Interface & Interaction Design

I stumbled upon this website and am blown away with how thoroughly they cover this section on Interface and Interaction Design. It's free, you just have to sign up for an account. Check it out.  This section is written by Martin Charlier.

https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/interface-and-interaction-design


Trumpet Adapter Redesign - King Cleveland 600 Trumpet

I designed the first iteration of the King Cleveland 600 Trumpet adapter. I took the files from the Bach student trumpet and slightly modified the height and location of the holes for the tubes to extend out, based on a couple photos that were sent to me from a family that is interested in an adapter for their son. I'm going to send a test print to the family to see how it fits on the trumpet, and then make any necessary revisions.



Bach on left, King Cleveland on right. 
UPDATE 11/14

Pictures on the King Cleveland 600 Trumpet




IMA - Midterm Progress

For my midterm project in Interactive and Multimedia Art, I am creating a projection that will respond to amplitude. It was my hope that this would encourage use of speech, and inspire people to engage in conversation with others around them. So far, my patch is working really well when you blow into the microphone array on my Surface (see at the end of video below), but when you speak and blow into the USB microphone the results are much more subtle (beginning of the video with hello). 

I am acknowledging that the imagery does not directly connect to my other work's way of creating awareness in the viewer, but I do see a direct correlation between the change of the video and voice/breath - a positive correlation. I just don't know how to make it relate more to technology in same why my other work, iAm is. I have thought about having the video imagery be faces, that are reacting to conversation... Maybe that would work better and relate more to human - human interaction. 

IMA - Jit scissors & glue experiments

I want to use video for my midterm project in Interactive and Multimedia art, but I'm still undecided about what video. For some reason, this is a really hard decision for me. I usually don't make art with a lot of realistic imagery, so that's probably why.... These plants are neat.


iAm - sockets

I turned a faux phone jack on Friday. I was reminded of my like for the lathe - it's such a "zen-process," being able to watch something spin at a moderate pace and slowly remove material to get the exact diameter you're looking for. I added heat shrink tubing to resemble the black parts on the original. The sample is definitely getting closer, but still needs more refinement. I'll do another one in a couple days. 
















Guitars for Vets - Finished

Broc and I finished our collaboration project for the Guitars for Vets event this past week. We used a some of the back of the guitar to create a tiled pattern of triangles that were laser cut, and used some of the front of the guitar. It kind of looks like fire? I'm not really sure what we were going for exactly, but it's great (!), right? Well, we donated it and hopefully it sold and earned some money for the cause. 






It dried eventually. 

Sheila Ring - Finished - it's about time!

So, I finally finished up the ring to bracelet redesign. I am super happy with how the whole process turned went - from designing my first 3D modeled ring, to using a casting service and then post-processing myself. I definitely would get other objects cast in silver through Shapeways. While the cost was only $50.00 to get the design cast in silver, I did spend a considerable amount of time designing, cleaning up the ring, finishing, and setting the stone... so if I had to price out the piece for production, I would probably need to sell this particular ring design starting at around $175.00 to make a profit.  $50.00 for casting, 3 hours for post-processing labor per ring @ $20.00/hr and packaging, plus %60 mark up for profit, with design hours being paid for after the first 2 sales. Compared to a company like Skydog, price is right on par... And their paying rent in LA, which means their jewelry is a steal - GO SHOP NOW!














IMA - Mouse Tracking - Interactive & Generative

A couple weeks ago, I made this "Drawing Bot" for Interactive and Multimedia Art. I was feeling in the mood to make a video of it. Take a watch if you'd like.
I wanted this project to have an uncontrollable erasing component, so I programmed a bunch of metro objects with random numbers to draw partial circles over more circles to act as an eraser. I also wanted the shapes of the mouse drawing to change, so I made all the LCD's have different marks and colors. It's cool and fun for a sec.. kind of like Smash Mouth.

IMA - Signal Processing Exploration

Last week, for my "stupid pet trick" assignment, I created this max patch that progresses a video based on amplitude. You can see via the meter object towards the top of the video the program measures the audio from the microphone and then based on the measurement progresses the frames in the video; it rewards you for making noise/talking/or listening to my favorite, Andrew Bird.

I am interested in refining this patch a little more, creating a more dynamic video, and perhaps installing it in a room with a projector. I can see it has the potential to relate to my current studio practice... Inputs and outputs with lots of possibility.

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Here is some writing I had done about the project when I was brainstorming the idea: 
Brief Summary:     I plan to use audio input and video output. A microphone will sense the amplitude of a room, and based on that measurement a projected image’s hue will gradually shift in tone, through value/contrast, in real-time.
Statement: In my current body of work I have been exploring, through various media, the relationship between individuals and technology. Through this installation (stupid pet trick), I hope to encourage face-to-face interactions (conversations) to occur by rewarding the viewer with a dynamic visual, that changes based on the level of noise occurring in a space. I imagine this piece functioning like an ambient intelligent system, seamlessly integrated into the architecture of whatever space it is installed. Through a sensor (microphone), the projected image in the environment will respond to the human action and behavior of shuffling through space, commenting, taking phone calls, vocally interacting with others, etc. The reward will reach its greatest potential when space reaches the largest volume. I am still working through exactly what the visual will be currently.  

iAm - samples - installed

I've been working on sketching a new idea... Thinking about how to make arrangements to increase body awareness in the viewer. I am working with proximity, sensory deprivation, and the possibility of being near other people, to increase awareness in how we interact with objects and other people in our everyday life. The samples were designed in rhino, 3d printed, some were spray painted to mimic a final finish, mounted on the wall, and each given a pair of ear plugs.  






iAm - samples

I've been working on some sample pieces for a project involving a wall-mounted dome shape. The mechanism I designed was inspired by an artwork I had the opportunity to install for an alumni show I helped organize over the summer by Lucy Derickson. I really liked how it seamlessly allowed the work to hand directly on the wall... Making the mechanism unnoticeable. Not sure if it's the right solution for this piece, but it was fun to make... More pictures to come.








Compact Progress - Hinge Wires

So, I did it... I cut through the hinge. It doesn't look too bad! I'd like to think I knew this would work all along, but... Well you know I didn't mean to save this for the end.

Once I finish cleaning up the tubes, I think I'll solder together the magnet holders and start getting those inset into the opening and file out a little fingernail grip.

All is good.




I marked with a sharpie the part that is "unseen" when you move the compact hinge, in hopes to conceal the hole for the cords. 

I used a ball bur to "center punch" where I'd be drilling. 









The hole shows just slightly... not sure if I should square this out, or leave it rounded... thinking on it for a bit. 


Tom Burtonwood - Photogrammetry Workshop

Last week Tom Burtonwood visited UWM... He did a workshop on photogrammetry. I had done 3D scanning in the past with a Sense and a Next Engine, but I had never tried using a camera and Autodesk's recap360. Tom demonstrated a scan using Nathaniel as the model. I tried scanning a bike with Fred and Scott... My scan didn't turn out so good, but from what I can tell, it's because all of the surrounding elements were too neutral. Tom mentioned needing lots of "stuff" in the background that is changing, i.e. patterns, people, movement etc. so that the program has an easier determining which content is important and which isn't. 
We also learned how to use NetFabb to edit our scans once they were generated. I was already familiar with NetFabb from Frankie's class, but it was still helpful to hear another approach to the software.