The Key Board hack and trace was surprisingly easy to do. By plugging it in and using a patch that printed the key number I was quickly able to determine which input was given from each of my connections. This took far less time then if I had actually traced the keys. Over the holidays I thought on the idea of the wearable interface. I did some research into Max and watched a movie called the Transcendent Man. My original idea for Max was to create a 3D space in which the user could control objects with the motions of the body.Gesture Control of Sounds in 3D Space
After some research it seemed that it would be incredibly difficult to put a 3D space into Max or to find one that had already been made. This sort of put a stop to any plans leading in that direction. At this point I started thinking about the switches i would like to use and what would be best for detecting motion. I came up with the idea of spring loaded switches. When pulled the connection would break and when the connection is remade it would create a bang and the input from these would control components. This worked well with the joints of the body and since I had to change from the 3D world idea it could apply to many different possibilities.
At the start of the week back I had an idea for my interface and my switches. I set to work on these. I began thinking about what i could make my switch out of. Pretty quickly I figured out that the best way to make these would be using the end of a pen and the spring that belongs in it. Once i had this component I needed a way to keep the wire attached to the spring so it wouldn't pull through. At first i tried just using a wad of cellotape on the end. This worked for a short period of time but then began to pull itself off the wire. This connection would never be sustainable for a longer period of time. My next attempt used a flat head nail. This was the perfect fit and i knew i could solder the wire onto it. When I tested the nail for conductivity I realized it was galvanized. This meant i had to file the top layer off to expose the metal underneath. Having sussed this I soldered the wire onto the nail. However when i did this I increased the size of the nail and it would no longer fit inside the spring. This would make it difficult if this was used. My final outcome for a switch was cast some solder balls with the wire inside. This was easy enough to do and created a strong connection between the two points. One problem that did occur was that when then balls were cast the outside layer oxidized. This meant that i had to file the top layer off to get a current to flow. This would become a long term problem for the product as the connecting areas could re-oxidise and not allow the current to flow. After the parts were put together I glued the open end so that it was an enclosed piece.
The idea behind the interface was basically a human remote. The userwould wear a exoskeleton like outfit with switches at the joints. I wanted to be able to emulate the control KARL had in his dreams. In one scene he used is arms to control various objects and i wanted to copy these motions and have them affect the video.
It came time eventually to start the Max Patch. I had not been looking forward to this because although I had been searching the internet for help I still could not quite get my head around Max. I managed to piece together a program that read the inputs from my hack first. This was the easy part as it only required assigning key numbers to objects and adding bangs.
After this I once again delved into the resources of the internet and found some effects I could use in conjunction with my video. (Effects sourced from http://001.vade.info/). From the resources I pulled the effects that created the most drastic changes to the video. I set it up so that as the bangs went off it would switch between the effects. At this point I hit several issues with my program. I intended to display for or more screens in a display together but when I tried to edit my downloaded effects I couldn't edit the windows as the source file was specific to the number code.
As all the effects displayed in the same window there were problems with overlapping. I had no way to fix this problem so I just had to deal with it. In future though I would find out how to make the effects myself rather then sourcing them. With a patch the way it was I was left with just enough time to mount these switches in a holders so that they could be attached at the joints of the body.
Coming in early in the morning I discovered that when I tried to add the last switches into the hack the new switches would stop the old ones from working. I tried for the hour before the presentation but to no avail. The logic behind my connections was correct but for some reason no current would pass. This meant that I lost half of the inputs I needed.
Overall the final product was nowhere near my initial ideas. This came about through a lack of understanding of the program and the time constraints that were put in place. There are many things I wold change if I was to do this project again. The first being to start off with a wireless keyboard but also about having a more definite plan of action about what i was attempting to create. With the lack of a good idea to start with I had to build it as I went. I believe this to be a very inefficient way to work and it will be something that affects any future projects I have.
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