Josh Lopez-Binder, Assignment 08, Looking Outwards

[vimeo 45921590]

Glasses with a special reflectivity sensor, connected to arduino, which controls the lights in the room.  When someone wearing the glasses blinks or closes there eyes, the lights turn off.  The person wearing the glasses cannot detect the change.    While I am sure that this project was pretty difficult technically, it is so simple that no detailed description is required to enjoy it.  I like that.  I am intrigued by the notion that all of these changes could be taking place in the tiny fractions of a second while one blinks, and that the subject is completely unaware of these changes.  It would be cool if, when they blinked,  a crazy  light show started with all manner of wonderful shapes and colors, all of which would be visible only to other viewers.

[vimeo 25781176]

Tele-Present Water

Wave frequency and amplitude from a buoy in the Pacific ocean is mapped to the motion of dc motors, which change the height of various points on a lattice of pipes.  The effect is pretty nice; the motion, and even the sound of the motors, is reminiscent of the ocean.  Pretty amazing that data from way out in the ocean can be displayed in realtime(?) with some motors and fishing line.  It looks like the lattice is being controlled with one row of motors.  I wonder if it would be possible to get data from multiple buoys and make a kinetic visualization of a similar type, but which represents the conditions in various parts of the ocean.

[vimeo 30501143]

Years

This project consists of some sort of optical sensor that takes data from a cross-section of a tree-trunk.  The reader moves on a pivoting arm while the cross-section rotates, like a record player.  The tree rings are analyzed for growth rate and thickness, and  this data is mapped to piano music.  The effect is an interesting melody, a little chaotic, but certainly interesting to listen to.  I wonder if it is precise enough that different types of trees or trees that suffered different environmental stresses would cause audible differences.  Either way, the notion of mapping data about an organism to music is certainly interesting.  Perhaps a more precise method (although arguably much less elegant than a record player) would be to photograph the cross-sections, and then use algorithms to analyze the images.  Data about the growth rates and the times of drought or fires could be more accurately obtained.  This data could then be mapped to music, in a similar fashion to the record.