lcannatt@andrew.cmu.edu – F16 60-223: Intro to Physical Computing

Toot2Gether

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 01:17:15 +0000

Toot2Gether
Virality, Sensuality, and the internet of things

Abstract

In recent years the role social media plays in delivering advertising content to consumers has grown enormously. While user data analysis has become a mainstay for companies trying to target their advertising, self propagating viral content has the power to sway much larger groups at possible fractions of the cost. Many small media groups have attempted to boil down the authenticity and appeal of the independent inventor to package products for social media consumption, and have had a homogenizing effect on the way viral videos are expected to look. For this project my intent was to take this aesthetic and apply it to a supposed invention (Toot2Gether) that has questionable marketability to explore what these narratives of independent invention and authenticity mean without a functional product to back them up. This builds on a product whose purpose hinges on the taboo of discussing bowel movements with other people, and serves as an exploration of what is considered acceptable to discuss through social media that might not be in offline conversations.

Technology

Communication between toilets was handled through an OSC interface connecting both Node MCU’s to a computer running a server on the same wifi network.

When a toilet is in use, the switch (4) tells the node (1) to send an update to the server which in turn alerts the other MCU. When activated, the node sends a signal to the teensy (4) which plays an alert chime, and increases voltage to the power relay (3) allowing current to flow through the nichrome under the toilet seat from the external power supply.

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Back to the light

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 22:18:29 +0000

In a world where nearly everything we hold to be personal and intimate is stored on our computers and hard drives, the idea that we have total control over where that data goes is really essential to our comfort with that. This piece takes that comfort and turns it inside out, pulling deleted files as ghosts out of a recycled hard drive.

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City Scan: a living map

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 22:07:48 +0000

While this take on sensuality is less intimate, the idea of mapping a city only by the movements of it’s inhabitants brings an aspect of personality and humanity to a tool that traditionally is really cold. Maps don’t normally tell you things about the people who live on them, only where to find things, and beyond the cloud mapping opportunities this opens, the map can now function as an aggregated location popularity tracker like if foursquare had publicly viewable datamining.

» CiTy – SCAN – THE NEXT IDEA

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horny lil feminist

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 21:58:30 +0000

This piece really hits the sensuality and internet crossover at what seems to be the logical center: pornography and in particular webcam shows. Not a subject that’s hit on as often but the variety of video styles seen here draws connections to things like online makeup tutorials and vlogging that arent maybe traditionally done in the same location as the erotic material shown on cam websites.

Note: this website contains some “NSFW” images and video

http://hornylilfeminist.com/index.php/

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The Woods of Kingsley Manor

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 00:26:32 +0000

Agnus lives in Kingsley Manor, an area surrounded by dense woods and spooky spectres. Her friend Eleanor has mysteriously gone missing and now Agnus is worried. Deciding that the authorities are insufficient, Agnus decides to take matters into her own hands. She ventures deep into the forest in search of her friend. The story of Agnus is based on that of Luigi Cannatti’s hypothetical grandmother and her hypothetical search for her hypothetical best friend.

Agnus is based on the 3pi robotics platform from Polulu.com. This platform provides a combination of motors and a microprocessor to enable sensory based driving. The main sensors utilized on Agnus were “sight” and “hearing” through the means of an laser distance sensor (Lidar) and a gated sound sensor. The lidar sensor has a very narrow field of detection unlike a ultrasonic distance sensor (Sonar) whose field of detection is much wider. This is equivalent to “tunnel vision” due to cataracts often experienced by the elderly. The sound sensor worked by sending a pulse when a certain sound level was reached, similar to how elderly people can experience loss of hearing.

Two ghosts, played by members of the audience, either help or hinder Agnus as she tries(and fails) to navigate the forest. By using their ghostly ghost-bodies to create obstacles, they can guide her. Alternatively, they can spook the living daylights out of her. Agnus interacts in turn as any old lady searching for her lost friend in the haunted forests of LA would. She shivers and quivers. She turns this way and that. She calls out for Eleanor, and for her own dear life as she runs faster than she has run in over twenty years.

Agnus can’t help but feel that she is being watched. The reality is that she is being watched. Those audience members who are not ghosts spectate the shenanigans through a large glass window creating a separation, similar to watching a movie on a large television. The spectators peer into this alternate dimension of the Woods of Kingsley Manor.

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