zone.

The VE Shield, HR Monitor Interface, etc.

I used the Video Experimenter shield and the TVOut library for Arduino to overlay bitmaps on top of the incoming TV/DVD video signal. There were a number of technical hurdles associated with the project that I had to overcome. I originally wanted to connect the Polar Heart Rate Monitor Interface to the Video Experimenter Shield via the A4 and A5 pins (an I2C connection) but unfortunately the libraries required to use the Video Experimenter shield completely rewrote a lot of the core Arduino libraries, including the portion relating to I2C communication, making my original design impossible.

As an alternate plan, I set up a second Arduino to receive communication from the heart rate monitor interface and attempted to send that information to the Arduino with the Video Experimenter shield via serial; unfortunately, I was again thwarted, this time discovering that video output is interrupt-driven, meaning the board can’t use serial communication while outputting video. As a workaround, I programmed the second Arduino to DigitalWrite(HIGH) one of several digital pins to indicate the user’s heart rate was in a particular zone and sent this directly to the first Arduino’s digital pins. While not providing as granular heart rate data as I was originally hoping for, this finally worked.

The characters obscure One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with the performance of the Polar Heart Rate monitor – The first monitor interface I bought did not recognize a signal from three different heart rate transmitters. I had more luck with the second one I bought, although it easily lost the signal if more than a foot away from the transmitter.

Ultimately, people seemed to enjoy the sensation of punching the bag, but a next step would definitely include trying to replace the bag with something more portable and that doesn’t force the player to keep switching from looking at the bag and the television screen, such as a pair of boxing gloves equipped with accelerometers. Unfortunately, the poor performance of the heart rate monitor interface also must be addressed.

[City Canvas] :: Final Project

ks2407 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:45:20 +0000

a user story of hotDateDress

Eunyoung Kang — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:25:07 +0000

A twenty-something New York City fashionista seeks a unique garment for a first date. She sees a friend’s tweet about the HotDate Dress — “Ladies, this dress is a new kind of wink. He loved it! ”

She uses the website to assemble her personal garment (black bandage fabric, a pencil skirt, a whimsical flower accessory) and orders it. It arrives on Thursday morning, just in time for her date Friday night. When she tries it on, she finds that it fits perfectly, having been cut to her personal measurements. After dressing on Friday evening, she replaces the three black panels that cover her thighs with a set of “transformative” fabric appliques. If her date rests his hand on her thigh, she wants him to know she likes it.

He rests his hand on her thigh and puts his arm around her shoulder. They keep flirting. When he takes his hand away to reach for his drink he’s delighted: there’s a new pattern on her dress right where his hand had been, and her flower broach is glowing. He points these out to her and she smiles, then explains that he’s discovered the places she likes to be touched.

[final project]HotDate Dress_Process

Eunyoung Kang — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:23:57 +0000

The HotDate Dress is a bespoke garment made from customizable interlocking panels mapped to the body”s erogenous zones that transform in response to her date’s caress.

The garment is made from interlocking hexagons cut from black and white bandage fabric. The white fabric used for the garment’s rosettes has been dyed with black thermochromic ink.

A sequence of customizable hexagon panels containing soft switches cover the body’s erogenous zones. Invisible snap closures on individual panels allow the wearer to reconfigure the dress, substituting static panels for active panels so, when a companion touches the dynamic panel, the flower elements turn white, signaling that he has discovered her favorite spot.

These flowers are made from dyed muslin and a cluster of super bright white LEDs and are powered by a coin cell battery connected to a fabric pressure sensor matrix that adjusts the LEDs’ brightness according to the pressure of a companion’s touch.

ROY listen to your gut demo

Christina Arnold — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:28:04 +0000

ROY listen to your gut demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-ZcBratoIc&feature=youtu.be