itp oddities

PERSONAL REFLECTION:

Let me start off by saying this class is very intimidating but exciting for me. It is one of those classes that I want to take so bad but am also so nervous about how difficult I know it is going to be.

Even in just one little taster class of creative electronics (shout out to STEM Modular in BK!!) I felt like I was swimming in the deep end of something I wanted so badly to grasp but found it to be justttt out of reach.

And even if I might feel like I might be in way over my head in some respects, I am committed to learn everything I can to make the experiential and installation projects in my mind a reality.

I find it funny and perhaps a bit ironic that the first project I put together for this class is called the ‘Humbler 5000.’ I have no doubt that this class will serve that purpose and the fantasy device we created will not need to have played a single part.

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IN CLASS PROJECT:

For our first in-class project we were tasked with creating a rapid prototype of a fantasy device that explored the relationship between person and machine.

The list of fantasy devices included:
image generator ⊹ ࣪ ˖ life soundtrack generator ⊹ ࣪ ˖ teleportation device ⊹ ࣪ ˖ mind reading device ⊹ ࣪ ˖ instant food machine ⊹ ࣪ ˖ facetime for touch ⊹ ࣪ ˖ dream transporter ⊹ ࣪ ˖ roasting machine

In the end, Ian, Justin, Nasif and I decided to go with Ian’s idea of the roasting machine- a machine that would insult and humble the user. To kick things off, our team went straight to the ‘junk’ shelves to find some objects that we could use as a starting point to build our initial idea off of.

While many proposed iterations of the machine and objects caught our eye, we fell in love with the ‘insult diety’ concept that Ian proposed and found the perfect avatar to play the part- a synthetic plant with plenty of green fronds that gave it lots of character.

Once we found the central point of the design it was much easier to design a proposed system. Within 30 minutes we transformed a cardboard box, white paper, buttons and knobs, circuit boards, mirrored acrylic, and colorful holiday lights (thanks to the quick thinking and electrical skills of Justin!) into a fully designed insult machine- The Humbler 5000.

The Humbler 5000 enables an AI-powered insult deity to roast you either emotionally or physically in your language of choice. Those who need only a light ego check can start the dial lower, but for those who truly need to be brought back down to Earth, you can dial it all the way up to a toasty 11 to really bring the heat. The Humbler 5000 also comes to life with a soft robotics system powering the delicate fronds that can point out all your flaws in a very direct and personal way!

It was quick but I loved this project. Beyond learning new technical and creative skills, one of the main reasons I came to ITP was to build silly and fun things with other people. My whole group was smiling and laughing and we all couldn’t believe that this was the first day of grad school. For me it felt like Kindergarten all over again in the best way. It made me reflect on some of my fondest memories of school and this playful class assignment reminded me of why I have always loved school, even if the way schools were structured didn’t always love me back.

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ﾟ。 love you ITP!
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LABS:

The main purpose of the labs this week was to learn about the different components we would be using, get comfortable finding my way around a breadboard, learn how to create functioning circuits of various kinds, include switches and buttons in circuits, and use the Arduino as a source of power.

I feel like I can understand how things connect and make sense of the pathways that electricity moves along when I build them but still have trouble with how the schematics and symbols relate to the physical circuit building. Hopefully that will be something that comes with time.

I am excited to start building more complicated set ups that include the Arduino microcontroller beyond a power source and how the code can influence the physical builds.

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