Windloom

Siman Li

A new musical instrument inspired by old interaction of loom and wind box (bellow).

https://

Description

Using button, laser distance sensors, capacitive sensor, Windloom is a new musical instrument inspired by old interaction of loom and wind box (bellow). The music was controlled by distance, touch and state of the music.

Classes

New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Wish Candles

Hye Ryeong Shin, Yeonhee Lee

A magical flame that grants your wishes!

http://www.yeonheelee.com/category/01/wintershow2017/

Description

Blowing out birthday candles. Wishing upon a star. These actions represent two of the most traditional wish-making methods. Inspired by common conditioning towards wishing in these scenarios, and built upon Yeonhee Lee’s previous LED birthday cake midterm project, Wish Upon a Star is an interactive ICM/PComp final project by Yeonhee Lee and Hye Ryeong Shin.

Our project consists of a dark booth containing a webcam and monitor screen, with an electric match and LED candles presented in front of them. In its dormant state, the LED candles will be off and the screen will say “Strike the Match & Light the Closest Candle.” The user can turn on the LEDs with our handmade electric match, changing the screen into a dazzling night sky with instructions to “Make a wish and blow out the candles.” The user can then blow out the LED candles, which will trigger the stars on the screen to fall like a meteor shower. After the stars fall, the screen will reveal a surprise snapshot of the user during the moment he or she was making a wish, with two randomly generated elements on the photo: a frame design and a memorable quote related to wish-making. The screen will then present the user with an option to download the photo. The user can choose yes or no by nodding or shaking their heads, which will be detected by our hidden webcam. If the user shakes their head, the screen returns to its dormant state. If they nod, the screen will present a Twitter link and a QR code where the user can download the photo.

Our main theme and aim of this project was to create a fun, interactive, and memorable experience associated with wish-making through safe, flameless LED candles and animated shooting stars.

Classes

Introduction to Computational Media, Introduction to Physical Computing

Private Beach

Jillian Zhong

Installation exploring intersections of private vs. public spaces and individual experiences within a collective experience.

http://blog.jzhong.today/pcomp/Intro-to-PComp-Midterm/

Description

The piece consists of a video projection and a seashell object. When a user picks up the shell, they had place it to their ear and hear music. This action also triggers the accompanying video projection to become visible. When the shell is placed faced down on the table, music and video ceases. There are 2 different musical experiences in the piece that alternate when the shell is placed down.
This was completed for my pcomp midterm. Read blog post for more information. For the show iteration, I would like to project the video on the surface the shell is placed on and on the wall behind it. As well as contruct a more polished enclosure.

Classes

Introduction to Physical Computing

The Starting Line

Terrick Gutierrez, Lauren Race

The Starting Line is a game powered by privilege.

Description

Two users answer a series of ten boolean questions . If they answer “yes” (or privileged) to a question they advance further in the game. However, if they answer “no” (or non-privileged) they do not advance. The end of the game delivers a final percentage and encourages each user to use their privilege as a tool for good.

Classes

Introduction to Computational Media, Introduction to Computational Media, Introduction to Physical Computing

Great Heart

Camilla Padgitt-Coles, James Schmitz

A device that sonifies your heartbeat while you follow breathing visualizations which slow your heart rate down.

http://ixora.io/itp/pcomp/heartbeat-detection-study/

Description

This is a collaborative project by Jim Schmitz and myself (Camilla Padgitt-Coles) for our Physical Computing final. Our project uses a pulse sensor to detect the user's heartbeat and translate it into a sound which is triggered in P5. The user can also pick one of 7 instruments and 7 notes to represent their heartbeat. An LED also blinks with the heartbeat on the enclosure. The user is able to hear their heart rate and follow visualizations (also triggered in P5) which are designed to guide their breathing in order to slow down their heart rate. There will be two options: A “challenge” mode where once your heart rate has slowed 10% it will stop, and a “meditation” mode where the user can sit with it for a specified or free range duration.

Classes

Introduction to Physical Computing

Transmotion

Barak Chamo

Transmotion is an experiment in capturing the essence of meaning and emotion. A narrator and mechanical performer that capture the beauty of poetry in motion.

https://barakchamo.com

Description

Transmotion is an attempt to capture the emotion and beauty of poetry and translate it, by means of mechanical interpretation and conversion, into machine performance. The apparatus is seeded with human input, beautiful pieces of poetry, and I want to know wether it is capable of evoking the same sense of expression and emotion.

The selected poems are processed through sentiment analysis to extract the affective score of parts of the text. It is then read by a mechanical text-to-speech synthesizer and sent, word-by-word, to the robotic performer. The performer receives each word in time and interprets it into 3-axial movement.

Is there a connection between the text and the motion, between the poet's intention and the machine interpretation, and are performative automata capable of capturing and conveying human emotion?

Classes

Designing for Digital Fabrication, Introduction to Physical Computing

CRYPT0MANIA

Caleb Ferguson

Cryptomania is a sculpture designed as commentary on the pandemonium surrounding cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. It pulsates with light based on real-time price changes of a particular cryptocurrency.

https://goo.gl/x9gLzK

Description

The pandemonium is everywhere!

Blockchain technology, and its specific use case as a framework/platform for cryptocurrency is fascinating the world. People are buying and selling these digital currencies with great fervor, without much understanding about how any of it works.

Cryptomania is a sculpture designed as commentary on the pandemonium. It lights up based on the 1 hour price change (a percentage value) of a particular crypto-currency – Ethereum.

The crystal is intended to encapsulate the mania by showing an ambiguous, but real time indication “good” or “bad” sentiment. The sculpture is intended to call the following concepts for consideration:

– The hive-mind mentality of observing a price as a proxy for “real” value

– The populist and over-simplified media coverage of blockchain technology

– The shortsighted, accelerationist nature of cryptocurrency discourse and “technical analysis”

by so-called experts

The crystal is a passive object that pulses with varying intensity and direction over time. Users are encouraged to observe for as long or short as they want, and revisit if desired.

Classes

Introduction to Physical Computing

Psychic Experience (HoloWAVE)

Sean Seunghwan Kim

Experience the world as a psychic through HoloWAVE!

https://www.meditasean.com

Description

Through HoloWAVE (HoloLens + Brainwaves-scanning helmet), you are put into the shoes of a psychic meeting with a client!

HoloWAVE's voice recognition capabilities enable the user to control the flow of time, which is used in conjunction with the user's level of concentration (Alpha wave: 7.5-14Hz) to determine how far into the past / future the user experiences.

For 2 minutes, you will become a psychic working with a client. You will experience the client’s past and future, and give advice.

www.meditasean.com

In collaboration with: Joe Moon (Stern)

Classes

Alt Docs: Inventing New Formats for Non-fiction Storytelling , Magic Windows and Mixed-Up Realities, Project Development Studio

Fly like an Eagle

Samuel Chasan

Fly around your favorite places on planet earth with this kinect controlled flight simulator.

http://www.samuelchasan.com/ipc/2017/12/5/fly-like-an-eagle

Description

I developed body-positioning Kinect-controls for the Google Earth Flight simulator. The Kinect uses the z-position & x-position of the users head as well as their hips, to determine the pitch and roll of the aircraft; and it uses the average delta in y position of the left and right hands to determine speed. This allows people to flap and lean like a bird might and then fly around the planet! 

Classes

Introduction to Computational Media, Introduction to Physical Computing