Multimedia

  Balloon Orchestra

Starting Date : 21st Nov
End Date : 5th Dec

Software Used :

  Arduino
  Max Msp
  Logic pro x

Description : The Idea behind the project was coming up with a simple interface given the functionality available on the light blue bean (The microcontroller we were given to work with). Given the way the Bean works the simple functions already available, we chose to run with the accelerometer using it to change the pitch of predetermined instruments. By Attaching a Bean to a group of balloons filled with helium making them float we managed to create a simple fun interface where the audience would interact with balloons in order to play music.

We decided to set scales for the instruments to play by creating an array for each and having the acceleration on each of our beans select the pitch from the array and play it.

The reason we decided to set the scales for each instrument was to limit the randomness of the interaction. The interaction in mind was meant to be meaningful for the user and if the user felt like doing different input leads to the same result which would be total randomness. Then it isn’t a good interaction. We had to find the sweet spot where it was at once interactive and user felt like they did have an input yet not completely random where the user feels like the feedback isn’t related to their input. We reached that sweet spot by adjusting the sensitivity on the bean to a degree where it took a conscious effort to trigger the change. Where it didn’t feel random.
This is the code we programmed onto each of the beans

and this is a live demonstration of the project

  Stacks

Description :

 The main idea behind the project was to create a hypnotic continuous effect, upon learning the function necessary to create a simple pile up in processing I was intrigued by the randomness of it, it satisfied this desire to see something random but not completely random, it creates this interesting feeling where the user can expect what is going to happen next but they aren’t entirely sure about it so they stick around just a couple of seconds longer to see it happen. It drags on and before the user knows they are in this trance where they feel compelled to stay long enough to experience more of it, then their fingers find the next string and it creates an effect so intriguing and hypnotic it restarts the cycle .

Start Date : 10th Oct
End Date : 24th Oct

The prototype/ the base idea I found the basic pile up to be intriguing and satisfying in an odd way I decided to elaborate on it by allowing for more than just random colored circles so I increased the possibilities and added an interaction element
The way my program functions is
It offers the user 4 options
Red hue rectangles
Random color ellipsis
Grayscale rectangles
Blue hue ellipsis
And one button that does absolutely nothing when you press it… But when released it will change the background color to a random color that is either
Black
A shade of Green
A shade of Red
A shade of Blue
Program Demonstration
When I had my program functioning and I was satisfied with it I decided to start working on my interface
Original interface idea was

The user would use a metal ruler that is connected to the earth of a makey makey* to hit ping pong balls hanging from the ceiling, I soon realized the ruler would be very limiting and the fact that the user can only touch the interface at the balls creates a very monotonous interaction.
So I then decided to have an entire rope wrapped in tin foil tape in order to make it conductive and using those rope pieces dangling from the ceiling the user would have flexibility over how they wanna interact with it…
But that wasn’t enough. When it came time to build I decided to scale it all down instead of having the rope hanging from the ceiling I decided to build a box for it.
As I was building the box I realized that I could have the rope wrapped around a wooden panel. It would look like a harp tablet where the user interacts with the ropes on the front and the cabling all happens in the back.

I made this prototype
Then soon realized that instead of rope wrapped in tin foil tape I could use copper wires.
I then faced the problem where the copper wires wrapped around the wood left no comfortable location for the alligator clips from the makey makey
I then decided to use screws, insert them in the holes at the bottom and connect the copper wires to them and the alligator clips too, I found that the mechanical look of it looked aesthetically pleasing so I replace the wooden plank with a sheet of acrylic glass my prototype then looked like this

and here's an interface Demo

  Ultimate Bravery

Ultimate bravery was a custom fanmade game mode for league of legends that stopped being updated a while back
the idea behind it is that the player is suggested the champion to play and the items to build on that champion starting with boots and with items that were randomly generated from predetermined categories
it made for a fun non serios game mode where some players got really lucky and some got extremely unluck but since the categories were predetermined it never got unfair for one team
my project was to update ultimate bravery and make it into a phone app using App Inventor 2
this was the welcome screen

upon pressing the "feeling brave?" button the player would then get taken to a page that looks like this

where at the very top they see the champion icon and name then the first 2 icons show the summoner spells they have to take (predetermined abilities) then the third icon is the boots which they are forced to buy first
then the rest of the icons are the other items to buy it's a scroll menu so the player can scroll down to access the rest of icons
if for some reason the player isn't up for the challenge of ultimate bravery they can press the reroll buton to get another champion with a different set of items
here are a few examples