Month: February 2019

My midterm project was inspired while we were talking about having water on our projects and exploding.

I want to make a boat that has an Arduino attached to it. The boat will be made of plastic material so that it doesn’t sink (maybe inside a water bottle?) and will be enclosed so wires are not expose to the water.

For the sensor, I would be using an ultrasonic sensor for distance sensing, so that the boat knows to not go any further if it is near the surrounding wall of the box. I will attach two servo motors that is attached to some propeller looking object (I’d probably make the propeller myself from plastic). These two servo motors will control the direction the boat will move in.

1. Moving forward — left moves counter clockwise, right moves clockwise
2. Moving backwards — left moves clockwise, right moves counterclockwise
3. Moving left — left motor rotates
4. Moving right — right motor rotates

Users will press different buttons to move whichever motor. For example, if you want to go left, you would press a button for the left motor and another button for the direction of the motor.

“Art is but an imitation of nature.” –Van Gogh

For my midterm project, I want to create some sort of arrangement that imitates the relationship between sunflowers and the sun, an ode to my favorite artist. I am aiming to use servos, LEDs and photoresistors (and hopefully either a motion detector / humidity sensor too).

The author, coming back to answer questions on his rant, addresses a few more important details. His point about technology such as iPads not being bad but good for now is critical as the world engages in more research towards more interactive technologies.

I think his emphasis is on creating technology that allows humans to deal with tactile interfaces and not deplete our existence to immobility is important. However, I do not agree with his argument, using the neuroscientist’s words, that “while a blind person may simply not be able to find this or that object, the finger-blind cannot understand its inner meaning and value.” This seems a little exaggerated as humans are not only limited to their fingers to find meanings or value in things, we have four other very reliable senses that exist to help do this too. Therefore, I don’t think “finger-blindness” is the end-all and be-all of all things in future technology if we don’t achieve the tactile immersive technology the author is seeking.

 

With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?

The author rants about how the future of interaction forgets to include a critical component: the human capability of using our hands. The many levels of manipulation we can achieve with our hands is probably only limited to these limbs specifically and yet they are not given that much thought in the ‘future’ of interactive design.

I agree with the author because reading his rant reminded me of the the VR headsets that the world went crazy for a couple of years ago (and still does in a few places). Although they provide a new way for consumers to immerse themselves in an alien environment, they do not offer much more than just moving our heads left and right. Most forms of VR headsets do not allow for movement within the environment or any real acknowledgment of depth. In most, you can’t even see your hands and use them to manipulate the environment. So they make me question, how futuristic are they really?

Although the author does not offer any real solution, personally, I believe haptics are they way forward to provide the future of interaction with more ability to manipulate and actually make use of our bodies.