This set of studies explores the relationship that we as user have with digital devices. Currently, we are forced to be quite delicate with digital devices for a variety of reasons. Mostly, this is due to the fact that the devices are fragile and expensive. But I’m interested in wondering what would happen if this wasn’t the case. What if you could interact with things in an emotional way? What if the physical manifestation of an emotional outburst caused a meaningful response from a device or system? I’ve explored this elimination of the preciousness associated with a device within the 3 studies in the video above and listed below.
1: Punching: Signal from the Noise.
A nostalgic exploration referencing a time when you could punch a television or radio in order to improve reception.
2: Throwing: Force as Instrument
An experiential exploration that looks at the force of throwing as musical instrument.
3: Shaking: Directional Nudge
The most specific of the scenarios, the shaking interface uses a mobile phone to look at ways in which provocative messages could be sent directly (and anonymously) from one device to another through the use of proximity and a sharp, scolding directional gesture.
This is a series of gesture and networking possibilities that we are exploring with some object forms that we discovered on a research trip. We were engaged by these 12 identical pieces and curious as to what inspiration we could draw from their form. What opportunities are presented when holding, stacking, resting or combining many objects with this form?
The continuation, in physical + interactive form, of these earlier material explorations [01][02][03]
This is an exploration of interactions rooted in the results of the physical manifestations of emotional outburst initially inspired by a material intended for use in situations where protection and shock absorption are required. The explorations moved into a space that begins to ask questions about how we interact with technology and the ways that we treat the digital things around us with care. The visual forms are influenced by the forms of the material, developed for function but formally, are very engaging. The sounds are displayed live from within the object that is being smashed. The signal is affected and amplified in real time to create a more engaging sense of the internal results of the action inflicted upon the object.
The resulting interactions was found to be pleasing by many of the users. Some described it as fun and others said that the action and response was therapeutic for them.
This exploration that I’ve created for the New Ecology of Things (NET) looks at ways in which normal use and gesture can become interface. The parameters of the project are to create a useless network that pokes fun at the idea of the information cloud in some clever or interesting way. This is not that project. This is simply my initial technical sketch to get my wiring correct so that it properly senses the individual touching of multiple objects.
The audio loops being controlled in this demo are some results from my bent keyboard experiment.
The earlier, fruitless version of my sensing setup:
Final Installation in the MDP Wind Tunnel Gallery. 12/01/2009
In his essay “The Art of Noises: A Futurist Manifesto,” Luigi Russolo states that “In the 19th Century, with the invention of machines, Noise was born.” He goes on to reinforce this theory that before the industrial revolution there was not noise, but only sound. It wasn’t until the invention and proliferation of the machine age that we as a culture became bombarded with noise form all types of man made mechanical sources.
With the introduction of digital technology, a new type of noise immersion was created. As I am writing this form my living room table I am “hearing” the laptop in front of me, 2 or 3 hums coming form the kitchen, and thebuzz of the monitor and tower several feet to my left that I can’t even see. (Which I forgot were on and just turned off after having written that sentence.) We barely even notice this anymore. Now that we are not only surrounded by digital technology but the advancements have been such that it has become increasingly portable, an entirely new type of noise has become so pervasive that it is commonplace. But there have also been interesting side affects of these occurrences. One of which is the common nature to encounter one half of a private telephone conversation in public.
Sure, its annoying when a lack of phone etiquette holds up the line at the grocery store or causes confusion in determining just who someone is talking to (thanks small hands-free headsets). But at other times, the voyeuristic temptations to listen in and fill in the other half of the narrative are just too great to avoid.
The reworked rotary phone explores both of these characteristics of digital public noise through the use of a familiar single-user device that caries a sense of direct connection to the communication experience along with a certain nostalgia or celebration for not being assumed to be “always available.” There are 2 aspects to the audio experience created. Both of these experiences are controlled and manipulated through the use of the single rotary dial.
The first is the public display of the performance. Parts of conversations are mixed with ambient, mostly digital, sounds collected from public spaces to create textural compositions reflective of public spaces invaded by these sonic washes and injections. The ambient sounds are given priority in the composition and through the continued manipulation of the rotary dial, the sounds have the ability to deteriorate over time in a manor consistent with the ways that mobile phone conversations break-up and cut-out.
The second is the individual experience of listening to the audio performed through the handset. The original handset speaker was utilized to provide the appropriate texture for the sounds relevant to the device used. The material for the individual display is provided in a way that composes the conversational language and digital ambiance with more priority given to the voice-based narratives. The composition is also reminiscent of attempting to listen to someone who insists on using their phone in a public place.
Through the use and manipulation of the rotary dial of the phone, not only is the user affecting the sounds that they hear through the handset, they are also affecting and manipulating the compositions performed publicly which they are able to hear as well. The individual experience is intended to include both the intimate handset audio performance along with the public composition so that they can build upon each other to create new moments of silence and chaos, depending on how the user is interacting with the device.
The first step to get the cover off. Let me also say that I love devices made in a time where things could be taken apart. In order to disassemble this phone, all I needed was a couple different screw drivers. I didn’t have to break any seams or destroy any chemical glue bonds in order to get into the case. I just had to deal with a few decades of dust, rust and grime.
Once I got the parts separated, laid out, I cleaned off the layers and layers of built up… I’m not sure what it was. Compacted dirt and dust I suppose. At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself it was just so that I can move forward.
