Alex Klinger's Physical Computing Blog @fractalphysicalcomputing - Tumblr Blog

Skirt design with Emily Daub

First test of a solar tracking sculpture I helped a local artist build for CU Boulder’s Space Month.

Sound Reactive Top

Collaboration with Sabina Hayutin

#physical computing #wearable tech #tech #design #fashion

Project 3 first iteration. At this point the podium would blink randomly for loud volume spikes.

Project 2 first iteration

For my second project I wanted to create an art installation with a first generation Xbox Kinect that I got for free from a friend who (like many in the gaming community) hated the Kinect. Getting the first generation Kinect was nice because it was free, but it didn't have a standard USB because Microsoft originally launched the Kinect with no intention of letting people program them. After the Kinect was hacked within 48 hours, Microsoft decided to sell a kit that would allow the Kinect to fit into a standard USB port with a power adapter. Because I'm a poor college student, and I don't want to give Microsoft 40 dollars, I used and old phone's USB cable and and old 12v power adapter I found in the lab "hack me" power cables drawer. With some help from this tutorial I made the Kinect programmable with Processing for free.

alexklinger

Late night Kinect programming.

Enclosures

The second project required the addition of an enclosure for all of the electrical components. I'll be using a frosted acrylic podium to house LEDs that react to sound. I wont really be creating an enclosure, but using a found object as one. Enclosures are needed to keep components from falling apart. I know from my first project, that without an enclosure or soldering down wires, functionality can be quite unstable. Hopefully project two will be a completely self-contained piece that I can bring to venues when I perform.

Sewing for the second time ever, with lilypad.

It worked! Although not without some pressure on the battery holder.

Switches

1. Button Switch

2. Sunglasses switch

The button switch didn't really work without putting some pressure on the battery holder, but the sunglasses worked marvelously.

Project 1 - Piezo to Midi

Piezo to MIDI - Successes and Shortfalls, also code.

Positives: Although things weren't quite working properly during my demo to the class, shortly after everyone left, I got my sampler to play different notes for different velocities of knocking.

Shortfalls: I built this project as a first step in build my own interactive midi controller somewhere down the line. Because I was just trying to get me feet wet with the possibility of sending midi data based on knocks, I didn't really consider the general user base, or the interaction. In the future, I will keep in mind how those other than myself will interact with my projects.

Check out the next post for a video of it in action.

Project 1 First Iteration

For my first iteration of the project, I just wanted to see if I could get the piezo to read different values in the serial monitor. This was the necessary first step to being able to use those values to send midi data.

Project 1 Sketches

This is my conceptual sketch for our first project. I intend to send midi data with a piezo element. This is inspired by a childhood love I had for making drum patterns on my desk at school. I intend to set the piezo's sensitivity so that harder knocks create a kick drum sound, and knocks with a lower threshold send a midi note connected to a snare. I'll send the midi data, to a roland sp-555, a hardware sequencer/sampler.

Three potential Interactions for a button and an LED

1. The button could turn off and on the LED.

2. The button change the color on an RGB LED.

3. The button could act as a switch to toggle the LED.

BareMinimum, Blink, DigitalReadSerial, Fade, Blink (digital), Without Delay

Bare Minimum