interaction model

***CLICK FOR INTERACTION MODEL*****This week's assignment: "design a way, using software, to test user interaction with a system(or device)".

This was an interesting challenge for me because of it's direct relevance to pretty much everything that I have been thinking about these days. Specifically about the purpose of the things we make, and how with technological advances in computation power and shifts in materials, we should begin to restructure the process of innovation.

I have been working on developing a social software model that allows for data derived from the interaction of discrete entities through a system, to be cycled back into and restructure the system itself. I plan to use this model as a framework through which to develop my other projects, as a way to build, test and study this concept.

The link above is a visualization of the BASIC framework. I am very interested in figuring out new ways to design, redesign and study basic innovations...clocks (time is an area that interests me to model). The concept of having a goal, with multiple pathways to achieve that goal... keys (determined by human interaction) that unlock parts of a system.

The model here is based on many theoretical premises...

The foundation of innovation is to establish a counterpoint through which people can connect. Discrete entities cannot connect in the absence of a third party intermediary. This intermediary is a system and can take the form of any counterpoint through which humans can connect, language, art, literature, architecture...etc.

discrete entities represent states that undergo nonlinear transformations to a vocabulary specific to a systems through which it communicates. Vocabularies associated to systems are arbitrary representations of internal states, and thus can be accounted for with binary states...boolean algebra, and probabilities derived from this can be evaluated by a system. This is the interaction and data source that will in turn structure the system.

I am tired.

The code here is a basic framework for my concept. I have a lot more documentation on this subject but haven't found the time to put it in a blog yet. I will write more about it soon...

on windows

windows. the first thing that comes to mind is uncertainty. we build walls, but are not so sure of them. not sure that they are supposed to be there. a window is a hesitation. an uncertain commitment to something rigid. an acceptance that our walls are not absolute. dissatisfaction with our tools as incomplete, indefinite, representations of our expression. windows make walls movable. open walls up to, and acknowledge the possibility that walls can always be better. if not at that moment, in that circumstance, some other. the vocabulary of windows exists for a reason, a concession, plea, that walls are indefinite.

earn your pixels

first make them
then use them.

wooden pivot floor clock - clock design for visually impaired

When I first began to think about this assignment, I was immediately drawn to objects with time, naturally embedded in their structure. I thought about watches that we carry with us. Biological processes, hunger, thirst, digestion, outdoor sounds...cycles...water evaporation. Cycle of degradation, change. This timeline exists in all things, but often in a way that is not easy to perceive. (too fast, too slow and unable to sense). You could potentially use the oxidation of a copper roof outside your bedroom window as a clock. But, not to tell time in seconds, instead perhaps in years. People use the sun as a way to denote time for a few good reasons it seems. It changes in a way that is perceivable by our natural, un-augmented senses. And cycles in a way that is close to and thus "sets" our own clocks(24.5 hour cycle to 24 of sun). Almost no confusion there. The sun's presence is everywhere, and can be noted as a parameter that is present in the things we design.


I started thinking about how big a role sunlight plays in living spaces. How our houses are designed to tell the time. but what about people who cannot see light? From here I got the idea of a clock that is a panel sits on a pivot on the floor (hopefully for safety reasons would be subtly and seamlessly embedded in architecture). But the model still works as a floor, desk, wrist, wall... clock. The panel pivots in according to what time it is, and subtly steers you to a location in your house where you should be at that time. (that is how the idea came to be, but it works with out those implementations).

A simple square panel, a pivot (ball) on center underside. On upper surface a raised marker to indicate 12.
8 discrete time positions, (edges and corners...but can use distance between floor and edge as a way to precisely tell the times in between).

You can use your body to tell time (stand on clock and "feel time"). Or you can use a blind walking cane to feel the surface, angle of surface to ground according to pivot.

The pivot rotates according to the time of day.
12:00->top edge is flat on ground.
3:00->right edge is flat on ground.
4:30->bottom-right corner is on ground. (with equal space edges adjacent to corner)
1:10->top-right corner is on ground, but adjacent edge space between ground and wooden surface is less between upper edge than on right edge...

My in class idea used the cycle of wet cloth drying to tell the time. I thought that this was an ok solution, but one for very rigid constraints. Hang a wet cloth in the morning on an elastic rope. At earlier times of day when the cloth is wet, when you prick the elastic, it is a higher note...later, cloth dry, lighter, lower note. Problems: higher learning curve, (even though I like the idea of evolving a relationship with objects), maybe not so precise(needs controlled air, temp conditions), uses two variables...tactile "wetness of cloth" but also sound "prick elastic", to broadcast time,...not so necessary or efficient (unless there are more constraints).

simple communication model - v3 - icm final

CLICK TO WATCH PLAY

Can two humans communicate in the absence of a third party intermediary such as language, art, technology...?
I built this model in order to explore how a reduced system of communication operates. Innovation, a counterpoint for two humans to connect. Project, extend themselves into the world, connect and thus recreate themselves and each other. I want to make things. In order for me to do this, it is important for me to explore the principles behind the way systems operate.

Data derived from simple rules give rise to complex systems.

A structure built with a controlled randomness. Determined by two pixels (can be replaced by two humans), each continuously projecting one of two states (white/black). When both are same, a square is drawn within the system. The system uses the screen size as starting point parameters and then maps onto a cylindrical structure. The starting point parameters are controlled by the probabilistic relationship between two pixels. (simple communication model). Some parameters controlled by this are... square size, location to center axis...(-/+ radius * this dimension), the height of the cylinder is mapped to a sine wave(also controlled by these values), as is the rotation of the structure along the x,y,z axis. Each pixel within the dimension of the screen is reconstructed using this system. The drawing ends when every pixels is reached.

Here are a few screenshots from a piece I just finished. I realize (yesterday my friend Hall pointed this out to me :) ) that in my model of "simple" communication, I ended up with something that is ironically obscure, abstract and difficult to communicate. Nonetheless, it is a process that was helpful for me in understanding a system. And hopefully someone might enjoy one or two of the pictures.


For more about this visualization model, based on reduced, simple communication, see previous entries.

some notes

Turn things inside out. Scatter contents across the floor. and take each piece, one by one, put it back together, build something break it and do it again. My computer died an hour before my last class and a final presentation a few days ago. I am a bit embarrassed to say this but I am really happy. I want to use this as an opportunity to rethink the way I use it as a tool, where and when I need it, and when I don't. Figure out ways to turn computers inside out and sprinkle the things they do throughout the architecture of the physical world. We don't need these big heavy meaningless objects that waste space. search for places to embed and distribute computation. Here are some of my physical models, sketches of concepts behind my projects. I spend a lot more time with these, exploring first, than I do actually writing the code that often is the final result.

Otar

Alive and trapped deep inside each and every one of our computers is a character. A character that we cannot see, hear, feel or touch but is nonetheless present to mediate each and every one of our interactions through computers. This character is named Otar. And we have decided to set him free.

For our intro to physical computing final project this semester, Alex Abreu, Amit Snyderman and I decided to make a physical toy that you could play with and use communicate with your friends over facebook. What we ended up with is a narrative communication toy named Otar. If you read on you can learn more about what that means, and the process that went into this creature's creation.

Otar is a fuzzy, squeeze toy that connects to your computer's usb port. When you squeeze, Otar's stories come alive in a desktop widget. (* a screen shot of this is on left.) When you squeeze Otar, you flip through these stories, pick one you like, caption it, and then send it to a friend on facebook. Now, on both your and your friend's profile, you share an Otar flipbook. A story that you have started to build, using Otar's images as a language.

Language is imprecise, vague, imperfect and open to interpretation. Different communication tools have different languages associated with them. Otar is a tool that thrives on imprecise communication, and using narrative to understand and explain our relationships and each other.

Where does the name Otar come from?
Sometimes fun things come from not so fun places. The name Otar comes from the word teratoma. (an integral part of our brainstorming process…I will leave googling the term up to you…and I apologize if you are offended). Otar is your computer's teratoma. We took him out, gave him a name and a story.

The most interesting part about this project for me was creating a system that extends all boundaries of language, age, class, literacy level... As long as you can squeeze, you can play with Otar. This simple, easy to use modular system is extensible to a myriad of possibilities for implementation.

some of the technical behind the Otar
Building Otar involved building and figuring out a bunch of separate technical components and then eventually putting them all together. The front end code is written in Java, the back end is written in Rails, both speak to the facebook API. We use the RXTXcomm with gnu.io to talk to the serial port through Java. A pressure sensor and pump is embedded within Otar to transmit serial data to the arduino(a temporary prototyping solution...eventually to be moved onto a smaller chip). We do the majority of our serial processing off the chip and within Java. The entire squeeze range from resting to max-1 squeeze is mapped over a series of 10 frames of Otar's images. A max squeeze, you will send you to a new, set of 10 sequential frames.

We wanted to make Otar's two (desktop/facebook) GUI's as small as possible. And we had endless deliberations about every pixel that went into each component. Mouse send button? or just enter key? Alex did an amazing job of figuring out how to use, and work with all of the GUI components,and figuring out the poorly documented java facebook api...especially for desktop applications (of which there are very few). Amit is our backend rails and other fun surprises guru, including the hilarious and often dark and twisted images. All are open to your own interpretation of course!

Humans use their bodies to communicate.
Otar is fun. Otar likes to tell stories. Otar likes to share. Otar is not human, but contains human parts. Learn his stories, take parts of them and use them as a tool to rebuild stories of your own.

simple communication model - v2

How much data can you derive from a this simple system? 2 pixels. 2 states. communication. center panel is a visualization of the interaction between left and right pixel. When both pixels are the same, a pixel of their colour is output. The pixel decreases in size depending on how many times it takes for both to be the same. Behind it is a coloured square. (more of the coloured square is revealed when there is miscommunication).

run the code.

This becomes a visualization model, not only of simple, realized communication, but also missed communication.

This simple probablistic ruleset is being used to reconstruct a panel in my 2d screen. If this ruleset can be extended to the screen, where else can it be applied? What other models can it build?

If you map the 2d screen onto a cylider, you have a new dimension, a new space to work within.

Problems that I have with these images...
1. the colours need to go away. Any colour other than black and white have an arbitrary relationship to the system. They are usefull now in terms of seeing what is going on, but I ultimately need to get rid of them.
2. I'm also struggling with another assumption. I need some parameters that define the "space" within which this system is operating. Right now the starting point parameters is the screen. If I map it to a cylinder that is another decision. It would be interesting if I didn't have to make this decision, and the ruleset would be able to do it for me. These are more things that I am thinking about...

code (won't render because opengl)