Vector Pouch

Here is a picture of the completed vector pouch.

New Interface

Some changes in the interface. After speaking to my lecturers, I realised that there might have been a lack of immersion in the project. It is a little crucial at this stage but I think I have to change the interface.

What I have thought of is using a leg pouch. Great thing about it is the mobility aspect. It is small, mobile, not a hindrance at all.

Mobility

Geographic grids bind us to locations in cities and globally. Cities are physically bound by their surroundings. It might be interesting to try and break free from this physicality, without transporting oneself into the virtual.

The Interface

I have been thinking and re-thinking the interface that I plan to use. Is it the best portrayal? These are questions I usually ask when I am planning an interface. Right now I am thinking of the stainless steel box with the coffee mugs. My main concern is that is it not mobile. Will look into it further.

Picture on the left shows possible layout of the solar cells on top of the stainless steel box. Still not too convinced by it.

More thoughts on the city

These thoughts are through research on Lewis Mumford, who was very well known for his writings on cities and architecture.

"The chief function of the city is to convert power into form, energy into culture, dead matter into living symbols of art, biological reproduction into social creativity" - Lewis Mumford

RFID has homogenized our global community, it has domesticated internationalism through the introduction of biometric passports.

Replacable elements of a monoculture, each specialised in our own fields, just like an ants nest. Invisible layers are mounted over each other to create a unique maze which cannot be seen. We, as physical beings, can be considered invisible now because all that matters are our transactions which can track our locations in a virtual space.

Instructables

I have uploaded a complete tutorial on the solar powered Arduino board here

Completely self sufficient Arduino

This setup comprises of 2 solar cells, a 1N5817 power diode and a 9V rechargeable battery. The output is then transferred to the Arduino board.

Experiment Success

I have managed to use my now-portable Arduino board to interact with my RFID reader and give a simple output. The current output is one blinking LED light, but it would be extended using an LED driver to control a matrix of them in the next week or so. I will post up a video, pictures and some code tomorrow.

City Grids

New York City

San Francisco


Houston, Texas - 1942

EDB Gantries in Singapore

Here are there EDB Gantry locations in Singapore's Business District. They are controlled using RFID and are a source of economy for the government as motorists have to pay a certain amount everytime they enter the district at specific timings.

Portable Arduino

The Arduino 9V Adaptor

This amazing link has helped me make my Arduino board completely independant of the computer now. It is really simple and took me about 5 minutes to do. The next step would be to link the battery to my solar cells so that it becomes self sufficient.

metaDesk

The metaDesk is created by Hiroshi Iishi from the MIT Tangible Media Lab. I think it is a very useful resource as a reference for building tangible interfaces.

Tangible Interfaces and Language

What is a tangible interface that would communicate the idea of structure and language?

Lego pieces - relates to building and people can immediately identify with it.
Jigsaw/tetris pieces - Also relate to building and jumbling or re-arranging things.

That way these pieces could be scrambled around so that users can play with words and how these words are used in sentences.

Another way to go about it is to have an "alphabet soup" of letters.

I forsee some problems with these ideas though, they do not seem "mobile" enough and seem quite restrictive to me. I would have to work on these ideas more to make them more mobile. Also, if I am dealing with communication, maybe I do not need to use language at all.

Using Text with RFID

One of my idea developments on using RFID:

Using text to display words where people can make sentences in public using their RFID tags. It would be similar to Magnetic Poetry. Certain values could be assigned to certain letters. It would be like creating messages on city walls, that people can pass to one another.

The playability of words and what would draw people towards it and what would make it more exciting would be areas worth doing research on. Is it fun? Is it the best way to go about it?

Thoughts on Interactive Entertainment

This are some notes I took from a talk I attended at Games Conference Asia. Thought it might be useful in my project development. Talk was given by Steve Schnur, from EA

Interactive entertainment is about spreading information, exposure to new things in a fun and non painful manner. Even if you are using a virtual environment, the user should somehow relate it to the real world, even if it is highly abstracted.

Interaction is an essential communication tool and it is key that we maximise the user's experience.

Electricity and power in straight grids

This picture was taken along a stretch of road at Changi, near the airport, quite late at night. It reminded me of the importance of grid structures in cities or cityscapes.

RFID Tagging

A non visual form of tracking
In all new passports
In most cityscapes it used. E.g, ERP
We have not used RFID for anything that is playful or away from it's "business" use as yet.

I could either:
Use the RFID reader and read in RFID tags belonging to users
or
have 1 RFID reader and multiple tags of my own.

Maybe create a social interface, or a "social RFID parasite" in the city

Wireless

My thoughts are focusing more on the wireless technologies that surround us now. I feel that to play with architecture, I should look to explore something more mobile. Something that might not even need a computer. I feel that the computer and the fact that I require a power supply is restricting me quite a lot.

People want to access information at any point or area, like an information area.

Some wireless technologies available:
Wireless Internet
Bluetooth
RFID

Thoughts on City Grid

A city grid translates both when looking into a glass building or looking at a city from above. This makes me think of a rubix cube, which could be a possible interface. My concern with a rubix cube though is its usability. I will do more research on it.

How people move through offices and how traffic moves through the grid of the city.

Magnets

Some thoughts on maybe using a grid of magnets as an interface. Magnets with iron fillings might work well, I'm not sure yet.

If I do use iron fillings, the pathways made will be similar to that in the picture on the left. The iron fillings could move based on the positions of the magnets.

Playful Surveillance

How can surveillance be made playful?
Is a game the only way?

- Perceiving the city's times, rythms, sights and sounds. Looking at social locations and boundaries. To look at the cityscape, I would have to think spatially about it.

Tasks:

• Take pictures around school
• Think of how my work would look like.

There is no surveillance in school, so a project using surveillance might be good.

Initial Thoughts - Week 1/2

The project theme is Cityscapes. It relates to how we view the city and the technology that is being used in this city. The first thought that comes to my mind is surveillance and CCTV. There is a lot of surveillance in city areas, using cameras of various kinds.

Some people agree with surveillance, a lot of people do not. It is quite difficult to actually say who is right. I personally feel that surveillance is quite helpful. It can help save lives. But on the other hand, it is also abused. There are better uses for the technology behind surveillance, rather than just watching people.

Cityscapes:
Everyday city life and exploring different forms of technlogy.
Responsive environments
Located media

Painters who have done cityscapes:

• Monet: "Houses of Parliament, Sunset" (1902)
• Vermeer: "View of Delft" 1660-1661

Introduction

This blog is a site for a documentation process of my current project. It is an Interactive Arts project where I am using RFID technology. I will post more as I learn more so that this information can be shared with anyone at all.