TOUCH : Process Book By Kyle Burke & Kenneth Roposh DX: Kinetic Studio Professor Ku
How did we get here? The short answer is that we made a big circle. Coming into the semester, we knew that we wanted to utilize fabric in a way that could showcase the origins of PhilaU as a textile school. With this in mind, we set out to create an interactive wall that could capture the personality of people within a space. Along the course of the semester, this idea changed, morphed, but eventually was realized in our final iteration.
what about this touchy feely stuff? The wall was envisioned to capture the character of a space from the action of the users. The wall would not only provide simultaneous feedback to the user, but ultimately capture multiple interactions and display them as a digital imprint of interaction within the space.
Inspiring words about place from dan “Place is grouping in people’s minds of events and objects with a physical space. If I spent time with my grandfather by a tree in a forest then that tree and the rock I sat on marks a space that I hold significant which is not significant to others. A place is used for orientation and organizing one’s life geographically. I use markers geographically to identify where I am, I reference objects in my environment with what I know about them and my experience to predict what the characteristics of that new environment might be. I use my places to remember my life and to reconstruct my identity. Without people there are not places.” Dan Silberman
voronoi explorations The idea was explored of interconnected openings that could be altered by the user. Whenever these elastic openings were stretched by the users, the resulting stretch forces would be conveyed in the form of data, and also used in the visualization.
Shocking discoveries Our original conceptions included using electromagnets to create flow within the fabric. However, we eventually realized that the amount of power to create such an effect would lead to one of us horribly electrocuting ourselves. Thus, the plan was scraped but the idea remained. Another aspect of the initial plan that changed was using a Kinect to gather the information that would be relayed to the screen. In terms of actuation, we investigated using muscle wire in order to achieve silent motion, but then found difficulty in implanting them within the fabric. In the end, we chose to use an array of simple sensory inputs to resolve a complex issue.
Stretch sensor math (part 1) Once the stretch sensors were established as the best possible solution for our problem, the project became coding intensive. We established three different schemes to try and resolve the incoming data into a quantifiable movement on screen. The first scheme used ratios between the sensors to establish which one was being pulled the hardest. However, this didn’t solve the issue of quantifying where exactly the pressure was coming from, and the readings were incredibly sensitive.
Sensor A
Sensor C
Sensor B
A>C>B>D
B>D>a>C
C>A>D>B
D>B>C>A
Sensor D
Stretch sensor math (part 2) The second scheme was to teach the screen what sensor readings would equate to which region of the screen. While this ultimately may have worked, like the first plan, it didn’t resolve the issue of creating flowing movement across the screen.
Stretch sensor math (part 3) The final, and ultimately successful iteration places an ellipse in the center of the screen. From the center, angular measurements were made to each sensor. The code works by first averaging the incoming static readings of each sensor, and then setting that reading to zero. Then all the readings are run through a force vector equation to resolve where the ellipse will be pulled to. The process of fine tuning the force vector equation took the longest amount of time, and was an ongoing process for four weeks. However, the final result is a smooth movement that follows your hands trace across the screen.
Display Output
Tactile Screen Input
Installation
Tactile Screen
Sensors
Frame
Wall Mounts
Axo
got a light? The lights behind the screen were just as tricky to program as the sensors themselves. Eventually, the code solves the problem in a simple and elegant way. The code has 2 arrays that store the X and Y positions of where each light is in digital space. The code individually checks the location of each light against the distance of the force vector ellipse. If the distance is less than the search radius, the light is turned on, and if not, the light is turned off.
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The versatility in the touch installation is the ability to quickly interchange inexpensive fabric screens. The screens could be screen printed by graphic design majors to create either a constantly rotating array of designs, or multiple displays that can be as different and personalized as the buildings within which they are installed.
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not bad for a colorblind guy
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too old for a science fair? As part of the course, we showed our project during the Philadelphia Science Festival. It provided a unique opportunity to interact with the public, and find out how many 10 year olds know more about Arduino than us (a lot).
Kyle Burke Kenneth Roposh Professor Ku Design 10: Kinetic Studio (Kudio) May 11, 2014
kburke342@gmail.com kennethroposh@gmail.com