Augmented Object

Introduction

Objects have the capacity to carry meaning in many ways. One of them is through simple actions we take with them. Everyday actions that we ordinarily would not pay attention to (e.g., switching a light on/off a, picking up a book, etc) can be turned into something meaningful by “intervening” in the moment.

This assignment has two overall goals: (1) is to show that you can make a simple interactive system with physical controls that is engaging and enjoyable to experience (more specifically, your objective is to create interesting behavior in order to achieve that engagement), (2) to investigate capacity of familiar objects and actions to convey meanings, invent new meanings and deliver novel, unexpected experiences.

Project Theme

The theme of this assignment will be “Augmented Objects”. The challenge for you is to augment a device, artifact, or other simple object so that it responds in a novel and unexpected way to specific sequences or combinations of actions. For example picking up a coffee cup might trigger sound or video such as the morning news and weather. An augmented rose might recite love poems when touched. An augmented table may respond by displaying more violent or erratic images the harder it is hit.

For this assignment use everyday objects that you may find in your own house/apartment/dorm. The idea is to use familiar objects and cast them in a new light. Simple and mundane objects such as pencils, coffee mugs or toothbrushes with no apparent significance — other than what you ascribe to them — are good places to start. Take these objects and augment or “activate” them. Use them as unconventional interfaces for the creation of novel and interesting media events such as light patterns, image collages, text, sounds, narrative events or anything else you might want to explore. You can use any combination of physical actions. Be creative here, and keep in mind that simple every action can yield interesting variety and convey multiple levels of meaning. For example, picking up and setting down an object (functionally a switch) a specific number of times and/or in specific locations can trigger text or images related to the object (e.g. an old toy can trigger images of childhood) and can create a novel embodied experience that cannot be achieved by simply pressing a button on a keyboard or game controller. Be creative with how you implement these combinations too. For example, the responses may change slightly every time you repeat an action, or are dependent on your distance from the object. Experimentation is key to achieve the behavior and experience you want. Also keep in mind that there is no need to be rational about your thematic linkages, just make sure you explain your rationale in your project report. You will be evaluated not only on the technical operations (e.g. it works) but also on the creativity and novelty of your objects/interfaces. Use at least two objects.

Make sure you document your process well and explain your goals in your project report

Make sure to follow the Assignment Reporting Requirements & Deliverables as outlined in the Syllabus.

From a technical perspective, this project should demonstrate the following skills:

Basic Arduino programming
Digital and analog input into an Arduino
Sensors
Serial communication

Ideas for Formulating Your Project

For the sake of experimentation, start off by choosing 2-3 disparate objects and brainstorm ways to connect them thematically with actions. Challenge yourselves in the choices of objects and actions as well as in the links you make among them. You will find that relationships exists in unlikely and unexpected places, and among apparently unrelated things. Choose one of these object/action combinations

After you have your object and action(s) have established some thematic links between it, think of some way to use the context of physical computing to explore those ideas.
What do you want to sense? Remember you are not restricted to formal sensors. With some ingenuity you can convert just about any actions in the world into electronic signals – motion, moving or manipulating objects, sequences of actions….Remember anything that can be converted to making or breaking continuity can be seen as a switch.
Actions – What do you want to activate? Lights, sound, actions of objects…. Remember you are not restricted to formal electronic objects. For example, lights can illuminate words or images on translucent sheets, the sounds you activate and their relative position can carry cultural, historical, personal meanings.
Connections – How do you want to link the sensors and the actions. You would need to program the Arduino to enact those ideas. Explore timing and sequence (e.g. maybe an action in the physical world has to occur immediately after or before another action for the system to respond)

Here a few suggestions for interesting projects:

A pillow that tells you bedtime stories when you lay your head down on it (a force sensing resistor can work here)
A coffee mug that tells stories of coffee farmers when you drink from it
A glove that converts hand gestures to text and/or images
A glass of water (perhaps with ice) that when picked up displays data on lead levels in drinking water from different communities across the country when one drinks from it (if you attach photocells to the glass, different data can be displayed randomly as the ice cubes in the glass diffract light
The rose interface mentioned above

You should refer to the guidelines for project ideation.

References

Slow Dimming Study: Distance Makes Your Heart Grow Fonder (Yeseul Song)

Akousmaflore: Sensitive and interactive musical plants (Grégory Lasserre & Anaïs met den Ancxt)

Remember to document everything on your blog

Assignment submission is through myCourses.