kyle. historillo.

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WELCOME TO MY PORTFOLIO!

I'm Kyle Historillo. Throughout the semester, I've been tinkering around with Unity and the theoretical foundations of Immersive Environments in IAT 445 - a course that teaches, well, Immersive Environments. By exploring the tabs on the left, you can see how I've progressed throughout the semester, ultimately culminating the final project video that you see below. Enjoy!

"New Eden" - IAT 445 FINAL PROJECT

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Fall Out Boy Song Review and Music Video Exclusive (Light Em Up) (by Casey Ford Alexander)

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IAT 320 BLOG - NOVEMBER 19, 2012 (WEEK 11)

So here's our current idea for our Final Sketch Project. It's a preliminary description of what we intend to accomplish and how we intend to accomplish it. 

Project Title: “Literary Soundscape”

  Team: Kyle Historillo, Scott Inglis, Joy Hao, and Yen Lin

    “Literary Soundscape” is an interactive system wherein sounds are dynamically generated to coincide with a participant’s reading of a selection of poetry. The use of imagery within the selected poem coupled with the participant’s reading speed will trigger different sounds and will increase in frequency, respectively.

  The central concept that inspired the project was based on a commentary that we wished to voice on the consumption of media content and the degeneration of content creation. We decided to focus on digital media – which include but are not limited to video games, movies, LCD-based devices – and how the current generation is essentially given full access to consume content in varying quantities and frequencies. Consequently, the focus on content consumption is seemingly devaluing or limiting the exercise of individual creativity. An example appears in the domain of motion pictures as a film serves to create and immerse the reader into story world that is completely fabricated by the film’s production team. This unilateral communication leaves very little to the viewer’s imagination, thus causing the viewer to suspend their disbelief and “consume” the media. Thus, “Literary Soundscape,” aims to rekindle the use of individual imagination by developing an interactive book that creates a soundscape based on the individual’s reading and engagement with a given piece of poetry.

  In regards to the experiential quality of our design, we decided that we wanted the individual to become sonically immersed in a world that he/she helped to create. We intend to make the individual aware that their investment in reading the poem is directly related the immersion within this user-created soundscape.  In this sense, “Literary Soundscape” is reminiscent of Merleau-Ponty’s notion of a “lived body” in which the body is defined and redefined by its relationship with the surrounding world. Here, it creates a circulation or feedback loop between the reader and the system – the reader goes through the poem resulting in generative sound, which in turn increases immersion and reading engagement until the reader is completely immersed in a sonic landscape where the body becomes a part of the system and vice versa.  It is through this exchange that we aim to create an immersive experience where the reader becomes aware – or rather, is reminded – of their imagination and how it affects how we interact and perceive the surrounding world. ­­­­­­­

  The system, itself, will be made up of a couple pieces of cardboard, an Arduino board, a selection of analog sensors, and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. We plan to place our selection of sensors and wiring in between the two pieces of cardboard so as not to distract from the physicality of picking up and reading a book. A light sensor will be placed in the spine of the book to measure whether it is being place on a flat surface or whether it is being picked up by the reader. These light sensor measurements will act as a representation of how engaged the reader is in the book’s soundscape. To supplement these measurements, we plan to couple them with reading speed measurements which will be acquired through the possible use of force sensors in each quadrant of the book, effectively acting as time checkpoints.  

  We will also be choosing a fairly long poem that makes use of strong imagery. The poem’s use of imagery will dictate what sounds we will be integrating into the system and will lead our research on generative sound libraries. The poem itself will be printed on the specialized pages of our interactive book. The pages will make use of soft switches in the form of aluminium foil, so that we are able to detect which pages are open and by extension, which sound libraries we will make use of. Lastly, we are planning to use a microphone and a high pass filter to detect the use of bookend consonants, which will in turn, generate a sound that corresponds with a given word in the poem.

Currently we are trying to determine which sensors would be most appropriate for measuring reading speed. We have thought of placing force sensors in quadrants of the page so that they may act as time markers/checkpoints to determine reading speed, but other possibilities are still being explored. As for the generative sound libraries, we are currently looking into the Austrian composer, Karlheinz Essl, who specializes on computer generated, algorithmic compositions and generative music. He offers a couple generative sound libraries, like fLOW and the Real Time Composition Library, which we may be able to integrate into our system. However, the sounds are quite abstract in the sense that they may not translate or be associated with the words of our chosen poem. Since we are trying to immerse the reader in a soundscape, we may need to rely on easily transferable sounds like the chirping of birds or the whistling of the breeze so that we facilitate word-sound association. 

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IAT 320 BLOG - NOVEMBER 10, 2012 (WEEK 10)

So having come off the heels of Sketch 2, I think, as a group, we are finally understanding that we should be focusing on how to create an experience as opposed to having multiple functionalities that we think make an experience. 

With that said, we have done some surface level research as to where we want to go for the final project. Taken what we have discussed with Greg, we seem to be interested in the idea of Perception and Merleau-Ponty's theories on the subject. Currently, we are thinking about how people perceive colours differently in different cultures. For example, in the linked video, the featured tribe was unable to distinguish between green and blue, but were able to distinguish between seemingly similar greens. This is theorized to be caused in how they associate words with colours, and how they had a limited number of words to classify particular colours.

Another idea deals with mirror neurons and how an observer's neurons would fire in a near exact way when simply observing a person lifting a mug. The neurons to control very minute muscle movements is an interesting concept that directly relates to embodiment as shown in the linked video of the rubber hand illusion. Here the brain is conditioned to believe that the rubber hand is part of the person's body. The rubber hand is then hit with a hammer, and the participant experiences the "sensation" of pain, or rather the feeling of empathy for a perceived pain. It's definitely a route that I'm personally interested in and will research further.

Other ideas include how people construct memory, gathering knowledge from observation (i.e. infancy), and neuro-plasticity.

How we can frame these ideas into embodiment is the next logical step. 

As for the reading, I was very intrigued how Coelho and Maes developed this soft interface that utilized a hybrid of sensor and actuator. The interface as a whole still retains the very electronic-controlled actuation, whilst keeping it under the guise of an aesthetically soft, tactile medium. I feel that it's implications for emotive clothing is particularly interesting as the electric conductivity of our skin could be used to control whether the strands stand up or fall down. It combines this emotive tactility with a very biologically and extroverted means of expression that not only affects the wearer, but also those around the wearer. Overall, a very versatile means of interactivity without the trouble of coupling sensors and actuators (especially the overuse of LEDs).

End of blog week 10. 

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IAT 320 BLOG - NOVEMBER 5, 2012 (WEEK 9)

Alright so our team has just finished Sketch 2. 

As stated from the previous blog, we had the initial idea to have our project based on  Pagan traditions, utilizing dancing and environmental conditions as factors that we can measure. 

However, upon our meetings with Greg, we were told that the project sounded more like a choreographical one, as opposed to an exploration between the spirit and the body. Thus, we decided to take a new approach and explore the idea of the mask itself, in a psychological/human nature approach. We wanted to base our project on a mask that exaggerated human nature/emotion as opposed to hiding it. 

We aimed to do this by utilizing a temp/humidity sensor as a means to determine the breathing rate. Depending on this rate, one of three thresholds would be activated which would cause an emotive LED configuration to turn on. In this case, the LEDs would be around the eyes to express this exaggerated emotivity. 

However, due to missteps in the code, particularly regarding the delay function (set to 1000 ms as opposed to something more frequent), we were unable to get a representative value of inhalation, exhalation, and timing in between.

Thus, we made altered the design so that we would replicate the breathing rate via a slide sensor for demo purposes. Though not ideal, we hope that it got the point across of using subtle and hidden body motions, specifically breathing. 

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IAT 320 BLOG - OCTOBER 25, 2012 (WEEK 8)

This blog will discuss my thoughts on this weeks reading and some ideas our group came up with for Sketch 2 and its future plans.

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READING ASSIGNMENT 3 ANALYSIS

I found that Leah Buechley's e-Textile Construction Kit is quite an interesting step in the future of embedded, wearable technology. As it stands, we have big dreams in incorporating technology in all aspects of our life. The field of science fiction foretells of clothing that allows us to communicate with other nearby people or allowing to change colour based on environmental factors. In many cases, people are making strides in making this a reality. In a world where most wearable technology acts as an external, bulky technology, Buechley believes that the field of embedded, wearable technology is the next step in non-intrusive, functional  technology. The kit itself appears to act as a catalyst for the next generation, with the goal of generating a gender balance within its field by focusing on the wearable, as opposed to technical, aspects of embedded technology.

I feel that their user studies are quite surprising as they are attracting more females than males, however, their sample size could be larger to provide more concrete findings. Nevertheless, the future of e-Textiles may soon be a distinguished and valuable field in the coming generation of engineers and designers.

SKETCH 2 IDEAS AND PLANS

So during the brainstorming process of the soft switch assignment, we wanted to create something that was utilized a mask as the body interface. Since it is also close to Halloween, we decided to relate it to Halloween's origins. In this case, we related it to Paganism and their rituals. 

Pagans celebrated Halloween as the end/beginning of a new year, where the spirits of the dead could be freed from their graves and from the body of animals. They would create bonfires and would dance in celebration of this day of death and resurrection. 

Thus, we are planning to create a mask/costume that would react to the user's body movements and environment. Since the theme of the project is "Wearing Nature," we have interpreted that as wearing our spiritual nature as human beings, and its relationship with the world.

The project will utilize a Lilypad (or two) that will be attached to the back of the mask. The mask itself will be made of a basic plastic mask, and we will paper mache the facial structure of a bull to represent the wearing of nature (both animal and spiritual). A light sensor will be sewn to the top of the mask. 5 LEDs per eye will be sewn across the mask's side and be placed around the eye holes. We may use an accelerometer but it is still being considered. 

The light sensor will detect if the light in it's environment meets a certain threshold. If it is within the threshold, let's say very little light, the LEDs around the eye will become brighter and blink. If there is a lot of light, then the LEDs would be turned off. This helps to embody the spirit of the celebration, wearing nature and the spiritual/physical environment. 

We will be meeting up very soon to discuss further details. 

END OF BLOG.

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IAT 320 BLOG - OCTOBER 21, 2012 (WEEK 7)

Alright, so we finished up the in-class assignment that utilized the soft switch this past Friday, and it was pretty successful.

We designed a bag that made use of two LEDs that would blink at a constant rate, and would blink 10 times faster if the soft switch was pressed. The bag itself was made of three compartments: a small front pocket, a medium middle pocket, and a large back pocket. We decided to place the battery in the small pocket and cut a hole for the wire to connect to the Arduino that would be located in the middle pocket. Scott simplified the wiring to make use of only 3 wires and a resistor and used tape to secure the wires. These wires were then attached to conductive thread which would be sewn to the middle pocket flap (where the LEDs were placed) and to the top of the bag in the back pocket. The wires in the back pocket would then be sewn along the bag strap till it reached shoulder length. That is where we place the soft switch.

The Arduino code utilized the basic "Blink code" with the additions of if/else statements to have default blinking and fast blinking if the switch was pressed.

The bag/Arduino project itself offers no practical purpose, but we thought of some ideas that would make it better. For example, lacing the zipper with conductive wire, so that it blinks fast if the bag is opened, and blinks slower if it is closed; the bag then acquires some security. But perhaps that will be an idea that will be used in the final project. 

End of Blog.

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IAT 320 BLOG - OCTOBER 12, 2012 - WEEK 5-6

Well we're finally completed Sketch 1. It was quite a long road as we were not fond of the visual programming  of MAX MSP. So here's a blogpost that covers the process from last blog to completion.

We first had to figure out how to track a particular color, so we decided that we needed to have a range for each RGB channel. Then we continued multiplying by 0.5 and logically added, until we got a blob of the certain colour. Calibrating the channels was difficult given that the lighting in the house was not optimal for colour detection (multiple light sources and thus discolouration). However, once this was remedied, we used centroids to find the blob's centerpoint and we chose to replace the blob with a uniform circle to allow for better detection. 

At this point, we could move the circle/avatar by simply moving our object/ball across the webcam. However, the x axis was mirrored, and caused physical translations to the left, turn into digital translations to the right. Thus, we utilized dimension mirroring in the webcam initialization module. 

Then we made an obstacle module that would create rectangles that would appear on the right side of the screen, at a random height, and would move till it was off-screen on the left. At this point, another rectangle would be create, and would cycle. We took the output of this and the blob LCD, and multiplied both by 0.5 then filtered the pixels that were greater than 0.8. Thus, overlap functioned and allowed us to change the colour of the avatar if collision ever happened. 

Unfortunately, before successfully implementing these rules we questioned why centroids couldn't detect the overlap LCD. We believed that centroids couldn't work on LCDs, but the case was much simpler. We had forgotten to change the blob values through the luma function and thus we were trying to compare RGB values with greyscale obstacles. It was no wonder that centroids didn't work. Once that was remedied the sketch came to form. 

Lastly, we included the quality of motion - in this case, it was whether the object glided slowly or suddenly. We learned from the posted code that was available on webCT and generated a threshold speed of ~20. Again, if the threshold was met, the avatar would turn red until the current obstacle had passed.

I found that the project, on a whole, as a very valuable learning experience as I feel much more comfortable with MAX now, and I truly felt a feeling of "here-body" embodiment when we got colour and blob tracking to work properly.

Now we just need to present and then we can move to Sketch 2!

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IAT 320 BLOG - OCTOBER 1, 2012 - WEEK 4

So for our idea for Sketch 1, we took inspiration from the popular flash game, Helicopter. We decided to make the sketch game-based so as to provide the user a challenge and hopefully incite full body movement. 

As for the idea, we decided to track the colour of a ball, that we will provide, and hand it to the user to hold. The patch will track that object and map it onto the screen. It will be the responsibility of the user to utilize the ball (by moving it on X/Y planes, throwing it up, moving it gently) so as to dodge the obstacles that come in its way. In this sense, the ball will act as a metaphorical egg where the user's speed of movement, gentleness/rapidness, and ability to dodge will determine whether the egg is safe or dead. We will have to test which colour to track so people's clothing won't affect the tracking. We are thinking of a neon colour, like bright green, perhaps a tennis ball (or an oversized one at that). 

Thus far, we have set our idea in proverbial stone, and we are currently getting the colour tracking components to work, and we are trying to get a randomization of obstacles to function properly.

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IAT 320 BLOG - SEPTEMBER 23, 2012 - WEEK 3

BLOG POST WEEK 3 (SEPTEMBER 23, 2012)

The readings this week had to do with computer vision and its applications in the interactive design field. Golan Levin makes quite a convincing case that any amateur programmer can wield the tools (Max, Director, or Processing) and utilize algorithms to make a computer make meaning of the pixels in a digital image or video. I felt that the computer vision techniques were very intuitive and I felt that Levin clearly explained how they worked without going into their complexities. What I found particularly interesting was how detecting a presence worked. It functions by locating the brightest pixel in every frame, adjusting its tracking point if a brighter pixel appears in succeeding frames. Thus, I wonder how that would work with multiple tracking points. Would one have to change the code so that it creates a hierarchy of the five brightest pixels? If this is possible, then would you only be limited by the number of video pixels, meaning a large number of tracking points? I feel that this would allow for a large range of interactive installations with multiple participants. However, I feel that the detection would be ineffective if the tracking points blocked each other when a participant goes behind someone else, or perhaps the two tracking points come in contact and appear as one point. Thus, I’m entirely convinced that a combination of all these computer vision would be necessary to create a system that is robust and would be less prone to user error. I also found the Contact, Overlap, and Reflection interactions were quite interesting because I haven’t actually thought about how that interaction worked, and I found that there mechanics are based on basic collision detection which is quite simple to code.

As for the work that I’m doing right now, I’m working on the lab exercises and trying to familiarize myself with MAX MSP. Whenever I get into a different programming environment, it takes a while for me to orient myself with the syntax, which in turn clouds my way of thinking logically. I’m too busy thinking about how I do things, that I cannot clear think of how the patch is supposed to work. So I’m going to be creating a patch that utilizes computer vision to react to the qualities of my movement. That is what I’ll be working on from Tuesday to Wednesday.

As for the team project, I think I’ve found a team, which would make us a group of three.  

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IAT 320 BLOG - SEPTEMBER 20, 2012 - WEEK 2

by Kyle Historillo 

Today I finished my first reading assignment of the course. The required readings brought to light the varying theories on the relationship between mind and body. In one view, the mind and the body are completely separate - where the body receives stimuli while the mind interprets it and makes meaning of it. This portrays the body as a machine and the mind as the driver. Another view suggests that the mind cannot truly know or be conscious of itself if the body does not interact with its environment. It is this idea that the interaction between the body and the environment is the only to truly experience the world and be conscious that one is in it. The articles definitely extend the discussion posed by Descartes and his mind-body dualism concept. I found it especially interesting when Kenya Hara discussed that the senses are constantly overlapping and informing one another. This informing of senses, I feel really justifies that we do function using a cross-modal sensory system, as opposed to a multi-modal. However, to be honest, the concepts are quite theoretical and it is a bit difficult to wrap my head around such large concepts. But I'm sure as the course goes on, I will establish a good grasp of this idea of embodiment. 

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IAT 343 – Draft Script (September 20, 2012)

In a suburban neighbourhood, we see a little boy playing in his front yard with a toy plane. He circles the plane round and round until he falls on his back. He stares up into the sky, making sound effects as he makes his toy plane fly across the sky. He then shifts focus from his plane to some birds on a tree branch. He watches in awe as the birds glide through the air. The boy is in complete wonder, and then he flaps his arms in an attempt to fly. He is disappointed when he can’t. He looks around, saddened, then sees the garage door open and spots some pieces of junk that he can use to create a flying machine.

We see him start to create something. A little time passes, then we see a shoddy mechanism. Goes to climb the tree, and then makes an attempt at flight. He fails, and falls to the ground. He then notices other things around him that fly (birds, planes, butterflies), and he tries again multiple times, getting more and more frustrated. He goes back into the garage, rummages through all his dads tools and uses his power tools to create a modified flying machine. He adds a balloon to his back for good measure. He makes one more attempt at flight. Tension rises. He squints and focuses on the jump. Jump. Cue slow-mo. He begins to glide through the air and notices that the birds are flying along with him. Music comes to a climax. He is unbelievable happy in this short, but prolonged moment. Switch back to real time, cue ambient sound. He is actually slowly falling due to the balloon attached to his back. He makes a soft landing on the grass, then the balloon pops. Cut to end slate.  

The child is a still quite naïve and he finds wonder at every turn. He will wear a t-shirt and shorts, and be quite short. He will be cartoony in nature and thus will have unrealistic proportions. He lives in a suburban neighbourhood, is an only child, has a wild imagination, and gets very determined to accomplish any problem. In his first attempt he will be filled with energy and be quite arrogant, but as he continues to fail, he will be humbled by the gift of flight, and transform into a focused, mature character. His working name is Oli, short for Oliver.

There will be two main environments: the front yard and the inside of the garage. The former will showcase the number of similar houses, typical for a suburban neighbourhood. However, there will be trees scattered around so as to create a place where the character can jump off of. There will be birds in the yard, along with butterflies and scattered toys. The yard itself will appear small, but through the character’s eyes will feel pretty large.  The latter will be filled with the typical things you would find in a garage: power tools, cardboard boxes and other random gadgets and gizmos. It will feel fairly cluttered and will take an industrialized look when the character decides to get serious with his creation.  Both environments will take place around 3 pm under a bright blue sky. There will be stationary cars around, and the character may be the only moving element in the environment. 

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LAB 01 EXERCISE

Link to Reference Image:

Reference Image

APPROACH:

My approach for the nature pattern assignment was based on geometric simplicity.

Thus I searched for images that were made up of simple shapes, such as palm tree

leaves. I split the model into three components: the diagonal stem, the vertical

leaves, and the horizontal leaves. All these were made from cyclinders, whilst 

using the cutface tool and the vertex selection to deal with the curvature of the 

stem and the thin shape of the leaves. Then I utilized duplication on the leaves 

to complete the model. 

Link to lab project files:

Lab 01 Exercise

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Profile Photo!

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FINAL BLOG POST!

I'll start by saying that this paper was quite difficult to write. My topic was determining whether print media would be obsolete. At the start, I believed that this was a broad enough topic in which I could write about a multitude of perspectives. However, when it came to finding resources, I was hard-pressed to find sources that were really relevant to the points that I wanted to argue. Thus, I had to make the decision to conform my arguments to the sources that I deemed were of value. As a result, I ended up writing arguing that print media would continue to persist due to the synergic relationship between analog technologies and the inaccessibility of digital alternatives. 

Regrettably, during the process, I encountered multiple writing blocks where I simply did not know where to start or how I was going to support my arguments with the sources that I have. Due to these setbacks, I was unable to make the deadline for a the research paper draft and consequently missed the opportunity to have my paper reviewed for its structure and logic. So there won't be a draft included in the final submission. Sorry. 

However, as of writing this blog post, I had been writing for the last 6 hours and have written a paper that I am satisfied with given the setbacks I encountered during the process. I made an attempt to include as many relevant sources into my argument, whilst avoiding the overuse of paraphrasing.

In conclusion, I feel that I need to better prepare myself in the research phase and really put more time in finding relevant sources. Additionally, I believe that I should make a habit of making outlines so as to better structure my paper and avoid the overwhelming feeling of getting started.

Kyle Historillo (301119108)

August 2, 2012

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IRC Midterm and Thesis Reflection

Questions to consider are: Where did you start?  How did you deepen your understanding or unpack the ideas? How did your perception of your topic shift and or change? How did you select important points to help construct your thesis statement? 

The topic choosing process was at first divided as I had an invested interest in video games and how they can be beneficial to society. However, I felt like I was treading familiar territory and that I would quickly lose interest in the topic at hand. Ultimately, I ended up exploring the topic of the obsolescence of print media. I felt like this topic was very new to me and would in turn give me motivation to explore the topic further.

In regards to the midterm, I began to read the entire document to mentally prepare for the writing and thinking process. I felt like I had a good grasp of what I wanted to write for each of the questions, but felt like I needed a little more background knowledge to really express my opinion on the topic. So I utilized encyclopedias and general Google searches to prime myself for the write up.

Upon discovering my academic sources, I found that there is much debate over whether print media still has a place in today's society. I initially felt like we were on a trend towards making print media an obsolete technology. But after consulting some of my sources, my point of view on the topic shifted drastically and I began to believe that print media still had a function in society and that print and electronic technologies could work in conjunction. 

With this revelation, I chose to base my thesis on the rejection of the obsolescence of print media, and propose that print and electronic media can work in conjunction. The three points I chose to explore further in support of my thesis were the costs of electronic alternatives, cultural value of print media, and the synergic relationship between print and digital technologies. I chose these three points as I looked at the idea of societal and cultural context, as not everyone can afford an eBook reader or some electronic device to do something that a print medium can do at a much lesser cost. I also looked at the cultural value as I believed that society is still very much materialistic in nature, and would prefer a solid, print object as opposed to an ethereal, digital object.

The midterm on a whole was a very beneficial means of doing preliminary research as it guided my thinking to ask the right questions about my topic and to focus on certain aspects of my topic. I felt like I was able to look at the topic in a variety of ways that would allow me to improve my argument through the exploration of all sides of the issue.

End of blog.

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IAT103W - Reflective Paper

This reflective was particularly hard to do as I began the process without a clear plan. I had created a rough point form plan that was required a couple of weeks ago, however, I was unable to specify which ideas I was going to cite and which artifacts I would include. Due to this lack of planning, I was unable to hand in the assignment on June 14. The entire writing process reminded me of the importance of careful planning, which I intend to carry forward in the final research paper.

As for the reflection itself, I found it made me much more cognoscente of where I need to improve in my communication skills. In general, I found it particularly difficult to find artifacts that were a perfect representation of what I was explaining in the paper. This is most likely due to the fact that many of communication artifacts are hidden in a long, disjointed list in my email. Nevertheless, I felt that the artifacts that I managed to salvage helped to illustrate what I had learned about my communication process.

Thanks.