Transience – The Final Word

Concept of Transience

Transience is an interactive and generative art platform consisting of luminescent building blocks for people to construct their own form or sculpture in the urban context. [read more]

Schematics

+cube diagram

Fritzing Diagram

Circuit Diagram

Fritzing PCB Design

Parts List

Cube Parts List

Additional Parts Required

Technical Aspects

Transience is built off the Arduino open source platform. This project uses the 3.3v Arduino Pro Mini, which contains the ATMEGA328 microprocessor running at 8Mhz. As seen above, the circuit for each cube is quite simplistic, however, it’s the 18 connections to other Arduino powered cubes that boosts the complexity of this design.

The output data for a single cube originates from 1 pin on the Arduino and connects internally to all 6 faces of the cube. Every time the Arduino enters the main loop a bit is communicated on this single pin. Once 8 bits (1 byte) have been communicated, the process starts again. With this method a constant stream of data is transmitted.

The inputs on the other hand, sample the incoming data every time the main loop is entered, and store the bits in a buffer. Once 8 bits have been sampled and a certain amount of time has passed, the cube’s colour and output byte are recalculated. This process repeats for the lifecycle of the system. There is no clock synchronisation between Arduino chips, which means that the input a cube samples is not only based on the byte being received, but when in the bit stream the second cube is connected.

The recalculation process is attributed to the behaviour between these cubes, and different formulas will display different visualisations.

Code

The most up-to-date code, cube blueprints, and fritzing files can be found at this location:
http://code.google.com/p/transience/

Supporting Documentation

Prototype v2.0 Evaluation and User Testing Results

The attempted construction of prototype v2.0 uncovered a large number of design challenges. In the end, the full device could not be completed; however, a lot was learned throughout the process.

Form of Attraction

Stronger magnets were used in v2.0, which immediately improved the user experience. People were no longer fighting to keep their construction together, and were able to experiment with more complex forms. It was now obvious to people when two sides of the cube were not meant to fit together; however, they still found a way to circumvent the correct orientation of the pop rivet connections.

Magnets, at this point, still appear to be a sound way to fasten the cubes to each other, however, may have to be abandoned if they don’t provide enough stability on a larger scale

Material Matters

Polypropylene is the wrong material to use. There were a number of issues which traced back to the material used for housing. While the cube was structurally sound for the initial prototype, it couldn’t handle the demands the second iteration required:

• Not robust – the score marks made for easy and flush folding would sometimes snap under use (and abuse). There were also instances of the scores snapping with the initial fold.
• Sides would bow outwards – while stronger magnets solved this issue from the first prototype, the addition of pop rivets accentuated this problem preventing the magnets from gaining a proper hold.
• Slippery surfaces – the surface was too slippery for super glue to hold. In many cases the magnets needed reglueing. Epoxy didn’t stick at all.
• Super Glue + PolyProp = Bad – Not only did the fumes from the glue discolour the plastic, but it also made it very brittle. This wasn’t so much of a problem as the magnets would fall off before they would break the surface.

Riveting Options

After searching long and hard for a fastener with the flattest head to sit flush with the outside of the cube, my search turned up only one viable option: pop rivets. It was explained to me that to obtain something to suit my specific need, it would need to be engineered. A prototype with the smallest bolt proved they were the best option for fastening, however, they did not sit flush with the cube face.

Unfortunately, pop rivets also don’t sit as flush to the cube face as required, but were my only option. In most cases the combination of the bowing sides and the height of the rivet heads, prevented both magnets holding secure. This had a knock on effect with connectivity due to the magnets purpose of enforcing the correct orientation was now failing.

It should also be mentioned that, aesthetically, the pop rivets on the faces of the cubes isn’t very attractive. The next iteration will involve more time developing the initial corner cap design, which will hopefully solve a lot of these issues.

Nothing should ever be this hard

As the cubes rotation when connected is crucial, people spent too much time ensuring correct orientation rather than construction. Due to the rivet pattern on the sides (front, back, left, right) being very similar, people frequently mismatched sides they thought would connect. One of the compromises I had to make when designing this prototype was with visual indication of correct alignment. Alignment becomes invisible to the user once two faces are connected. While I understood the physical limitation, I learnt just how detrimental this type of interaction was to the overall experience. This should be another design flaw that the corner cap design can solve.

These observations indicate people’s aversion to thinking about orientation of such a building block. It’s interesting to note that LEGO shares a similar orientation limitation with the v2.0 prototype. LEGO’s main difference is the simplicity of this limitation in comparison.

Itty-bitty living space!

The design for the cube was too small. The size worked for prototype v1.0 due to the simplicity of the components found inside. When it came to housing the components for v2.0, the dimensions came up short. The measurements for the cube were taken for the PCB, battery, and Arduino to sit nicely at the bottom of the cube with the LED position directly in the center. What wasn’t catered for was the excess of wires needed to connect each face. If the minimum length of wire was used for each external connection then everything may have fit perfectly. However, the small scale required soldering and assembly to be done on a flattened cube template, and assembled at the end.

There are a few possible solutions to this problem, of which, a combination may be the best option:

• Create a larger cube
• Lay conductive tracks along the face (this could add a very interesting aesthetic quality)
• Redesign the external connectivity

Overall, v2.0 of the Transience prototype taught me a lot about device construction and the pitfalls of certain design paths. The lessons learnt in v2.0 will inform the third iteration of this device, and with the aid of the open source community I hope to see this project flourish.

Prototype v2.0

The second iteration of my prototype aims to resolve the design issues encountered in the initial prototype, and to incorporate the inter-cube connectivity to emit dynamic colours. Due to the cost of prototyping this iteration, I’ve chosen to focus on developing 7 of the smart cubes, and 9 spacer cubes. Smart cubes refer to the fully functional cubes outline in the final concept. The spacer cubes are intended to extend the reach of the smart cubes, and piggyback off the power stream for their LED colour. The main goal is to test the intended user interaction with the fully functional device.

Design

Launching into the design phase for the second prototype, one of my major challenges I needed to overcome was enabling connectivity between all 6 faces of the cubes. I started the process through using a series of paper prototypes, combined with the polypropylene cubes created for the first prototype.

Paper prototype of connectivity cap

The initial concept for cube interconnectivity involved conductive caps placed on 2 corners of the cube. The caps would be segmented so that each face has it’s own set of connection points (i.e. the cap doesn’t link up 3 faces together).

Caps at 2 diagonally opposing corners covers all 6 faces

Connecting cube faces becomes as easy as visually matching corners caps together

Updated style of the same corner connectivity caps seen above. Green – Output, Blue – Input, Black – Ground

Example of 3 cubes placed together

The idea is that all 8 corners of each cube contain a spherical magnet. The magnets are secured to the corners inside the cube, but are able to spin to match the polarity of the magnets within another cube being connected.

Top cube above is still connected to the group via the hidden diagonal plate

A structure coming together to show how the connection plates are required to congregate together

An almost complete 2x2x2 cube showing the connection plates at the center of the structure

The above method, while robust in its design, didn’t suit the timeframe or budget of the second prototype. An alternative was to use small bits of metal, such as washers; aligned in a certain way to conductively connect the cubes faces.

First paper prototype attempt at quicker and cheaper approach to connecting each of the faces

Pencil on example cube to test layout of connections

Two cubes were used to test the interaction of connecting cubes together

With this design, orientation is of strict importance to ensure the connection points align and enable two-way communication between the cubes. A compromise needed to be made so that the overall concept could be tested, and in the end I settled on the idea of using pop rivets, with washers and solder tabs.

Test of pop rivets with the material. Pop rivets were chosen over bolts due to their lower profile against the material once secure

Example cube with test pop rivets to test alignment and security with magnets

Example cubes showing un-touching rivet heads. The magnets not only secure the cube faces together, but also aid in creating the connection

These solder tabs are secured to the pop rivets inside the cubes for wire to be run to the Arduino microprocessor

Updated design of the cube template to accommodate the magnet and pop rivet positioning

Construction

Once the design and paper prototype phases yielded adequate results, I started the process of constructing the final prototype. Below is the high level  process I followed (instructions are for a single cube):

1. Laser cut the cube template out of semi-opaque polypropylene.
2. Fold along the score marks, but don’t assemble
3. Super Glue 2 magnets onto the outlined circles on all 6 faces
4. Pop rivet 4 rivets, washers and solder tabs into the 4 pilot holes on each face. Ensure the backing washer and solder tab are located on what will be the inside of the cube, and that the rivet head is on the outside.
5. Bend the solder tab 90 degrees to the cubes face. You don’t want to melt the material when soldering onto these.
6. Solder 18 thin, flexible and insulated wires to each of the solder tabs. The wires should be long enough so that when they are all connected to the PCB, the flattened cube template isn’t impossible to deal with. NOTE: They should also be short enough so that the cube isn’t a mess of wires when constructed. Leave the other end of the wires unconnected for the moment
7. Solder the Arduino, RGB LED, 3x Resistors, and JST connector onto PCB following the diagram below (NOTE: The rows of resistors labelled with input, output and ground are not part of the circuit, they were added so that the fritzing PCB generator would add holes for the 18 wires. I soldered pin headers onto my PCB and Arduino so they could easily be separated for testing (and to reuse the Arduino in other projects).
1.  
8. Solder the 18 wires (currently only soldered on the 4 solder tabs on each face of the cube) to the PCB following the diagram below (NOTE: Ignore the VCC contact unless you wish to modify the project to have a central location for power. In this process I have not connected the VCC contacts and include a battery in each cube.)
   1.  
9. Mount PCB and battery onto the lid so the JST connector is easily accessible
10. Assemble cube
11. Plug in battery.
12. Rinse, Lather, Repeat

Construction Image Gallery

Pop rivets secure in a custom jig for the pneumatic pop riveter

Pop rivets secure in a custom jig for the pneumatic pop riveter

A completed pop riveted cube with magnets glued to each face

Completed PCB's with attached Arduino Pro Minis

A test solder on a broken cube template

A completed cube (sans Arduino & Battery)

The completed set of blank cubes

The letter T

The letter H

A tree!

a

BACKGROUND

Mental health issues have grown in the past few decades to epidemic levels worldwide. They exert direct impact on a person’s ability to live and fully function socially and professionally. In Australia, the overall cost of mental illness – including loss of productivity – it is estimated in about $20 billion per annum (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009).

PROPORTION OF PEOPLE AGED 16-85 WITH A MENTAL DISORDER

Source: National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results, 2007

Anxiety

Anxiety related disorders are particularly prevalent on the Australian adult population. I fact, according to the Beyond Blue organisation:

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in Australia. Nearly one in 7 people will experience some type of anxiety disorder in any one year – around one in 6 women and one in 10 men. One in four people will experience an anxiety disorder at some stage of their lives. 

Symptoms and alert signs of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) include:

• Feeling edgy/restless;
• Feeling tired;
• Having difficulty concentrating;
• Developing muscle tension (sore back, neck or jaw, headache);
• Find it hard to fall/stay asleep.

Stress

Despite being a natural and positive reaction from our organism when facing situations of perceived danger or alertness, the group of psychological and physiological reactions to stressful situations are, in the long term, acutely damaging to human health. In fact, stress has been consistently deemed as leading caused to a series of associated health conditions, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Cardiovascular disease
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Gastrointestinal disorders

A research commissioned by Medibank in 2007 showed that the annual cost to the Australian economy of employees coming to work but not being able to function properly due to stress amounted to $25.7 billion.

Studies indicates that there seems to be a threshold before which an increased level of stress is actually beneficial to boost performance, but after which performance significantly drops and damaging effects start to show up. In other words, after a prolonged period of sustained stress, people stop functioning on their peak, start to crack up and have their health deeply compromised.

PROPOSED APPROACH: STOP, REVIVE, SURVIVE

Stress and anxiety are human conditions. However, they usually cripple in silently, subconsciously and symptoms often only get manifested when they are already causing potentially serious psychological and/or physical damage.

One of the key strategies for stress and anxiety management is learning to identify the conditions that trigger the altered mental behaviour. When individuals realise the elements and circumstances which make them susceptible to tension, they can more easily take proactive action towards stopping the distress cycle and avoid spiralling out of control or react only when it is already too late for preventing injury. In particular, realising the amount of continuous time one has spent in state of alert may be beneficial for early detection of stress and anxiety cycles.

It is therefore the intention of the current design effort to propose a solution to help people to become aware of reaching tipping points on continuously emotional arousal so that they can realise the potential for danger and act preventively. Such goal is intended to be achieved through the collection of real-time physiological data from the person’s own body by biofeedback sensors – more precisely, heart rates through the use of a cardio chest band.

OPEN, ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE DESIGN CONCEPT

 As an open source manifesto states, “Don’t judge an object for what it is, but imagine what it could become.” Thackara notes that “unlike proprietary or branded products, open solutions tend to be easy to maintain and repair locally. (…) All our design decisions, from here on, need to take into account our natural, industrial and cultural systems – and the interactions between them – as the context for our creative efforts” (Thackara, 2011).

Central concerns of the present design project were therefore:

• Utilise as few and accessible materials as possible, aiming for a straightforward assembly process;
• Design a non-intrusive solution, potentially combining portable and standalone components to address different monitoring purposes.

User research indicate that, at its core, the set of thoughtless acts normally involved on people’s natural attempts to monitor their stress levels could be narrowed down into two main features:

1. Having some kind of “alarm” – preferably operating in the background – which identifies when a anxiety threshold has been crossed and warn the user about it;
2. Keep track of physiological levels over a period of time, so that behavioural patterns can naturally emerge from the report and preventive actions then be taken.

For the first need, a cardio game was developed in the form of a small console playing an animation on a LCD display guided by the users biofeedback. For the second, the heart rate data collected is organised in a table broken down by days of the week and made available on the mobile phone through a wireless network.

The game

The game shows a smiley face trying to cross a gap in the ground, helped by heart figures that go up and down and, occasionally, bridge the gap, allowing the smiley face to cross it safely. The heart figures speed is proportional to the user’s heart rate, therefore the higher the heart rate the faster their up and down movement and the harder for the smiley face to complete its journey without falling down into the chasm.

If it fails more than 3 times, the game then stops and the breathing control animation comes up instead – a series of expanding/contracting stars designed to create a breathing rhythm aiding the user to breathe more slowly. More precisely, each breathing cycle takes about 8 seconds: 4 seconds of inhaling, 4 more seconds for exhaling.  Such pace is also emphasised by blue LED’s placed at the devices side, which glow on and off with inhalation and exhalation, respectively.

The purpose of the game is not only to raise the users awareness about their agitation level (by means of measuring their heart rate), but also to help them to control it through a fun gauge and digital breathing aid mechanism.

The mobile tracking web page

 Based on the heart data collected, a dump table is composed with the consolidated hourly average for the whole of the past week.

FULL LIST OF PARTS

CONSOLE (SENSOR BAG)

• Arduino Uno (or Duemilanove)
• Polar Heart Rate Monitor Interface, by Dan Julio Designs and SparkFun
• WiFly Arduino shield
• Xbee 1MW Wire Antenna
• Xbee Explorer Regulated, by SparkFun
• Breadboard mini self-adhesive
• Cables
• Plastic case box
• Small bag
• Power supply: 9V Battery and connector to Arduino  OR Arduino USB adaptor OR 220V-12V dc 500 mA switchmode power adaptor

CARDIO GAME

- Electronic components

•  Arduino Uno (or Duemilanove)
• ST7920 based 128×64 LCD display
• Xbee 1MW Wire Antenna
• Xbee Explorer Regulated, by SparkFun 2x Blue LED’s
• Breadboard mini self-adhesive
• Cables
• 220V-12V dc 500 mA switchmode power adaptor

- Chassis

•  PVC tube, 90mm diameter
• 1 sheet Black EVA foam
• Black isolating tape
• 1 aluminium sheet
• 1 sheet translucid plastic sheets

Parts List

1)    Nichrome Wire – $4.95

2)    Perspex – $26 (Material & Service)

3)    Arduino Uno – $29.95

4)    330ohm Resistor 10-pack – $0.65

5)    Jumper Wire Kit – $6.95

6)    Jumper Wire 16 pin – $7.8

7)    Laptop with Camera – Existing

Total: $69.95 + laptop

Optonal: Kinect – $149

Video Link: http://vimeo.com/32233231

Coding_Waiting Chime

  Video Link:

circuit diagram:

Laser Cutting template:

  Technical aspect of the device:

In the device “Memory Box”, there are two major technologies I used. One is projection mapping, which is used to project the animation on the 3d object exactly; the other one is OSC (Open Sound Control), which is a protocol for communication among computers, sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices that is optimized for modern networking technology and has been used in many application areas.

Projection mapping

When projecting onto an arbitratry 3d surface, no matter how the projector is positioned and oriented towards the surface the resulting image will mostly look distorted. Note though that there is one point from which the projected image looks perfectly aligned, that is: the position of the projector. So in order to achieve an undistorted look on an arbitrary surface you I have to provide the projector with an image that depicts a view onto that surface from its own (the projectors) position. And that is projection mapping. In my device I used software called VPT (Video Projection Tool).

VPT 

VPT is built in max/msp with jitter from cycling74. In that case, VPT can communicate with processing and Arduino. We can use VPT to project on multiple objects and surfaces within the projector´s projection angle and toexploit the depth of field in video projectors. It works with 8 layers of video which can be placed in a 3D space (openGL). Each layer can be scaled, positioned, rotated, distorted, tinted and masked individually, and accept QuickTime video files, live camera feed and a live drawing tool as sources.

 OSCp5

oscP5 is an OSC implementation for the programming environment processing. In the device I used this library to achieve the communication among Processing, arduino and VPT.

Parts list:

1* Arduino Uno

1* projector (2200 lumens)

2* breadboard

6* tactile button

6*10k ohm resistor

2 x 800x400cm 3mm Perspex board

1 x 800x400cm 3mm wood board

jumping wire

crocodile wire

Concept behind the device:

With digital technology now enabling us to store so much of our stuff on computers, I sometimes have to ask myself, where’s all my stuff gone?

My photographs are all stored digitally now. My music is all stored digitally. And they are completely invisible to anyone visiting the house.

We surround ourselves with the things that define us, and while digital technology lets us store as much stuff as our hard drives allow, it is also erasing our ability as human being s to have the things we love around us –the things that reveals who we are.

Gone are the chance conversations when someone sees an album on a shelf and says “I’ve been there, too”. But we can’t simply let these experiences disappear just because the technology doesn’t allow it.

I want to make a device to get that physical nature back into our lives. We are storing our photos and music digitally from here on out. I think what we need is some device or series of devices that can be used in our homes, offices, to represent a physical manifestation of our digital world.

The device is supposed to be a digital memory box. The original idea was that when you open it, you’ll see the souvenirs you bought during your trip. There will be a small LED and a button behind each souvenir. Every time you open the box, the LED will be turned on randomly and the souvenir will be lighten, the pictures or video you took during the exactly trip will be projected on the wall.

In the process of developing the device I found out that the original design is lack of interaction with users. I made a prototype and when people used it, they are not very excited with the result. Then I tried to improve the design of the device.

In the new version, the user can put their souvenirs in different small boxes and when they put the boxes in exact position of the big box, different videos or albums can be triggered and be projected on the wall. The outcome of the new version turned out to be much better than the first one. The users enjoyed the experience of using the device, but they found out that the visual effect of the device is kind of boring and monotonous.

In the third version, I insert a slide in each box. Each slide stands for a memory of a place or object. The device will read which box you put in and can animate them. The projector can paint exact animations onto the slides. In this final version, people who used it are pleased and satisfied with the result.

When I designed and develop the device I met a lot of problems and it made me rethink the definition of design. Design is difficult to define and explain. In 1995 the British design council put out a little book called “Definitions of Design,” which was arrived at by asking fifty people to give their personal definitions. Here are three examples:

I believe design is an intention, purpose, and plan: and that good design is there fore by inference, where such plan has been well conceived, well executed, and of benefit to someone.

Milner Gray, Designer

Design is the difference between doing it, and doing it right.

Mark Fisher MP, Co-chairman, All-party Group on Design

With art – if you like, you can be really weird. But in design you have to think about what other people will like.

Ghisli, age 10

There is no right definition or wrong definition of design. Design is not art. You cannot ‘design’ something just looks good. The most important thing in design is people, to create a good design, we must understand people – what they need, want and enjoy, as well as how they think and behave.

In the process of developing the device I found out the importance of prototype and learned how to improve a device by viewing the feedback of the users. Prototype is defined as an original type, form, or instance that serves as a model on which later stages are based or judged. Actually, every representation of a design before the final solution is a prototype. The prototype helped me in two main aspects: communicating with the users and evaluating the design ideas. Prototype often makes each interactive step a little more realistic. At some point you are likely to feel excited, feeling that comes with a creative leap, but that is only an indication that you have to moved forward in the detail of the aspect of the design that you are focusing on right then. You will only know that the design is good when you have tried it out with the people who will use it and found that they are pleased, excited, motivated and satisfied with the result.

Video Link:

http://vimeo.com/32146915

Click to download:

CircuitDiagram

3DModelIllustration

ConceptEssay

ITEMlist

Technical aspect of the device