Sara Taylor's NMD 342 Blog

Part 1: Completing the Lab I was able to complete the lab as shown in the video below. Codes: Arduino: const int switchPin = 2;      // digital input  void setup() {    // configure the serial connection:    Serial.begin(9600);    // configure the digital input:    pinMode(switchPin, INPUT);  } void loop() {    // read the sensor:    int sensorValue = analogRead(A0);    // print the results:    Serial.print(sensorValue);    Serial.print(",");    // read the sensor:    sensorValue = analogRead(A1);    // print the results:    Serial.print(sensorValue);    Serial.print(",");    // read the sensor:    sensorValue = digitalRead(switchPin);    // print the results:    Serial.println(sensorValue); } Processing: import processing.serial.*; Serial myPort; ...

For this contraption, I was inspired by a variety of arcade games and wanted to combine the ideas into one. I was inspired by Plinko, Pachinko machines and an arcade game called Monster Drop. Initial Sketch Digital Drawing

Article: Making Interactive Art: Set the Stage, the Shut Up and Listen This article shared my thoughts exactly when it comes to interactive art! My identical twin attends the University of Maine in Farmington for art. Every year she assigned to create an interactive art performance, and she always becomes so frustrated every year when she has to do this because her group members cannot grasp the concept that this article expresses. Her group members always insist upon creating handouts that explicitly state the message of the piece, leaving no room for interpretation to the viewer. These art pieces are not technology-based, yet still have to offer some form of interactivity. I've attended one of these events and most of the pieces involve students giving you slips of paper that tell you to feel good about your body and stuff. Typical Farmington, I guess.  Books: Sketching User Experiences I paid more attention to the workbook in my browsing. I enjoyed the fact that...

Tone lab For this lab, I used photoresistors to control the tone of a buzzer. The buzzer makes a barely audible sound because it needs more than 5v of power to be loud. I only can hook the buzzer up to 5v. Below you will find the code, an image of setup, and a video of me using the photoresistors to control a servo in place of the speaker because you cannot hear the speaker in the video. Code: void setup() {   Serial.begin(9600);       // initialize serial communications } void loop(){   int analogValue = analogRead(A0); // read the analog input   Serial.println(analogValue);      // print it   // get a sensor reading:    int sensorReading = analogRead(A0);    // map the results from the sensor reading's range    // to the desired pitch range:    float frequency = map(sensorReading, 200, 900, 100, 1000);    // change the pitch, play for 10 ms:    tone(8, f...

Digital Input/Output Lab In this lab, I practiced using digital inputs and outputs using LEDs. Here is the code provided by the lab: void setup() {   // put your setup code here, to run once:   pinMode(2, INPUT);    // set the pushbutton pin to be an input   pinMode(3, OUTPUT);   // set the yellow LED pin to be an output   pinMode(4, OUTPUT);   // set the red LED pin to be an output } void loop() {      // read the pushbutton input:    if (digitalRead(2) == HIGH) {      // if the pushbutton is closed:      digitalWrite(3, HIGH);    // turn on the yellow LED      digitalWrite(4, LOW);     // turn off the red LED    }    else {      // if the switch is open:      digitalWrite(3, LOW);     // turn off the yellow LED      digitalWrite(4, HIGH);...

The device in question: Card scanner at dining hall (Hilltop) Assumption: The card scanner is a touch scanner. One will touch the card and wait for the signal to beep, and then wait for the person at the computer to clear the person's identity. Subject 1: The person tapped their card vertically, covering the scanner entirely. The device beeps and shows a green light. After a brief pause, the computer person allows them to pass. Subject 2: This person slid their card across the scanner and kept walking. No beep sounded, and so the person operating the computer had to call the person back. Subject 3: This person tapped their card horizontally against the card scanner. A beep sounded and there was a pause until the computer person allowed them to pass. Subject 4: This person tapped their card multiple times and it did not work. The computer operator swiped their card at the computer, and then the card worked. Subject 5: This person tapped their card vertically, and jiggled...

When Sofian came to visit us for three classes, we first spent two classes learning how to use his object-oriented Arduino language called Plaquette. It worked very similarly to processing, so it was an overall enjoyable process to use. We were assigned to create an interactive LED experience that simulated a particular emotion. The emotion my group was assigned was "Horny". I wouldn't really define that as an emotion, more of a physical state, however, we pursued. A member of our group went above and beyond, so I quickly discarded my button and flash project. In the end, our group had a smiling face that could simulate all sorts of emotions. We used the ultrasonic sensor in creating an interactive experience. If one moved closer to the face, the face would smirk and wink. If you were too far, the face would frown. After that, we had a discussion about the pros and cons of replicating emotion through technology. On the one hand, these sorts of tools could be very helpfu...

Just in my dorm alone, I was able to find an example of good design, and one example of bad design. The Good: This sink is wonderful.  It does its job well in the categories the author of the design of everyday things states. It has the affordance that it is a device a human can use to retrieve water/liquid because it has a spout by turning the handles which are molded to replicate human grip. It signifies that one may use hot or cold water because the hot handle is red and the cold handle is blue. The mapping is simple to understand, as the handles prevent you from turning them the wrong way naturally, and there are only two handles to turn, so one is mapped to hot, the other cold. The feedback is ingrained in the device, you know you've turned the handle correctly when water is flowing, and you can feel the temperature change with various handle turns by putting your hand in the water. Feedback is immediate and doesn't annoy you with flashing lights or sounds. The...