CLASS: material worlds
TERM: spring 10
I took the "Sound Box" project and created an evolved version, utilizing some of the main ingredients from the previous. I wanted to continue with the idea of using sound and light sensors to create a playful environmental/experience design.
Above is an illustration for my initial proposal of the project. I wanted to place numerous light sensors throughout a darkened room, and have the users search for sounds with the aid of a flashlight. My initial thoughts were that the room would be empty, and the light sensors would somehow be covered so they were not seen by the user. When the user passed over a sensor, some sort of sound would be played. My first thoughts were to make the sounds very abstract.
On my first rough draft of the project, I took over a work room in our studio that is reserved for soldering materials for our projects. I strung and hid light sensors throughout the work station (image #8 below). The sound that I had attached to each sensor was very abstract. I recorded many sound clips from natural environments then layered and tweaked them to my likings. I had actually recorded my sounds before I knew for sure that I was going to set up in this work room. The end result was a sort of disconnection between the environment and the things that you heard. Visually, there are many wires strewn around the work space, so to camouflage my wires, I left them in plain site. They ended up fitting right in with the environment, making it difficult to see which wire was connected to what.
For the final presentation, I ended up having 14 different light sensors spread out through the room. For the audio, I ended up re-recording my sounds... this time I focused on finding sounds from within the work room. (Watch video at the bottom of the page to hear a few of the different sounds). Each sensor/sound was placed in close proximity to the object in which the audio was originally recorded. I then gave a group of peers three different flash lights and let them explore the area.
views of the sensors and work room
video documentation of the Sound Search project in action
actual sounds used with the light sensors
At the end of it all, just like the rest of the projects, there's always room for improvement. Below is a list of improvements that I would like to point out.
-The biggest improvement would be that on this iteration, there's really only one basic level of interaction. You have the flashlight and you search for the sounds. If I were to continue this project I would have liked to turn it into some sort of (1)game or (2)musical instrument of sorts.
(1) A basic version would be that maybe, with 2 or more people, are in the room, and every time someone finds a sensor, an Audio Tally comes on counting how many are left to be found. Another idea was to create partition in the middle and have a person on each side. The sensors interact on each side could interact in some way. Maybe they have to work together to accomplish a goal.
(2) Still going off of the partition idea, I was thinking that when two people are on two separate sensors, it creates a third sound. It's possible that this could be some sort of musical note, abstract or not. Would these two people eventually be able to create a composition by playing with the sensors on their respected sides?
It would just be nice to add another layer of interaction to the piece.
-Another, more minor improvement would be to really think about the location. If these sensors were placed elsewhere, how would that effect the sounds, or even how people interact with it?
TERM: spring 10
I took the "Sound Box" project and created an evolved version, utilizing some of the main ingredients from the previous. I wanted to continue with the idea of using sound and light sensors to create a playful environmental/experience design.
Above is an illustration for my initial proposal of the project. I wanted to place numerous light sensors throughout a darkened room, and have the users search for sounds with the aid of a flashlight. My initial thoughts were that the room would be empty, and the light sensors would somehow be covered so they were not seen by the user. When the user passed over a sensor, some sort of sound would be played. My first thoughts were to make the sounds very abstract.
On my first rough draft of the project, I took over a work room in our studio that is reserved for soldering materials for our projects. I strung and hid light sensors throughout the work station (image #8 below). The sound that I had attached to each sensor was very abstract. I recorded many sound clips from natural environments then layered and tweaked them to my likings. I had actually recorded my sounds before I knew for sure that I was going to set up in this work room. The end result was a sort of disconnection between the environment and the things that you heard. Visually, there are many wires strewn around the work space, so to camouflage my wires, I left them in plain site. They ended up fitting right in with the environment, making it difficult to see which wire was connected to what.
For the final presentation, I ended up having 14 different light sensors spread out through the room. For the audio, I ended up re-recording my sounds... this time I focused on finding sounds from within the work room. (Watch video at the bottom of the page to hear a few of the different sounds). Each sensor/sound was placed in close proximity to the object in which the audio was originally recorded. I then gave a group of peers three different flash lights and let them explore the area.
views of the sensors and work room
video documentation of the Sound Search project in action
actual sounds used with the light sensors
At the end of it all, just like the rest of the projects, there's always room for improvement. Below is a list of improvements that I would like to point out.
-The biggest improvement would be that on this iteration, there's really only one basic level of interaction. You have the flashlight and you search for the sounds. If I were to continue this project I would have liked to turn it into some sort of (1)game or (2)musical instrument of sorts.
(1) A basic version would be that maybe, with 2 or more people, are in the room, and every time someone finds a sensor, an Audio Tally comes on counting how many are left to be found. Another idea was to create partition in the middle and have a person on each side. The sensors interact on each side could interact in some way. Maybe they have to work together to accomplish a goal.
(2) Still going off of the partition idea, I was thinking that when two people are on two separate sensors, it creates a third sound. It's possible that this could be some sort of musical note, abstract or not. Would these two people eventually be able to create a composition by playing with the sensors on their respected sides?
It would just be nice to add another layer of interaction to the piece.
-Another, more minor improvement would be to really think about the location. If these sensors were placed elsewhere, how would that effect the sounds, or even how people interact with it?