mobile sensory unit

neube is a mobile sensory unit equipped with exteroceptive senses [sight, touch, hearing and balance] coupled with an augmented reality platform allowing for non-recursive gaming environments powered by our own fragmented collective memory.

unaware of the fact that they are also providing valuable information on the collective memory of the city, the gamers redefine the current state of the urban mutation, and quantify the repercussions of the new technical, digital and telematic states of becoming.

into the wild

took the robot out to the mean streets of broadway in dt la, where it was kicked around by curious children and trampled by mothers with strollers... improved visibility needs to be taken into account :T

long exposure art

some long exposure shots of the robot taken from my bathroom and kitchen. the paths were drawn with an ultrabright blue led, and the blinking red lights are proximity readings from a capacitive sensor detecting human presence.

the dynamic equilibrium

i've been very interested in this concept of Nervenleben and how I can begin to reintroduce or develop a way to reflect this image-instrument of assemblage back onto society. Nervenleben is described as the psychological base form which arises from the metropolitan personality and is the intensification fo the life of the nerves, resulting from the rapid and uninterrupted transformation of external and internal impressions.

George Simmel | The Metropolis and the Mental Life

disembodied proximities | the random-access self

"we have reached a stage where all synchronic and diachronic knowledge is equally accessible. distance in space-time is collapsing, and everything and everyone can enjoy an unparalleled, if disincarnate, proximity. this collapse of distance is not limited to what we immediately experience as ordinary space and time, but includes complex arrangements of knowledge, behavior, values and social structures."

Marcos Novak | Trans Terra Form

id of hyperreality

these mobile sensory units would act as a perforated interface between the users and their environments. similar to how we are now separated from nature by our own technology/language barrier

capitalism and culture

how are our cultural ideals on capitalism and culture reorganized by our new computational superstructure? how can we begin to measure the repercussions of the iphone city?

benjamin h. bratton | ambient interface seminar

evolving new species | neo-being

as the cycles of monitoring, imaging, interfacing and acting are compressed, what are the effects of the emergent institutional media on society? How can be measure the intensity of the image of the collective within the various social realms?

non-recursive gaming platform

so the plan is.. that these mobile sensory units would traverse LA from various equidistant locations with the goal of reaching a cultural landmark within a specified allotted period of time. the players would employ their sensory units and would also be able to control their robots via keyboard navigation (front, back, left, right) transmitted by wireless radio signals.

ubiquitous amazing race

the landmark chosen as the destination of the race would have to be either a very distinct popular cultural image, or more interestingly... lost/forgotten images and locations.

the social boundaries within downtown los angeles would be this open-api, constantly redefined border delineated by our own fragmented collective memories.

remapping the senses

ultrasonic and infrared sensors would allow for immediate object detection. capacitive sensors would detect the presence of pedestrians and would allow the player to stop and ask for directions. GPS locations from each of the players in the race would be uploaded after a specified elapsed period of time.

augmented reality platform

i thought it would be interesting to develop an augmented reality platform alongside the robot that would be serving dual purposes: one being providing a non-recursive gaming structure while simultaneously harnessing valuable data on our fragmented collective memory

data architecture

i've been working to upload all of this sensory information from Arduino to Processing through the use of Firmata which allows for multiple pin inputs to simultaneously stream in through serial communication. With Firmata, I can then upload the data to pachube and 2nd Life to reinterpret and translate the paths, boundaries, and interactions into real-time virtual spaces for the generation of non-recursive gaming scenarios that could be accessed globally.

ping))) ultrasonic range finder

trying to hop on the open api train... and hoping to extend the design problem to you all. this is just my ghetto-rigged prototype, and i'm sure there are many others out there that could solve this design issue much more elegantly.

please feel free to make suggestions!

sharp infrared distancing

these sharp infrared sensors are very easy to hookup! just plugin the ground, power, and pulse-width modulation cables (analog in) and firmata will read it straight off the pin. however, you might run into problems if you're using firmata to transmit your ping))) ultrasonic range finder because it is digital input. if you're sending a single signal from arduino to processing, dont worry about it :)

*tip: in your Firmata.sendAnalog() add an extra sendAnalog signal. your processing script will pick up this phantom analog signal even though it doesn't exist on the arduino board.

light sensitive resistor

the light sensitive resistor is a quick and easy setup with just a ground, power, and pulse-width modulation signal setup in between the resistor and LSR. *don't forget to use a 1k ohm resistor

capacitive sensor + temperature monitor

these capacitive sensors are quite interesting. they build a charge within the aluminum foil and are able to sense the proximity of water in the human body (a similar version of the sensor used in the older mac monitors). if several of these were placed around the robot, a directionality and proximity reading of oncoming pedestrians could be obtained so that the player could potentially approach pedestrians to ask for directions.

continuous rotation servos

i purchased these two parallax continuous rotation servos from acroname, and i've been very pleased with their performance and ease of programming. the values for analog output range from 0 to 255. the power values i am currently using are: 1-forwards; 254-backwards.

with the keyPressed option in processing, i've developed an interface that allows for forwards, backwards, left, and right movements of the servos via keyboard navigation.

coding your neube

here's where you can learn how to code your very own mobile sensory unit using arduino, firmata, and processing. all free.. open api programs :)

basically.. this code takes in multiple streams of sensory data from the robot and reinterprets the variables on the arduino board. firmata acts as a nice bridge between arduino and processing and allows you to stream analog/digital inputs and outputs across multiple pins simultaneously. in processing, i designed a simple interface that allows for 3D visualization (P3D and peasycam) of the information coming in from the robot and created a way to incorporate keyboard navigation feedback to the sensory unit for servo motor control.

i'm currently working on creating an array and coding all the pings as separate objects so the ultrasonic would work kind of like a 3d scanner. if you have any questions and comments feel free to ask. i'm always looking for new ideas!

damage report

still trying to locate funds to finish the project. still need to purchase the GPS module and the sealed lead acid 9V battery.