CLASS: material worlds
TERM: spring 10
Following a class trip to Art Center's "CMTEL Lab," where we were able to borrow a few sample materials with which we were asked to create a project from. From the few samples I had taken, I was drawn to the qualities of the Intelli-Gel sample I had chosen. Outside of the obvious tangible playfulness of the stretchy, "flubber"-like material, I was really drawn to the sounds it produced. When releasing the material from a squished state, it created a unique sound... something similar to walking through a muddy field. I really wanted to find a way to play with these sounds utilizing some sort of user interaction.
How It Was Made (the process):
1. After experimenting with different ways the sample could be squished, I narrowed it down to two main sounds. (when laid flat) One, squished and released from the top down, and two, squished and released from the side. Due to time restraints, I chose the first way of producing the sound.
2. From there, I ventured out to figure out a way to create this sound without me physically touching the material. The material had so many visual cues that makes people really have an urge to touch it. I thought it would be more interesting to have these cues but make the material untouchable. So I came up with the idea of creating a plunger out of wire and some foam core. When strung and knotted through the sample, you could pull the plunger and it would create the same effect as if you were actually touching it.
3. I had to figure out a way to actuate the plunger. Going along with keeping the sample intangible, I did away with the typical button and decided to use a light sensor with a servo attached at the other end of the wire/plunger. The idea behind this was that there would be no actual physical interaction (touching a button, a surface, etc...)
4. The next step was still focused on the sound that the material made. I really wanted people to hear it, so I amplified it with a microphone and a speaker. (Watch the video below to hear what it sounded like.)
5. The step was putting it all together. I created two platforms... one for the mic'd intelli-gel sample and one for the servo. I decided that the sound was so odd and unexpected that I thought it might be interesting to cover the inner workings of the machine. Therefore, I created two boxes to conceal the contents.
overall view of the piece.
people interacting with the sound box.
behind the scenes
video documentation.
Some things are just unexpected... These unexpected occurrences just happened to be a bit positive for me on this project. Firstly, the sound that it makes turned out a little different than I had expected. I was really only trying to capture the sound of the intelli-gel, but I also captured the sound of the servo, while it was actuating the plunger. (If you listen in the video, the first squeal is the sound of the servo traveling through the wire, when it's pulling the plunger down. The second sound is the sound of the gel being released, which is the original sound I wanted.) Although different, I feel the initial sound of the servo added to experience. It created a sound to go with the blocking of the light to the sensor.
Another thing that was unexpected was the sensitivity of the light sensor. I found that different shades of shadow effected how much it told the computer/servo to pull the plunger down. After playing with it for a little, I found that you could actually control the sound to a point.
Overall, the project made me want to explore how sound design can be used with user interfaces as well as create playful machines or experiences.
(Click link for the next project based on the Sound Boxes: "Sound Search")
TERM: spring 10
Following a class trip to Art Center's "CMTEL Lab," where we were able to borrow a few sample materials with which we were asked to create a project from. From the few samples I had taken, I was drawn to the qualities of the Intelli-Gel sample I had chosen. Outside of the obvious tangible playfulness of the stretchy, "flubber"-like material, I was really drawn to the sounds it produced. When releasing the material from a squished state, it created a unique sound... something similar to walking through a muddy field. I really wanted to find a way to play with these sounds utilizing some sort of user interaction.
How It Was Made (the process):
1. After experimenting with different ways the sample could be squished, I narrowed it down to two main sounds. (when laid flat) One, squished and released from the top down, and two, squished and released from the side. Due to time restraints, I chose the first way of producing the sound.
2. From there, I ventured out to figure out a way to create this sound without me physically touching the material. The material had so many visual cues that makes people really have an urge to touch it. I thought it would be more interesting to have these cues but make the material untouchable. So I came up with the idea of creating a plunger out of wire and some foam core. When strung and knotted through the sample, you could pull the plunger and it would create the same effect as if you were actually touching it.
3. I had to figure out a way to actuate the plunger. Going along with keeping the sample intangible, I did away with the typical button and decided to use a light sensor with a servo attached at the other end of the wire/plunger. The idea behind this was that there would be no actual physical interaction (touching a button, a surface, etc...)
4. The next step was still focused on the sound that the material made. I really wanted people to hear it, so I amplified it with a microphone and a speaker. (Watch the video below to hear what it sounded like.)
5. The step was putting it all together. I created two platforms... one for the mic'd intelli-gel sample and one for the servo. I decided that the sound was so odd and unexpected that I thought it might be interesting to cover the inner workings of the machine. Therefore, I created two boxes to conceal the contents.
overall view of the piece.
people interacting with the sound box.
{behind the scenes
video documentation.
Some things are just unexpected... These unexpected occurrences just happened to be a bit positive for me on this project. Firstly, the sound that it makes turned out a little different than I had expected. I was really only trying to capture the sound of the intelli-gel, but I also captured the sound of the servo, while it was actuating the plunger. (If you listen in the video, the first squeal is the sound of the servo traveling through the wire, when it's pulling the plunger down. The second sound is the sound of the gel being released, which is the original sound I wanted.) Although different, I feel the initial sound of the servo added to experience. It created a sound to go with the blocking of the light to the sensor.
Another thing that was unexpected was the sensitivity of the light sensor. I found that different shades of shadow effected how much it told the computer/servo to pull the plunger down. After playing with it for a little, I found that you could actually control the sound to a point.
Overall, the project made me want to explore how sound design can be used with user interfaces as well as create playful machines or experiences.
(Click link for the next project based on the Sound Boxes: "Sound Search")