Physical Computing Projects
Projects where I combine artistic interest with programming ability. I've written plenty of code for Library projects, including the Circuit Playground prize wheel that helped my outreach group win a Small Team Award, and I created a repo of Creative Coding resources for other Library staff to put together their own coding programs.
In The House
"In The House" is a work that follows the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, "The House of Asterion." I envisioned the conversation between Theseus and the Minotaur, placing the viewer in the role of Theseus by using their webcam.
The code is written using p5.js, with the poseNet library added on to
track key points of the user's body through the webcam. As the user's
left wrist is tracked, a bronze sword swings across the screen. These
movements usher along the conversation, until the fateful final
moment. The animations were created in GIMP, frame by frame.
Play it for yourself on the p5.js editor.
The piece was put together for the Library's second annual Winter Art Show, on Feb 19 at the Hagen Ranch Road branch. Members of the public and staff alike took part in this interactive fiction.
Miami Memory Machine
The Miami Memory Machine as an interactive film project, where a cup of coffee will let you navigate through memories of Miami. This work was done for my thesis. I exhibited the piece at the Open Hardware Summit in April 2023.
The Machine is activated by pressing a mug full of a hot beverage, like a cup of café con leche, against a microcontroller. The temperature sensor activates the memories, playing a new one for the viewer every time they take a sip from the cup. The memories are videos showing life in Miami, in a way that is mundane and nostalgic. For people who grew up in the city, the sights depicted are immediately and intimately familiar.
To research for the Machine, I interviewed individuals who spent their childhood or adolescence in Miami. In particular, I wanted to learn more about Latine people growing up cross-culturally--Miami is demographically over 70% Hispanic, and that influence is undeniable in the make-up of the city. My research was gathered through a mix of collaging and cultural probing - I provided prompts and questions, and encouraged answers be provided in a multimedia format. Google Jamboards proved to be a handy tool for facilitating the research. I converted their experiences into film by recording videos based on the responses given to my questions. The videos were uploaded into a Processing sketch, and could be iterated through using a mug of hot coffee as the controller. Café is ubiquitous and vital in Miami, and it culturally indicates a space of conversation and comfort. Using coffee as the vehicle for driving down memory lane was the natural choice.
The idea of using coffee as an interface was the first thing I decided upon when creating the Machine. I chose to use a Circuit Playground because of its built-in temperature sensor and gyroscope. By securing the Circuit Playground to a mug, the sensors would detect when that mug has been filled with hot coffee, and could determine when the person drinking from the mug had taken a sip. In order to affix the Circuit Playground to the mug, I crocheted a mug cozy that would hold the microcontroller up against the bottom of the mug.
Through usability tests I learned what size of mug worked best in keeping the Circuit Playground comfortably pressed against the mug. I wrote up two sketches - one in Arduino, and one in Processing. The Arduino code would catch the sensor values and send them to Processing, which would then launch the video "memories" that make up the film. You can view the videos and the code on the Machine's Github repo. The Machine boots up with a starting frame that prompts the user to fill their mug with something warm to drink. The starting frame and subsequent animation--a sequence of the mug filling up with coffee--were created using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
The Eye
"The Eye" was my final projects for my Interactive Objects course. It's a little game that tests boundaries and movement by following the position and proximity of the viewer. Get too close and the Eye will tell you to back off. Refuse to move and it will get bored, eventually falling asleep and dreaming. If you move too fast, it even gets dizzy.
Miscellanea
A hodgepodge of creations made over the years - for the Library, for school, for the love of creation.