Here’s a stop motion animation I created with David Rios in Fall 2012:
You can visit the site at http://tunetaps.com/ where you’ll find everything you need to know about the musical shoes that Natasha Dzurny and I will be demo’ing at the 2013 ITP Spring Show.
Here’s a 3D particle system that I made using Processing in Eclipse.
Here’s a .jar file so you can see it in action: ICMFinal.jar
This week we hit an important milestone for our project. We were able to get MIDI sound by processing Arduino sensor data in Max. When the user presses on an FSR, the serial data is passed into Max, which turns it into MIDI sounds. The Max patch looks like this:
I have video of this working, that I will post later. Note: the left FSR produces a single note, while the right produces multiple, since repetition isn’t filtered by “change.”
Now that we have the inputs and outputs working, we’re going to start trying to allow the user to loop audio patterns of their choosing. We also have to decide how we want the sound to output( single hits vs repeated), whether or not we should bypass the use of the Arduino and send FSR data right through bluetooth and then how to attach the sensors to a shoe.
**Update**
In my biomechanics class I’m working on building a musical interface that the user interacts with by dancing. Check out more info with these posts on my class partner’s blog and the class blog:
http://technochicblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/bio-final-project-concept-development/
http://www.diybiomechanics.com/2013/03/25/project-update-musical-dance-interface/
For my Com Lab Web Final I designed this site with HTML5 and Ruby:
http://itp.nyu.edu/~mam1286/sinatra/finalProject/
It’s a site that could allow actors and actresses to input all the necessary information for a casting director to make an audition schedule. Things like equity points give different levels of priority to actors, which would be decided by the admin. Right now it creates a database out of the information input. The current system of auditions is pretty archaic, so I wanted to take a shot at updating it.
Dance Visualization
A processing based visualization of dance, possibly tap-specific. Piezo sensors could be used to measure footfalls.
Piezo sensors: http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/41
Musical Dance Interface
An interface that allows users to create music by dancing. Possibly by allowing users to loop sounds created by rhythmically stepping on a sensor pad. The Kinect could also be used to measure movement and translate it to audio.
Getting started with Kinect in Processing: http://www.shiffman.net/p5/kinect/
Processing libraries for creating sound: http://www.processing.org/reference/libraries/#libraries
Exploring Hand-Centric Interfaces
I’d like to build an interface that takes advantage of the abilities of hands besides those currently required by computers and touch screens.
Anatomy: http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/muscularsystem/wristhanddigits/menu/menu.html
A Kinect hack for finger movement: http://www.kinecthacks.com/finger-movements-can-be-detected-by-kinect/
MYO: https://getmyo.com/
This assignment has come up at a very opportune time. In my biomechanics class we’ve been asked to wear a fitbit this week. This is my first experience with quantified self, and I must say I’m intrigued by the idea of having quantitative information about myself. The fitbit works rather seamlessly, connecting wirelessly via bluetooth connection to my computer or smartphone. Not only that, but there is a small screen that gives me my numbers on steps taken, flights climbed and calories burned for the day. The data is constantly present. When it comes to exercise, I find it very difficult to be motivated or to set goals for myself, so having something that shows me when I’ve been highly inactive for a day and automatically sets daily goals for me seems like it would be very beneficial. As a movement, find it appealing because of its potential to revolutionize healthcare. It increases awareness of one’s own health, but can also allow doctors and physicians to monitor health on a large scale. If this kind of data is widely available, it can increase the ability of medical professionals to predict epidemics, understand how they spread, and perhaps draw connections to other factors like geographic location and culture.
I’m also interested in how this movement could promote men’s health. I participated in Movember this year, a campaign that asks men to grow mustaches and have people donate money to fund research in mens health issues. A secondary, but equally important goal, in my mind, is to encourage men to talk about their health. For what I see as primarily cultural issues, the men I know generally don’t talk about their health and avoid going to the doctor for regular checkups. I think the quantified self movement has the potential to change this, by associating health with technology and fun instead of weakness or infirmity. I’d be interested in studying whether or not quantifying increases the amount that men visit the doctor and discuss issues concerning their health.
Before I even finished reading the Economist article, I downloaded the Boozerlyzer app. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I’m highly interested in how alcohol affects my brain function, and I can definitely see myself running some experiments on the differences between whiskey and tequila. Considering this app brought to my attention my general interest in abnormal situations that I may experience. I’m excited to take a closer look at my fitbit data from this past thursday. One of my hobbies is swing dancing, which tends to be heavy in footwork. Following this logic, I should have logged a number of steps for that three hour period that is far above average for me. Of course, I’m also interested in the number of calories I typically burn in a night of dancing.
I’d also be interested in studying my mental health. For some time, I’ve been interested in the correlation between my mood and the music that I’m listening to. Last.fm is an application that monitors the artists and songs you listen to. Using this in conjunction with other tools could show me how much listening to reggae affects my stress levels, or if listening to metal makes me more productive when working out.
I’m currently working on an interactive documentary with the goal of illuminating the subject of introversion for an audience that lives in a world built for extroverts. I’ve been interested in this topic for a while, and I’ve done a bit of reading on the subject. I drew inspiration from Susan Cain’s TED talk “The Power of Introverts”. Between a third to a half of the world is made up of introverts, but the world is currently designed to heavily favor extroverts. Because of this, many introverts can’t be as productive members of society as they could be otherwise.
The story will be told using Popcorn.js to provide an interactive, fishbone style narrative. Here’s a mockup of the plot structure, along with some details about the different plot lines and the aesthetic I’ll be using.
The main plot will de-mystify the term “introvert,” pointing out common misconceptions and providing an accurate definition. Then it will explore the complexity of introversion by mentioning the four temperaments that introverts(and extroverts) might have, which play a large part in how introverts function. From here, the user can click on an option which will allow them to fishbone out and go into more depth with each temperament. Then the main plot will continue, discussing the problem introverts have living in an extrovert-focused world. Once again, users will be able to pop out of the main story line and hear personal accounts of introverts who have felt alienated. The main story will then conclude by offering tips on how to encourage introverts to function in their natural state.
Visually, I’ll use a combination of simple animations and one-on-one interviews to tell the story. Popcorn.js will be used to bring my narrative together by linking videos in a webpage, and overlaying animations where needed.
For week two of Biomechanics for Interactive design, I mapped the range of motion of the ankle joint in the Sagittal plane. This about.com article notes that the plantar flexion(downward movement) is 50 degrees and the dorsiflexion(upward movement) is 20 degrees. I also found a very helpful animated video that explains the anatomy and movement of the ankle. After my initial research I did some sketches.
The first few explored the anatomy I had learned and tried to apply it to movement in the Sagittal plane. My first idea for mapping the range of motion, seen in the middle row on the right side, was to create a pulley system that would replicate the pulling of the Achilles and Anterior-Tibial tendons on the ankle bones to create movement. Due to time constraints and limited resources, though, I decided to take on a different approach. I created a model of the joint with limited movement range, simulated by physically blocking movement close to the 20 degree dorsiflexion and 50 degree plantar flexion.
