Category Archives: Nancy Hechinger

Hanbyul Jo, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

Dat(um)A

Hanbyul Jo

Data sculpture that navigates the individual story within the scope of a big dataset.

Description

Data is getting bigger and bigger. An overview of the data gives a complete picture, but not the full story. 'Gentrification of New York City' is one example. My goal was to reveal the individual stories that make up the dataset–the datum within the data. First hand interviews about gentrification (the datum) were combined with income level change over 6 years (the data). The result is a series of sculptures that spotlights what is missing inside an averaged overview of data.

Classes

Thesis

Lei Ng, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

Roving Spectres

Lei Ng

Roving Spectres is a traveling shadow theater. Taking inspiration from shadow puppetry, traveling tent shows, and physical computing, this project weaves narrative worlds out of nothing but light and shadow.

https://itp.nyu.edu/shows/thesis2014/wen-lei-ng/

Description

In Roving Spectres, shadow and illumination serve as both performative and participatory mediums. A glowing suitcase containing kinetic paper sculptures, a performative glove, an emotive light umbrella — these re-appropriated objects transform into the performer's 'co-actors'. Each object is woven into a series of imaginary landscapes through their interactions with the performer.

With a suitcase, Roving Spectres brings the magic of live theatre to the people where they least expect it.

Classes

Thesis

Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Sanniti Pimpley, Thesis

PrintO-Bot

Sanniti Pimpley

PrintO-Bot is an inkjet printer on wheels. This robot can print on almost any flat surface- no matter how large or what material it is made of. It is very cheap and you can even build it yourself!

sanni-t.com/printo-bot.html

Description

There's a lot of interest in the hobbyist & maker community regarding printing your own designs on a variety of materials for aesthetic purposes. The PrintO-Bot allows us to do this very easily on any reasonably flat surface- wood/stone/ fabric/PCB/ any floor.

The PrintO-Bot is essentially an inkjet printer hacked into, modified and put on wheels. The printer here has its nozzle on the bottom; we put the bot on the material on which we want to print and it starts printing while moving along the material. The bot moves to the next position after each print swath. Since the PrintO-Bot uses an existing printer, we send a print to it the same way as we send a print to our desk printers.

The PrintO-Bot is an open source initiative.

Classes

Thesis

Mack Howell, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

Trajectory

Mack Howell

My thesis project, an app that livestreams video when the phone's sensors are highly activated

http://trajectory.camera

Description

Trajectory is an experiment to find out what a smartphone sees when traumatic events happen to it — e.g. it's dropped, it overheats, it encounters g-forces. Its own sensors trigger streaming video, live imagery, that's then uploaded to a website.

Classes

Thesis

Bill Lindmeier, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

Tunnel Vision

Bill Lindmeier

Tunnel Vision turns any NYC subway subway map into an interactive platform for data visualization.

http://tunnelvisionapp.com

Description

The image of the MTA subway map is distinctive and ubiquitous throughout New York. Tunnel Vision uses the map as a platform to explore the city through data-visualization. The app pulls data from a variety of sources and seamlessly integrates them into the map by drawing over the camera feed.

When a rider is waiting for the subway, she points her phone at the map to activate Tunnel Vision. The map comes to life with animations that add context to the ridership experience. By simply moving the phone around the map, she can explore many kinds of data including turnstile activity, rent prices, income, etc..

Tunnel Vision adds a layer of insight to a familiar image.

Classes

Thesis

Andy Sigler, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

How to Make the Internet of Useless Things

Andy Sigler

Anode is an ensemble of toys, instruments, and objects, hacked and made wireless, to allow their interconnections to be played with.

http://www.andysigler.com/patchbay

Description

Anode is a collection of found objects turned connected, each simple on their own, but reimagined through their links. Homemade wireless microcontrollers are built for each device, done at a fraction of the cost of ordering online . A touch interface allows users to patch links between separate objects, using any browser. Combining affordable production with easy links gives way for heightened experimentation while making the internet of everything.

Classes

Thesis

David Rios, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

Kinetisynth

David Rios

Musical instrument and kinetic audio visualizer

Description

Kinetisynth is part musical interface, part physical parametric display. Participants use various controllers and sensors to make music together and simultaneously control a real-time physical visualization of that music. It uses analog circuitry and MIDI to generate soundscapes while simultaneously analyzing and quantifying audio signals to create a real time mechanical frequency spectrum that reflects the soundscape.

Classes

Thesis, Thesis

Nancy Hechinger, Peiqi SU, Projects, Thesis

The Penis Wall

Peiqi SU

This kinetic sculpture consists of 81 erectable penises that respond to either a viewer's movements or to realtime movements in the stock market.

http://thesis.itp.io/students/ps2409

Description

The penis is so different! This is my initial motivation, to study one of the oldest and probably the most attractive thing that humans interact with.

The Penis Wall is made up of 3D printed penises that each have six segments driven by servo motors. Equipped with an ultrasonic distance sensor, each unit can respond to a viewer's movements. Moreover, the Penis Wall can also be used as a display to represent data, for instance, fluctuations in the stock market.

Classes

Thesis

Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis, Will Canine

BioBot

Will Canine

BioBot does biology for you!

Description

The OpenTrons BioBot is an open-source, easy to use liquid handling robot you can make for under $1000. It will empower makers and entrepreneurs with one of the most powerful emerging technologies, synthetic biology, giving them a whole new tool to solve the problems they are focused on.

As a cool proof of concept interaction at the spring show, the BioBot will mix together a fizzy colored concoction of the user's choice — I did this at the USA Science and Engineering Fest in DC last weekend over 400 times for people from 4-80 years old, and it was a huge hit.

Classes

Thesis

Brett Peterson, Nancy Hechinger, Projects, Thesis

The Path of the Pirate

Brett Peterson

In this exhibit children ages 2-4 embark on a quest to become a pirate. Along the way, they engage in activities that reinforce early childhood development milestones including pattern matching, sequencing, counting and motor control.

Description

This project was inspired by and created for my daughter. We love going to museums and play together. I wanted to create something fun for her but that also focused on her learning and development.
I designed and created three interactive experiences, each imagined as a portion of a larger exhibit, that are tied together by the theme of a pirate quest. Kids encounter these activities that challenge them to apply skills of pattern matching, sequencing and counting — all key skills in the cognitive development of children between the ages of 2 and 4 years. At the end of the quest is an opportunity for the children to create their own pirate flag and print out a temporary tattoo to celebrate their accomplishment.

Classes

Thesis