Work is finished on my ICM and P-Comp final and it is ready for the ITP Winter Show. Imagine Nothing is a interactive dance performance piece based on the threat of loss of imagination in the world. The video and photos document a recorded performance. More specific details on the code and programming for Processing, Arduino, MaxMSP and Ableton Live will soon follow!
The p-comp aspects of the project involved using force-sensitive resistors and the Kinect (IR Sensor / Camera) as well as several microphones. The FSRs are mounted to the bottom of a platform beneath the broken glass that the dancer performs upon. The relatively simple Arduino code to obtain the force values and communicate them to MaxMSP through serial can be seen below. At the end is the text based MaxMSP patch used as the intermediary between Arduino and the Ableton Live audio program.
/*Imagine Nothing
Mick Hondlik
P-Comp/ICM Final Fall 2011
ITP @ NYU
Adapted From:
SerialCallResponse
Created 26 Sept. 2005
by Tom Igoe
modified 30 Aug 2011
by Tom Igoe and Scott Fitzgerald
*/
int fsr1 = 0; // 4 fsr analog sensors
int fsr2 = 0;
int fsr3 = 0;
int fsr4 = 0;
int inByte = 0; // incoming serial byte
void setup()
{
// start serial port at 9600 bps:
Serial.begin(9600);
establishContact(); // send a byte to establish contact until receiver responds
}
void loop()
{
// if we get a valid byte, read analog ins:
if (Serial.available() > 0) {
// get incoming byte:
inByte = Serial.read();
// read first FSR, divide by 4 to make the range 0-255:
fsr1 = analogRead(A0)/4;
// delay 10ms to let the ADC recover:
delay(10);
// read remaining FSRs
fsr2 = analogRead(A1)/4;
fsr3 = analogRead(A2)/4;
fsr4 = analogRead(A3)/4;
// send sensor values:
Serial.write(fsr1);
Serial.write(fsr2);
Serial.write(fsr3);
Serial.write(fsr4);
}
}
void establishContact() {
while (Serial.available() <= 0) {
Serial.print('A'); // send a capital A
delay(300);
}
}
/*
Max/MSP version 5 patch to run with this code:
<pre><code>
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-----------end_max5_patcher-----------
</code></pre>
*/
One of the most, if not THE most, commonly and frequently used interactive technologies in New York City is the MTA Card system. I’ve had a personal grudge against it since…well, forever. Further observation beyond my personal use has upped my frustration to the third as well as first-person level.
It all begins at the MTA card purchase machine. It sure does have pretty colors! It was designed by Masamichi Udagawa of the famous design firm Ideo and has recently been critically acclaimed and featured in the Talk To Me exhibit by MOMA curator Paola Antonelli. In short, I no longer trust her opinions on design. In the war to get on a subway train in NYC, buying the card is, for most, the longest battle. The lines are long and understandably so because depending on your purchase, you may be asked ten or more questions before you receive your card! Most of these questions are absolutely unnecessary and could be replaced by just a few actions and many less process screens. For example, there is no need to ask what type of payment a user will pay with…a simple prompt to insert payment could tell the user to insert cash or a card and the machine would sense it (like soft drink machines and gas pumps have for years!) Overall, the “Begin” and “Payment Type” screens could be removed completely and in most cases inserting one’s metrocard would prevent the necessity of the “Metrocard Type” screen.
Buying the card is definitely the slowest part of the process but perhaps more frustrating is swiping it. In case sliding a flimsy little card through a thin slot isn’t hard enough, the card must also be in the perfect orientation and be slid at just the right speed. Furthermore, whether or not the card was swiped perfectly, the machine makes exactly the same beep noise often causing myself and others to proceed and slam into the turnstile.
The technology and interaction involved in this system seems archaic, especially in comparison to systems like the Tube in London and the corresponding Oyster Card. The first thing to notice is that there are no slots anywhere! 
Both at the vending machine and at the turnstile the user only needs to “touch” their card to a sensor. The card can even be inside your purse or wallet and still be sensed, saving yet more time.
