Author: nathier fernandez

Repetition

| nathier fernandez

*Create an interactive artwork that implements the concept of repetition with variation.*

– Setareh and Nathier-

This piece is a collaboration with Setareh, our main idea was to combine our graphic design (or little obsessions) and programming skills. Setareh was into tropical vibes while I was more interested in playing with C,M,Y,K colours and simple forms.

 

 

We started with the C,M,Y,K part of the code, because including variation in colour through movement was the main structure of our piece.

Although our initial idea was to show one graphics part and then run the sketch to show the other. We struggled a bit in the mixing of the images, the for and callings on setup were a little too much for our functionsdrawimage or functiondrawcolor to work the way we wanted

 

 

At the end, we embraced the idea of our two worlds mixed in a single image. This is our piece.

 

Ps: We got our inspiration from Bees & Booms, a tumbler full of beautiful processing GIFs.

 

 

 

Citibike / Observation

| nathier fernandez

*Pick a piece of interactive technology in public, used by multiple people. Write down your assumptions as to how it’s used, and describe the context in which it’s being used.*

 

Around the world, there is a movement of being more active, more CO2 free and the bike it’s at the centre of this. New York City created a bike sharing program called Citibike sponsored by Citibank, You can see stations everywhere especially in Manhattan. The service is used by locals and visitors, it has become extremely popular so much so that the stations are often the stations are empty, even the city promised more bikes this year. With a city so busy and expensive as New York, one could see why the bikes are a popular alternative, they are a fair alternative for short distances taxi rides or subway commutes.

Citibikes look attractive, despite de big logos from Citibank they have all the basic features desirable in a bike, they are big and flashy. Although I personally don’t think they are pretty they are useful, something that might bother Don Norman and might be the reason why I choose to get my one bike, it was more affordable in the long term, it was attractive and makes me think it works better than the city bikes. Emotion and need made me think that the share bike service is not a good option, but for others, citibikes might be more affordable, functional and pleasurable and good enough for their needs.

I used this service once as a tourist with a friend. It took us a while to get a Day pass, not because the steps were difficult, even knowing English we were slow at understanding what to do next but they were too many, even our debits cards didn’t work and they were Mastercard(sponsor of city bike) at the end the credit card did. We choose some random bikes, waited for the green light (fought with the lock) and got our bikes for the rest of the day. During my observation, this same struggles happened to people who one could say were a tourist or clearly new to the service, these people took more time at choosing their bikes and getting on their way.

The lock was one of the particular interactions that took people by surprise, it took several attempts to either pick it up or to returned. This happened to almost all of the users, although they were cases of people who were more familiar with the service, they were agile and savvy (some had tricks for the lock) with the service and product, which might be the most interesting thing of the observation, see how people make their own tricks or approaches within the interaction. Maybe this responds are a  default feature in any human-centred design service or product.

Soundwalk at Tisch / Debrief

Image | | nathier fernandez

 

*Group members: Hye Ryegon Shin (Maria), Ayal Rosenberg and Nathier Fernandez.*

 

For our Soundwalk project, we decided on a concept of an “alien” wondering inside the Tisch building and finding itself at home, which is the ITP floor.

First, we tried mapping out the story and planning in what order the events will occur. We brainstormed a little and in order to figure out our arc.

After making some sketches, we explored the Tisch floors ourselves in order to find the spirit of each floor. After our tour, we had the impression that most of the floors were silent, almost like inhabited, which is a big contrast to our floor (4th/ITP). We decided on the 2nd floor because for us it also had a personality or spirit.

We then recorded sounds that most effectively captured the characteristics of each floor. Finally, on the ITP floor, we thought of recording not only distinct ITP floor sounds but also of students conversing in three different languages: Spanish, Hebrew, and Korean. (We chose those three languages because they were our group’s native language). Moreover, we thought that emphasized the diversity and spirit of ITP. To make our soundwalk clearer, we designed a series of maps for the listener to refer to.

We then moved on to Adobe Audition and started editing our recordings. To our disappointment, the volume of all our files was too low. We tried our best to increase the level and to decrease the background noise as much as possible.

For future reference, we’ve decided to make sure to use the appropriate mike and to set the volume as high as possible. Other than the volume issue, we were fairly satisfied with the result of our project.

 

Our Soundwalk to Tisch can be found here.

 

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Soundwalk debrief

 

It was a great project to be part of, we learned a lot and on future projects will make some changes; like using the appropriate mic set the recording levels as high as the environment and the natural sound level of the room allow it. Also, to be more aware of the factors that might affect the recordings, like the wind or the movement while we were walking.

We try our own SoundWalk to see if our timing, sound and map directions were correct, but because we knew our soundwalk and tested it in the morning, we weren’t that conscious about how the ambience sound could change. The track sounded good for us when Tisch was empty but our piece didn’t have good enough levels to endure Tisch rush hours, lesson learned right there. next time will take the time to ask someone else to test the piece and give feedback.

Thinking about how to design the listeners’ experience and the interface of the walk was tricky. How to ensure that they would walk the path we planned for them – there are timed sounds like opening doors, etc. How to not make them look at the map every second and be distracted from their listening atmosphere.

We were all very involved in all aspects of the project through continuous communication, feedback and turns, although Ayal was very impressive in Audition. Overall, we were very happy with the result and with each other’s collaboration.

 

Switch House

Image | | nathier fernandez

*Come up with a simple application for switches and LED circuits*

 

I wanted to create a simple mechanism for this assignment, I came with the idea of building a little house where the light would turn on or off it the door was opened or closed.  Prototyping fi the house was important, that way I could have an idea of space and volume, especially regarding the dimension needed for the mechanism. Paper was very helpful in order to prototype fast and fix mistakes before using cardboard.

Once the house was made I continued with my switch. I got a cell battery (3v),  a cell battery holder, a white LED, some copper tape, and wire. First, I made the connection with some electric tape in order to see that everything was well connected and measured to fit inside the house.

The idea was that between the LED and the cell battery, one of the wires would be cut, leaving it with two ends in a near position from the cooper door. If the door was open (away from the ends) no flow of energy was possible, the circuit was open but if the door was closed (in contact with the ends) the cooper allowed the energy to flow and the led to emit light.

Then, I soldered the parts together and glue them using a hot glue gun. With everything in place, the bottom of the house was closed. Here is the switch house video

 

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Wood toy car

Image | | nathier fernandez

*Make multiples of something, 5 or more.  The objects must be a multi-process piece*

 

The idea was to replicate five objects following tasks that would make possible to generate with same steps either five or a hundred. I gather some materials for the project:  1/2 inch square piece of wood, a dowel, dowel pins and some cardboard.

 

First, I drew the template on the original material just the get an idea of the scale, Then I made a template out cardboard.

Then I moved to the miter saw to cut my pieces. I cut more than five in case of damaging one piece.

Put the template on each piece, draw the angles and marked the centre of each wheel so I could drill the holes in the body of the car.

The angles were cut with the band saw, the dowel was cut with the same tool. Then I sand all the pieces with the belt sander.

I knew I didn’t want to paint the cars but I did want the wheels to be black, so I used spray paint in black with a matte finish. It was the easier way to paint them all and it dried faster as well.

Following the idea of optimizing repetition, I made a window stamp out of linoleum and test it on cardboard and pieces of wood before applying it to the final five.

The idea was to use dowel pins to connect the wheels to the cars, drilling single cut pieces of dowel turned in an impossible task because even with a template getting to the centre of each piece was tricky. Know that I think about it, drilling the dowel first and then cutting it into pieces would have worked better, but I didn’t want holes from side to side.

So, I ended up using wood glue and rubber bands as clamps to attach the wheels to the body and let them like that until the following day.

 

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Floral symmetry

Image | | nathier fernandez

*One element controlled by the mouse, one element that changes over time, one element that is different every time you run the sketch*

 

I used examples of perlin noise from Gene Kogan and from the examples page on the p5*js site for this exercise.

You will the animation here, and the code in this link.

Each time the sketch runs a new colour is set.

The figure is controlled by the mouse as is the background colour.

The colour of the figures change of colour and fade with time.

Maneki-neko monster

Image | | nathier fernandez

* ICM – first-week assignment – Screen drawing*

I’m a designer, I like to have a more generalistic approach to design and I’m somehow proud of not being over specialized in one particular field (but, how really possible is that?) If anything I keep finding myself attracted by everything. I’ll go from ornithology to Japanese folktales, or from biology to Verdi’s operas. Just trying to keep Humboldt proud, one of the last polymaths who ever lived. Maybe, is that, the idea of a polymath what makes ITP so attractive, or at least to me. It’s the possibility of being one that’s so exciting, as Nancy called us recently, we are “unicorns in the making”.

A hybrid state among fields is possible, that’s what I believe in and, want to do at ITP. Most of my experience as a designer comes from working in the field of performative arts, and there is where I want to start experimenting with different media, create new interactions with the audience.

Back to the assignment; several options were given (alien, monster, other) and I choose a subject that recently has me obsessing about. The Maneki-Neko, which is a Japanese lucky charm that resembles the form of a calico cat (I have a calico cat called Ische), and… It’s inspired by a real cat!

This gave me the opportunity to draw my own lucky cat for the first time and to mix it up a little, reimagining it as a new spirit, similar to a Kitsune (Fox spirit) which has nine tails and transforms into a woman. My Maneki-neko is also a demon/spirit, but a cute p5.js mischievous one.

I had some very basic knowledge of processing which helped, but even so, I got stuck a little, some functions are more complex than others, like curveVertex or arc in this particular case.

For the colours, I used photoshop to see the RGB.

But I started with a doodle of my cat and continued to use it as a reference for colour or for the position of X and Y.

 

 

The link for the evil Neko image and the sketch (with code) link

 

 

 

Beet flashlight

| nathier fernandez

* Build a flashlight using any tools or techniques you’d like. Defining a flashlight as portable and creates light.*

 

 

 

– BEET FLASHLIGHT-

 

The brief was very open to interpretation; to be portable and create light. I wanted to create something simple but fun.  Also, I didn’t know how to make a flashlight. Keeping it simple was probably the best idea in order to understand the assignment, to test my capabilities and finishing on time.

Keeping it simple was probably the best idea in order to understand the assignment, test my capabilities and finish it on time.

Here is a little video that proves it works: beet lighting up.

 

BUILDING THE BEET FLASHLIGHT.

It all started with some basic materials: Green LEDs, alkaline AAA batteries, battery holder, button, wires, electric tape and a foam ball.

The first step was to cut the ball in half with an exact blade, as carefully and polished as possible. Take a little bit of the foam away to make some space, assembling the ball to one piece was the main idea.

Then, I had to make a decision where to put my parts (button and LEd’s). The foam ball had a face, which helped me get an idea of the surface area. I made a  cut in the center of each piece, the button on one side and a LED on the other.

Through the entire process, taking away some foam and make space for the parts was the rule.

Because I didn’t have much experience soldering and my materials were mostly one of each. I decided to use electric tape, this allowed me to make fast changes when the connections didn’t work, especially because my battery holder had the ground and plus backward.

After all was connected, I started closing it with some tape, trying to keep it as much in shape as I could (the battery modified the form) until the piece started to take the form a beet, the purple tape helped with that resemblance too. I like the idea of it being a character, so I drew a face on it and voila!

What is interaction?

| nathier fernandez

* PCOMP – first-week assignment *

 

Going through this assignment, my mind kept coming to the idea that asking “What is interaction?” is oddly similar to the question “What is art?”. Not because I’m implying that they are the same, but that they have the same effect on me. They have this philosophical aura around them and even Chris Crawford had his moment when he mentioned the experimental thought of if a tree falls in the forest. It’s all about perception… but it is not. In theory, we know what its art; everything made by men in order to express or understand the world that surrounds him. But, art depends on the context, and art is not art just because you called art, but because it is (and maybe because a group of people said it is, even though that is contradictory to what I just said). I want to explain the similarity of how big the question could be. But as Chris points out, interaction is the communication between two (actors), that talk, listen and think constantly with each other. Not just something that responds to the other.

That was my definition of interaction. And, I said it was because a response from the other (e.g, light sensors) is not an interaction. I’m not embarrassed to say that Chris Crawford would’ve probably rolled his eyes at me for having art in the equation and not technology in the picture.

So, Interaction is a conversation between a person and an electronic device or a technology. Chris talks about talking, listening, and thinking. Therefore interaction is dialogue, a process that creates a  ‘tete a tete’ with technology.

I enjoyed Bret Victor’s critique of how mainstream and narrowed our idea of interaction is. With computers as part of our environment, he embraces the idea of exploration. Physical computing is basic in that exploration, it allows as to search for a clear voice; it is the process through which we learn how to communicate with the technologies or devices, how to think.