Daily Archives: February 12, 2017

3D_002_In_Class: Sound Fabrics and Soundscape

February 12, 2017My Work, Process3D, 3D Model, ADM water fountain, buzzer alarm, pleasant, Process, Project 2, rolling chair, sound fabric, soundscape, unpleasantNatasya Adistana

Hi!

A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment.

Part 1: In class Activity – Sound Fabric

During the in class activity, we listened to some sound and used the brown paper to express it in 3D form, sound fabric.

Pleasant sound: ADM Water Fountain

This sound is pleasant for me as it is somehow calming and give me the feeling of a japanese onsen and mountain area. So relaxing.

Peasant - ADM Water Fountain Sound Fabric — Pleasant Sound – ADM Water Fountain Sound Fabric

For me each water drop feels like it is in the shape of a line being curled (spiral) as it falls on another water surface.

I also feel like there are two significant water sound:
-the dominant one with lower pitch and heavier feeling
-the much less dominant with higher pitch and lower intensity

As such, I separate it into two main part (with roughly same overall size to say that both are equally important. One has thicker width representing the one with heavier feeling and the other has thinner width representing the lower intensity. Both has the same principle of spiral as each sound shaped like that in my mind.

The shape is being hung and the composition looks like it has a movement from up to down, representing the ‘fall’ of the water.

Unpleasant sound: Buzzer alarm

This sound is unpleasant for me as it is the sound of my annoying alarm. It really gives me the cringe and feels like each buzz is pierced through my hearing.

So the twirl and pointy part represent the annoying and endless cringe of me whilelistening to that alarm. Each twirl represents one buzz and it is being twisted as it sounds like my hearing is being crumpled by it. I put them at constant distance as the duration between each buzz is constant. Also, the shape is a closed square showing that the buzz is enclosed and keep on repeating endlessly.

Part 2: Soundscapes

After the lesson, we were asked to create two A4 size soundscapes for two soundscape (can be different from in class activity).

Pleasant sound: ADM Water Fountain (same as previous part)

I decided to use the same sound as somehow, I like it more as I listen more to it. And somehow the sound sounds like the rain sound while I am inside a car/ room. It reminds me of my hometown, Bandung and childhood when I was inside a car and it was raining. It’s like being inside a warm and comforting place, feeling secure even though it was raining outside.

sdfs — Pleasant Sound – ADM Water Fountain Soundscape

I decide to use that thick plastic material that has a kinda neutral pitch with a quite heavy sound as previously I wanted to use thin plastic (the sound is too high pitch) or paper (the sound too light).

Still keeping the concept of the spiral, I cut all part to lines and spiral it. Then I connect both end to create an enclosed shape which represent the endless loop of the water as long as the fountain is turned on.

Unpleasant sound: Rolling Chair

This sound is unpleasant as it is quite annoying. Somehow when I listen to it, I picture myself studying/doing project in a room and there is someone who keeps on rolling the chair, disturbing my concentration.

The sound of the rolling chair gives the sound of heavy friction between the wheel and surface. As such I used crumpled alumunium foil to show the uneven sound and friction. I chose this material as it has the friction with heavy feeling if i move my hand brushing through it.

And then there is the ‘ngik ngik’ squeaking sound from the chair. This sound is not so significant hence it is only represented by small strip of transparent colored paper being folded into random direction unevenly (as the ‘ngik’ sound is uneven and irregular. I chose the material as the ‘ngik’ sound was clear and the color is not so dominating and can blend with the foil.

It was actually a fun activity for me as I have to try new things and use my imagination. Some sound evokes random memory while some just sound like a common sound with not much significant memory :D.

3D Project 2
Research: Hearing and Touch
In Class: Sound Fabrics and Soundscape
Inspiration and Process: Sound Texturizer Trial and Error
Final: THE SOUNDTUBE

3D_002_Research: Hearing and Touch

February 12, 2017My Work, Research3D, audioception, frog, hearing, human, Process, Project 2, Research, senses, tactioception, touchNatasya Adistana

Hi!

So I’ve been researching on human senses, to be exact are hearing and touch.

HEARING (Audioception) is the ability to perceive sound by the sense of hearing.

How does the human sense of hearing work?

Ear anatomy:

screen-shot-2017-02-12-at-5-24-58-pm — Ear Anatomy

(Click here for interactive version)

Process of hearing:
Sound waves enter the ear canal, making the ear drum vibrate and moves the ossicles. The last bone of stapes knocks on the membrane window of the cochlea, causing fluid in the cochlea to move. This movement cause stereocillia to bend and create electrical signal that caused the auditory nerve to carry signal to the brain.

Interesting Facts:

Human ear still functions even when a person sleeps. It continues to pick up sound but the brain block them out.
Human ears are self-cleaning by producing ear wax (cerumen) which protects the ear from dust and friction.
Frequently cleaning ear wax can damage the tymponic membrane and lead to deafness!
Wearing headphones for an hour will increase the bacteria in ear by 700 times.
Ossicles is the smallest bone found in a human body.
The inner ear helps human balance as they walk or run.

TOUCH (Tactioception) is the body’s ability to feel physical sensation

How does the human sense of touch work?

Skin anatomy:

(Click here for the interactive version)

Somatosensory (touch receptors)
– mechanoreceptors (pressure, vibration, texture)
– thermoreceptors (temperature)
– pain receptors
– proprioceptors

Process:
Stimuli is accepted by somatosensory and the nervous system carry the information to the brain.

Interesting Facts:

Skin is the largest organ of a body, it makes up 15% of the body weight.
Skin is constantly renewing itself.
Touch can reduce blood pressure and heart rate.
Touch stimulates brain to release endorphin.
The sense of touch gets worse as human ages.
Touch is crucial for a baby’s development.

Similarity between frog and human?

It is really fascinating to find out that we are somewhat quite similar to frogs. It is not something I expected before.

Body structure
The body structure of frogs and humans is comparable as have skin, bones, muscles and organs. Further, both frog and human bodies can be broken up into a head, a neck, a trunk and limbs.
Organs
Both have lungs, kidneys, a stomach, a heart, a brain, a liver, a spleen, a small intestine and a large intestine, a pancreas, a gall bladder, a urinary bladder, a ureter, a cloaca. Males and females of each species have testes and ovaries respectively. In general, their organ structure is similar, but frogs have considerably less complex anatomies and they do not have ribs or a diaphragm.
Vertebrates with nervous system
They have similar systems, including nervous, circulatory, digestive and respiratory. Both are classified as vertebrates, with a spine and nerves that spread across the body. Both frogs and humans have very developed senses of hearing, which is managed by the nervous system. However, frogs can only detect high-pitched sounds with their ears; low-pitched sounds are detected through the skin. Both frogs and humans also have developed senses of sight and smell.

Frog vs Human Body Part

Frog vs Human Digestive Organ

Summary:

3D Project 2
Research: Hearing and Touch
In Class: Sound Fabrics and Soundscape
Inspiration and Process: Sound Texturizer Trial and Error
Final: THE SOUNDTUBE

3D_001_Research: Smell (and Taste) and Memory

February 12, 2017My Work, Research3D, flavor, memory, Project 1, Research, smell, tasteNatasya Adistana

Hi!

We were asked to research on how smell related to the memory. After some research, I found out that both smell and taste (with the addition of tactile and thermal sensations) create flavor, and this is the one factor that is greatly related to one’s memory.

TASTE (gustaocception) is the ability to taste and to discriminate flavors.
How does the human sense of taste work? the taste bud on the tongue (papillae) have very sensitive microvili which sends message to the brain about the taste.

(check here for the interactive version)

Interesting facts:

Four basic human taste are sweet, salty, sour, bitter.
In early 1990s, the 5th taste of umami was recognized.
Fat could be the 6th taste.
The tongue map is not exactly right as there is no clear cut map of which parts of tongue taste what.

SMELL (olfacception) is the ability to sense and perceive smell.
How does the human sense of smell work?
Odourant stimulates chemoreceptors which gives electrical impulse to be passed on to the brain. The brain interprets the pattern of electrical activity as specific odors and olfactory sensation.

(Check here for the interactive version)

Interesting facts:

Smell is intimately linked to behaviour, mood and memory as the olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system (include amygdala and hippocampus)
Anosmia is the inability to smell that can be caused by sinus disease, growth in the nassal passage, viral infection and head trauma.
In 1991, Richard Axel and Linda Buck published a paper on olfactory receptors and how the brain interprets smell. They won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Three percent of a human genes are olfactory receptor type.

Smell and taste with addition of tactile and thermal sensation create flavour. Flavour is the sensory impression of food. This flavour is the one that evoke human’s memory.

And why does smell is the sense that most easily evoke memory compared to other senses?

Smell is firstly being processed in hippocampus which is identified as crucial for creating new memories for events.
Smell information is transferred directly to olfactory without passing through the thalamus like other senses.

Summary:

3D_001_In_Class: The Chocolate Tasting

February 12, 2017My Work, Process3D, blind eat, chocolate, chocolate chili, chocolate on potato chip, milky, misterious, Process, Project 1, super dark chocolate, yumNatasya Adistana

Hi!
On our very first 3D lesson, we had some fun and unusual experience. We were asked to blindly try 3 different chocolate. YUM 😀

CHOCOLATE A
When I touched it, it has the shape of a normal chocolate bar with smooth surface. It didn’t melt easily, I guess it was not milky. It smelled sweet and I guessed it had 60% cocoa.

At first it tasted bitter, slowly become powderish and suddenly spicy (which I like) but end up giving the sour taste at the end.

Well, I the moment the chocolate became spicy, I remember the time when I ate a cup of chocolate chili gelato in Gelato Gusto, Bali with my friends. To try a spoon was okay, but to finish a whole cup was memorable. It was a weird choice as I remember enjoying the first half of the cup but later forcing myself to finish the other half.

CHOCOLATE B
The shape was round with leave pattern on the surface. It smelled sweet and melt quiet easily, guessed it was milky.

However, it tasted very bitter and I savoured it (I like dark chocolate) until I started to taste nut and more nut which I do not really like. After sometimes the bitterness returned and turned powderish at the end.

The moment I tasted the nut, I remembered eating a macadamia chocolate, not really remembering the details of when and where.

Actually, the chocolate was dark chocolate and there was no nut at all. I did not know why did I tasted nut when I ate it.

CHOCOLATE C
The shape is of a chip with an easily-melt chocolate on one side. I thought it was normal and the chip was plain (I didn’t feel the texture of the salt somehow).

It was sweet at the first bite and I could feel the chocolate melted and I tasted salty, chocolate melted and I could taste potato chip, salty, crunchy and potato chips again. I love the taste, it just keep on getting better. (Thanks for letting us eating it)