Work in Progress
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09.16.13
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01.06.10
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05.05.09Cinematic Timepiece
Time is our measure of a constant beat. We use seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, etc. But what if we measured time against rituals, chores, tasks, stories, and narratives? How can we use our memory, prediction, familiar and unfamiliar narratives to tell time? As a child, I remember using the length […]
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12.23.08Thermochromic Slow Resolution Display
A slow resolution display made out of standard lightbulbs and thermochromic paint. This display lives at the intersection of digital control and analog output. A matrix of lightbulbs painted with thermochromic paint allows for an image to appear and dissipate analogously to the temperature of each bulb. The overall effect defies our ordinary understanding of […]
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11.07.08
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10.09.08
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10.02.08Tilt Sensor to Live Web
Tilting my laptop changes the background color of a div element on a webpage. [Live Tilt] An applet reads tilt sensor values from my laptop, posts them to sensorbase.org, then a webpage running ajax reads the sensor values and changes a background color. LIVE. It’s super slow right now because I can’t figure out how […]
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09.24.08P.Life
P.Life is a large scale interactive screen designed for the IAC’s 120′ wide video wall. In the world of P.Life, Ps run around growing, living, and dying, as the landscape continuously changes creating unexpected situations challenging their existence. Scenario Screen fades from black to dawn and rising sun along a horizon. The bottom third of […]
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06.01.08Dreyfuss Bluetooth Handset
This is a one-off hack to retrofit a genuine Western Electric Dreyfuss Telephone Handset into a full fledged Bluetooth handset. A single button at the center of the mouthpiece controls all the functions (pairing, answering calls, etc.), while a blue and red LED indicator glows from within. The handset recharges via USB and lasts 6 […]
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05.20.08
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05.10.08Feedback Playback 2
FeedBack PlayBack is a dynamic film re-editing and viewing system. The users’ physical state determines the visceral quality of scenes displayed; immediate reactions to the scenes feed back to generate a cinematic crescendo or a lull. We use material that is rigorously narrative, formulaic, and plentiful: the action movie series Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis. […]
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04.13.08Tetherlight
Tetherlight is a hand held light that perpetually points at its sibling. Two Tetherlights constantly point at each other, guiding one Tetherlight to the other with a beam of light. Tetherlight: Prototype 02 Rotation from che-wei wang on Vimeo. The devices are each equipped with a GPS module, a digital compass, and a wireless communication […]
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04.13.08Feedback Playback
FeedBack PlayBack is an interactive, dynamic film re-editing/viewing system that explores the link between media consumption and physiological arousal. This project uses galvanic skin response and pulse rate to create a dynamic film re-editing and veiwing system. The users’ physical state determines the rhythm and length of the cuts and the visceral quality of scenes […]
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04.13.08GSR Reader
Galvanic skin response readings are simply the measurement of electrical resistance through the body. Two leads are attached to two fingertips. One lead sends current while the other measures the difference. This setup measures GSR every 50 milliseconds. Each reading is graphed, while peaks are highlighted and an average is calculated to smooth out the […]
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04.08.08
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04.08.08
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03.30.08Drum Space
Drum space is a percussion instrument that transforms environments into drums. Participants are immersed within the space of drums as beats are created from the surrounding surfaces. The audio experience of the space is negotiated by each participant as they add and remove beats from sequences previously constructed by other participants. Will the space be […]
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03.27.08Ornos: Prototype 02
Here’s the first test with Ornos. The compass readings are behaving pretty well considering it’s right underneath a spinning hard drive. The 1.2Ghz processor and 512 RAM don’t seem to be enough to download and render the image quickly enough, so I’m going to have to figure out how to speed things up.
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03.15.08
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03.15.08
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03.13.08Etek EB-85A GPS Example Code
Here’s some example Arduino code for getting a Etek EB-85A module up and reading latitude and longitude (will probably work with most GPS modules). You can purchase a module from Sparkfun. The module only needs power, ground, rx and tx. Most modules like the Etek start sending NMEA strings as soon as it has power. […]
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03.12.08Soft Pneumatic Exoskeleton : Ankle Support
The ankle support is a low profile sleeve around the foot and a strap at the heel to connect to the air muscle. A shorter 12″ muscle connects the ankle support to the calf. The calf attachment is now constructed out of a single piece of leather with nylon reinforcement at the top to prevent […]
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03.12.08Air Muscle Connection
The most common point of failure in all the test have been the connection at the collar around each end of the air muscles. The inflation of the muscle along with the tension force rip through the threads around the collar, so I’ve reinforced those points with rivets with some room to expand.
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03.12.08
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03.12.08Soft Pneumatic Exoskeleton : V 01 Test
After the first round of testing, I realized assisting jumping with pneumatics is nearly impossible. The size of the tubes and tank necessary to get a high enough cfm to actuate the air muscles at the speed of jumping seems too large for a lightweight wearable application. So, I’m going to concentrate on assisting walking. […]
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03.12.08Ornos : Prototype 01
I was going to cover the lasercut masonite with a leather sleeve, but I’m going to go with cnc milled RenShape with a painted finish for the next prototype. The compass needs to be calibrated to the offsets caused by the magnetized computer hardware and I need to tweak some code to get the frames […]
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03.11.08Same Food Same Poison
So if the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention is somewhat true, is it simply the established economic ties between countries that prevent wars? How about the shared experience of eating the same food? Listening to the same music, watching the same movies, speaking the same language, wearing the same clothes? Could a globalized culture […]
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03.03.08With Other
How can we share our unmitigated desire for sex, eating, and drinking? Drooling, like blushing is often beyond our control. Good food, or just thinking of tasty food can make people drool. With Other is an amorphous teledrooling device. It comes in pairs, soft, and shaped like a smooth pebble. Each is equipped with a […]
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03.01.08Ornos : Prototype Shell 01
Here’s a rendering of the custom housing for all the components of Ornos (HP TC1100, Arduino, Digital Compass, and a mouse). Hopefully everything fits and doesn’t overheat. The first version will be lasercut masonite. The final version will be some combination of stainless steel and leather.
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02.29.08Soft Pneumatic Suit : Prototype 01
\ I finally have a full assembly of all the major components sewn with thick canvas and leather. The small scuba tank provides the air pressure, controlled by an Arduino and solenoid valves. The basic operation of pneumatic muscle works. Air pressure at about 100psi inflates the muscle, creating a contracting motion of about 2 […]
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02.25.08Stabilize : Accelerometer + 4 Servo Motors
So far, the Arduino reads the x and y tilt values and translates them into motion across 4 servos to maintain a horizontal platform at the top. Next, I need to get the z tilt values to reverse the x and y tilts, so you can tilt the whole thing up side down and still […]
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02.24.08Ornos : A View from Above
Since the first hand drawn maps of the stars to satellite imagery and GPS navigation today, our frame of reference and our perception of space has been molded into a view from above. Our understanding of place is often linked to an abstract representation on a map rather than a physical relational comprehension. You could […]
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02.20.08Infinite Mouse Tracking
I wanted to use the mouse as a simple surface optical encoder to get infinite panning motion. The problem with reading mouse coordinates on the screen, is that once the mouse reaches the edge of the screen, it stops counting. So a simple solution is to reposition the mouse (using the robot class) every few […]
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02.20.08
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02.19.08Cheap Compact Camera Head-mount
I needed something to keep my hands free when I document my projects, so I made a simple head-mount for my Canon PowerShot Elph using an old pair of welding goggles and some stretchy fabric. [instructables to make your own] Cheap Compact Camera Head-mount from che-wei wang on Vimeo.
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02.18.08Pneumatic Muscle : Solenoid Valve Test
I finally got the solenoid valve hooked up to an air compressor and and arduino board. Air pressure is regulated at 100 psi. It looks like I’m going to need bigger pipes to get more cfm for faster muscle actuation. The shorter muscle has an over sized braided sleeve, which I thought might help the […]
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02.17.08
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02.11.08Trust Vision
((image manipulated from original by manitou2121, an interesting composite of faces from hotornot.com)) Why should I trust you? Because you sound trustworthy? Smell trustworthy? Look trustworthy? How do we measure trust? Trust Vision is a personally biased trust measuring video camera. As each frame is presented, a face or faces within the frame are superimposed […]
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02.06.08Window
Urban Computing : Window ((image: pmorgan )) Windows give a frame of reference, crops a view, magnifies a perspective. It filters and blocks. Window is the opening that mediates here from there. I would argue that windows are what give walls meaning. Without windows, there wouldn’t be a notion of “there” since the possibility of […]
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02.06.08Laser Tether : Sketch
Here’s a sketch of how the parts might fit to get the laser to freely point in any direction. 4 servo motors work in tandem to tilt the laser head. Batteries and the circuitry is stored in the bottom half of the cylinder. I was going to have a mechanical gyro to have it orient […]
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02.03.08TeleCursing
Video chat is great, but maybe I don’t want to see your face. Or more likely, I don’t want you to see me sitting at my computer in my underwear. A less intrusive channel of communication, like IM, is often desirable but we lose several modes of expression when we only communicate with text. Could […]
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02.01.08Pneumatic Muscle : Pressure Test
The first set of home brew pneumatic muscles actually work. There’s no leakage and it looks like it holds well over 60 psi. The tiny air reservoir barely holds enough air for 2 actuations, so it looks likes a small scuba tank or a tiny air compressor is going to be needed. Weight tests coming […]
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02.01.08
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02.01.08
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01.30.08Wall
Urban Computing: What is a wall? Wall, as a simple force of division, marks a boundary between here and there. How do we define our world through walls? One could argue that geographical boundaries act as walls defining spaces within which all forms of life acknowledge and encroach. But even geographic boundaries are crossed intentionally […]
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01.30.08Pneumatic Muscles
Here’s my first set homebrew pneumatic muscles. I’m not sure how strong these are going to be, but it looks promising. The compression fittings aren’t being used the way they were meant to be used, so it’s likely that connection will be the first point of failure when it goes under stress. As soon as […]
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01.30.08Laser Tether
The Laser Tether is a hand held laser pointer that perpetually points at its sibling. Two Laser Tethers constantly point at each other no matter where they are on the globe. If my cousin in Beijing had a Laser Tether and I turned on mine in New York City, our lasers would point towards our […]
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01.28.08Pneumatic Soft Exoskeleton
Pneumatic systems are clean, safe, lightweight, and reliable. In a pneumatic electronic hybrid system, electric components simply control the flow of air pressure, removing the burden of weight and kinetic actuation from electrical power to pneumatic power. The advantage is a lightweight low idle power system with high power kinetic impact. My initial encounter with […]
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01.27.08Talking Face to Face
Talking Face to Face is a networked communication system that detects the position of two users in relation to each other anywhere on the globe. Using a combination of GPS and a compass, the audio output is modified to create the sensation of the voice’s position and proximity to the listener. If Bob is in […]
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01.22.08moMo : Version 4
momo version 4 now has a sturdier lighter frame. A couple switches were added to control power to arduino and to the GPS unit. The whole unit somehow runs off 4 AA batteries instead of 8. I also realized the compass unit is not as accurate as we’d like. It has a sour spot around […]
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01.08.08
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01.08.08
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12.30.07
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12.26.07
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12.25.07
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12.23.07
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12.19.07
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12.18.07
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12.18.07
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11.19.07moMo : version 2
-new compass unit calcuates true north in relation to itself and waypoint (so it points in the right direction even if you spin it) -upgraded to 32 Channel!! ETek GPS module -4 AA batteries powers the entire circuit with 5.6V at 2700mha -a new skeleton ( to be outfitted with a flexible skin soon ) […]
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10.31.07
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10.21.07
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10.19.07
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10.18.07
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10.15.07
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10.11.07
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10.07.07
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10.03.07A Haptic Navigational Device
A haptic navigational device requires only the sense of touch to guide a user. No maps, no text, no arrows, no lights. HND sits on the palm of one’s hand and leans, vibrates and gravitates towards a preset location. Imagine an egg sitting on the palm of your hand, obeying its own gravitational force at […]
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10.03.07
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10.03.07
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10.02.07
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09.25.07
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09.17.07Observation: Crosswalk Button
At certain intersections, the city offers a push button at the pedestrian crosswalk with a sign that reads, “To cross street, push botton, wait for signal, wait for walk signal.” Hypothesis: People love to push buttons. It give us a sense of control. So, people push the crosswalk button. And perhaps they push it several […]
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09.06.07
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09.05.07Voltage Current Resistance
It seems like the prefered analogy for voltage, current and resistance uses water with pressured tanks, hoses, etc. The waterfall analogy was the easiest for me to understand. If we draw an analogy to a waterfall, the voltage would represent the height of the waterfall: the higher it is, the more potential energy the water […]
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02.04.07
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09.26.06