YouTube / Dan Sakamoto – via Iframely

Version 2 is a mixed success; still to be resolved are the issue of getting a tone in the desired frequency range to be omnidirectional, as well as some difficulty getting the iPhone microphone to hear those frequencies. Finally, a signal-producing circuit would pitch-drift when used to generate high-enough sounds, and had to be set aside for now.

Speech snippets in this version are taken from the “The Sims 2”.

Documentation of iteration 1 can be found here.
The signal-generating circuit is based on this tutorial, just with one of the resistors changed in order to change the frequency.
Unity code is on github. Note that it’s the same repository as the last iteration, with the new version of unity file added.
Dog whistle app (used in place of signal-generating circuit) was downloaded from the Apple App Store here.

YouTube / Dan Sakamoto – via Iframely

Telemouths is a system which allows an actor to take control of another person’s mouth, effectively turning them into a live puppet. A participant wears the device on their face, obscuring their mouth and preventing them from speaking, while imposing a new mouth via the screen. An actor is then able to remotely speak for the participant; by speaking into a microphone, their voice is transmitted through the mask. The actor is also able to control the expression of the mouth via a Photon wireless micro-controller.

The system was designed with commonly available components in mind: Sound is transmitted from the actor’s laptop to the phone via voice over IP, and control signals are sent over wifi from a Photon attached to the microphone to the phone. The Photon is powered via USB cable running with the microphone cable. The iPhone can be attached to the face using a headband and some velcro.

Version 1 aims for accessibility in the hopes of seeing experiments in a few kinds of theatrical contexts, from possible empathy-building workshops to large-scale immersive theater. Feedback from the initial prototype showed that there was interest in the idea, but that it was difficult to imagine what the possibilities for a device like this could be without seeing it in action. As a result, a workshop was organized with a small group of theater practitioners to play and improvise and see how it felt, as can be seen in the video above. While everyone had fun, those in the room were in agreement about wanting to see next how the energy would change with a prepared text. Two people expressed interest in trying to use Telemouths in upcoming projects, so next steps will be to figure out a text to try out and prepare a workshop for version 2.

Photon code: via Github

Circuit Diagram:

This project aims to examine agency in different contexts, depending what kind of performance it is incorporated into. It could be used in an immersive theatrical environment to turn people into physical video game characters, or it could be used for structured 1-on-1 empathy-building workshops.

WIP Code: via github

YouTube / Dan Sakamoto – via Iframely

Scaredybots is a scene in which two creatures trapped in a labyrinth, searching for a way out. Each has a single sense for detecting danger; one can detect light, the other can detect physical objects. Although they don’t pose a threat to each other, each possesses a trait that makes it frightening to the other.

As they are left to explore and interact with each other, we are able to simultaneously observe them from above, as if creatures in a zoo, or we can witness their struggle from their own point of view.

Po and Lulu

The Labyrinth

One robot (Po) has a proximity sensor and a light while the other (Lulu) has an ambient light sensor. Both are programmed to jump backwards, turn, and start heading in another direction when they sense anything. Hence, the robots are both scared of each other and scared of things encountered in the environment. Under normal circumstances, the robots follow lines on a course– that is, until fright leads them off track.

By playing with the actors’ behaviors and physical appearances, as well as the scale and perspective of the audience experience, we explore the boundaries between simple mechanical actions and their relatability as human emotions.

3pi code: github.com/dansakamoto/3pi-chaser

Circuit diagrams:

Scaredybots was created by Roberto Elorza Andaya, Kiran Matharu, Rachel Nakamura, and Dan Sakamoto.

We aim to stage a small drama between two robotic actors; one acting as pursuer, and one as the pursued. We will program their personalities and predispositions towards each other, and from these a physical interaction will emerge as they interact. Through finessing the actors’ behaviors and designing their physical appearances, we’re exploring the line of what makes simple mechanical actions trigger humanly emotional relatability.

At present, we are using light as the medium of the robots’ interaction; the chaser robot has a bright headlamp, and the other has a set of ambient light sensors on either side of it providing feedback to its wheels. If neither sensor detects a large amount of light, the robot simply moves straight while if it detects an amount above the threshold, it gets scared and moves away. If only one side detects light, that side’s motor speeds up and turns away from the light. For the current iteration, the chaser robot is running a simple line following program.

Current working version of our code can be found here.

YouTube / Dan Sakamoto – via Iframely

Dynotag’s “Smart Tag” is a tag for your pet which which displays a QR code instead of your contact info. When someone visits the linked web address, they are then able to see the owner’s contact info, and the owner is able to see where that person is. The only benefit over a traditional tag is being able to see where your missing pet is on a map, but this only becomes possible once someone else both catches your pet and follows the instructions on the tag – instructions that are likely to be confusing to some, and really just add an extra step in the process of getting in touch.

YouTube / Adult Swim – via Iframely

Smart Pipe is not a real product, it’s a comedic design fiction, but it’s actually a great parody of Internet of Things products. Smart Pipe is a wifi-enabled pipe segment that attaches to your existing plumbing infrastructure in order to monitor everything that you flush down the toilet. Anything that it can learn by analyzing your waste can be tracked by corporations,  tweeted to your followers, and other IoT tropes. And you can flush from anywhere!

YouTube / Quirky – via Iframely

This is an egg tray that is wifi enabled so that it can tell you how many eggs you have left. I repeat, this is an egg tray with wifi. So that you can tell how many eggs you have left. No further comment.