Tania – Page 10

“Radio” [the Singing Jacket] / Assignment 1

Use of controls to ‘play a radio’ from a playlist. Overall, there will be background music (Soincidence soundtrack) playing throughout the entire duration, while toggling various aspects of the sensors (jacket) will trigger an additional sound to be played, as seen from the playlist above.

Sensors/Feedbacks:

Pressure Sensor (large) placed in pocket:
Switch it on and off, pause, resume
Bending Sensor placed at wrist:
Bend Wrist to change tracks
Gyroscope placed at nape of neck:
Function 1 – [Front/back] Bend back and forth to change volume (The more you bend, the louder it is)
Function 2 – [Right/left] Bend to your right to change pitch (high pitch with more obvious bend)

Combine all actions and create your own unique song.

Comments, and reflections:

Prof Demers commented that having the actions not ‘fixed’ by physical boundaries will allow for greater freedom, and subsequently, more ‘fun’ in playing with the jacket. However, it is risky as the feedback is harder to control
Creating 2 different feedbacks for the gyroscope is not ideal: while activating one function, the other function is also inadvertently activated (unwanted feedback)
Difficult to control 2 feedbacks which requires somewhat similar actions to activate (for gyroscope to change pitch and volume)
Swinging hands to activate bending scope was unnatural
In reflection, perhaps limiting the scope, or narrowing the threshold for activation would help control the feedback, and simplify ways to activate the feedback
I could incorporate the zip/hood of the jacket, etc. zipping the zipper, or wearing the hood
Perhaps some sensors could be placed on the body of the user, instead of solely on the jacket as at current

See it in action:

Narrativity / First Interpretation

The artist puts himself in his audience’s shoes, when trying out his own narration for the first time. Personally, I see narration as an inner speech to yourself, and to another by trying to bring across or realizing a message on tour own.

Interdisciplinarity / First interpretation

(how you view, incorporate, what you interested in)

Inter-disciplines. It involves the incorporation, whether wholly or singularly, different mediums into a single piece of artwork. Based on my personal understanding, in Interactive Media, this encompasses possibly video, sound or robotics, just to name a few. As an interdisciplinary student in training, I am interested in the ‘wholeness’ of the experience, that it envelopes you by harnessing your 5 senses. I like how we are not restricted to a single medium, and by borrowing bits and snippets of different mediums, we are able to bring the best across to the audience. I am interested in mostly interactive installations, for the reason aforementioned earlier. Interactive installations provide a strong statement point, and perhaps, by incorporating little bits from other mediums, are able to make audiences better relate to the work.

One of the most beautiful installations I have chanced upon in my research earlier was Yayao Kusama’s Infinity Mirror room. It’s aesthetically pleasing, and a fresh take from Kusama’s huge, somewhat overwhelming (personal interpretation on it), polka dots.

Assignment 3: I am Samuel Johnson

Sorry for the late post! Had issues with making the image follow the pface properly – image kept expanding, with its right x and y axis staying at (0,0).

I am emulating Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), an english writer who made significant contributions to english literature.

Figure 1: Samuel Johnson

This was the patch that I used:

Documentation:

Assignment 1: Mirror

Video lags a little, as Quicktime was recording it at the same time. Usually there will be no visible lag. Hence, to offset this lag, I sped up the video.

Figure 1: My Mirror Patch

Process:

Webcam input > pfaces recognition > light sensor > output video

I wanted to tweak the patch, such that if a face went too near the screen, a sound will bang out. However, I could not construct the automated response; otherwise, by mouse-clicking on the toggle button, the sound will ring out.

Figure 2: Mirror patch with sound edits

Will try it again if time allows.

Assignment 2: Opto-Isolator ◔_◔

Process:

Webcam tracks face > x and y coordinates of face > link x coordinates to video frame

This patch hit numerous issues, when played on my laptop. The video file couldn’t be read unless in avi format, but placing it in avi format makes max crash. After which I had to use the school’s macs to power up my patch file.