Class 1 notes, 1 Sep 2020 – Making Things Interactive, Fall 2020

Remote Learning

No need to leave video on unless we’re having a group discussion so we can raise hands.

Most lectures (starting next week) will be recorded and take roughly half of the class time.

Classroom discussions will not be recorded.

Take-home kits will be available sometime next week. We’ll let you know when they can be ordered, please don’t call the bookstore.

Projects will be turned in on the blog and demoed via Zoom. Live or pre-recorded demos?

Office hours as needed — email me if you’re stuck and want to have a 1:1 Skype

How do you feel about Canvas?

Undergraduate Requirements

Undergrads have a pre-req of Intro to Physical Computing. If you haven’t taken the pre-req but think you know enough to keep up with MTI assignments, stay for this intro then talk to me after class.

Graduate students

Comfortable working with Arduino, equivalent knowledge of Intro to Phys Comp.

Skills needed by all students

Arduino

Arduino IDE in C++ or CircuitPython. VSC is also an option if you prefer.
for() vs. while() loops
arrays (C++)
switch/case
analog vs digital voltages
dictionaries (Python)
integer vs. float (C++)
interrupts
Understand how/why to use state machines

Physical Computing skills

Analog vs. digital electronics
External power — wall outlets and batteries and power supplies
The difference between servo motors, regular motor, solenoids
Can do more than cut-and-paste a sketch and change a few variable names
Can read/create basic sketches in Fritzing

Other Useful Skills

p5.js (javascript) can be used in this class

Python on Arduino is allowable as a substitute for C++, but I can’t help you debug

BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi may be used as a substitute for Arduino, again I can’t help you debug

If you want to learn this sort of technology but can’t take this class, feel free to email me for some pointers on how to get started on your own time. There are some “Arduino 101” kits that you could do over winter break that I would count for PhysComp in the future.

Introduction to the Class / go over Administration document

We’ll do real introductions on Thursday

Originally a required class for a MTID degree, that program has ended but SoA and IDeATe like this class.

What we’re doing differently in a remote class with additional readings and responses/projects.

Syllabus and grading: weekly assignments, three crits, final crit, class participation

Note taking vs. the class blog — will post my notes to the blog after class

Class Theme – “Accessiblity”

Improving the human condition by improving living spaces with tangible interaction design.

Tweaking Nathan Shedroff’s list:

Assist
Enhance
Improve
Qualify
Sense

Class Theme – Quarantine Quitchen

A few months ago, TV personality Alton Brown and his wife, Elizabeth Ingram, started doing a youtube series called “Quarantine Quitchen”. He’s a famous chef, filmmaker, and host of competition cooking shows, she’s an interior designer who does restaurants. Every Tuesday evening (during our class), they make dinner based on whatever they can find in the fridge, freezer, or pantry. And drink some alcohol. I’m lifting their idea of “living in a quarantine” and changing class assignments to reflect being stuck at home, having limited access to physical social events, and social distancing. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSL8Njz6ML7Bf5VyF9b0oQ3hiBs_3j-sz

Introduction to Tangible Interaction

Reaction vs. Interaction

Classic thermostat (temperature sensor and on/off switch) vs. smart thermostat (PID controller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller or AI google hive mind)

Tangent: explain how PID is different from a sensor + relay

Explain how machine learning (open ended system) is different from PID (a closed loop system)

Questions

What if we had a smart (AI) thermostat? NEST is on the edge of this.

change heating/cooling controls based on history of changes made by people
change temperature related to outside environment: tomorrow is hot, turn the AC on earlier
react to weather changes: storm front rolls through from the north, temp drops almost 10C
modulate temp based on who is in the house: I like it warm, spouse likes it cold
modulate temp based on predicted activities: “they always stay up late on Friday”
error control: “never let the house go below 50F” to prevent pipes from freezing

What if we had a smart door bell? What would it do? This will be an assignment on Thursday.

Short History of Physical Computing and Interaction Design

Physical computing and tangible interaction design are recently created fields but there is a history of how we got here. The key point is the size (scale) of computing hardware.

- water powered tools and windmills, literally physical computing
  - beginning of the PID idea, centrifuges to maintain speed in grain mills
  - water mills that stop pumping water when the reservoir is full
- industrial revolution
  - early punch-card computing to control looms in 1725
  - Korsakov proposes using punched cards to store data in 1832
  - steam engines that can react to malfunctions (more physical computing)
  - sophisticated PID in factories to run mills and lathes
- (skipping mainframes that only crunched numbers)
- transistors as second industrial revolution
  - the first computers that didn’t fill buildings
  - 1976: first use of “human-computer interaction” in a published paper https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evaluating-the-impact-of-office-automation-on-top-Carlisle/7a864fc9cfbb01306cb2a75ceef1ed246727f1f0
  - 1983: The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction brings the concept to the general computing community https://amzn.to/3jDDVEu
- Early arcade games introduced haptic output or feedback: helicopter arcade game that shakes when you are shot (early 1980s)
  - haptic technology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology
  - tactor: hardware that conveys a feeling of touch, pressure, or vibration
- Modems broadband access over the phone
  - Interaction moves from an isolated software package to a network of software packages
  - People can interact with other people at distant locations via BBS or USENET or email
  - People can interact with systems, first online games and dating services
  - Still no physical interaction
- Mobile phones — getting closer!
  - contains sensors, CPU, network access
  - has output in the form of image, sound, and vibration
- Arduino, 2005
  - first affordable, usable, embedded controller
  - opened up a market of input/output hardware
  - set the space for Rpi, BBB, etc
- Five years from now
  - where we’re thinking in this class
  - experimental projects that show new interactions
  - reading assignment is showing us a few more years ahead

What can we do in this class?

Study physical computing and interaction

Look at near future concepts

Design, build, and demonstrate physically interactive devices and systems