The blog content is by Rudan in collaboration with Jin.

Blog Background:

According to Philly's feedback about our submission one, we tend to reflect our initial ideas and concepts and analyze other installation projects, in order to have a deeper understanding of wider context.

In addition, after discussion, our group is divided into two sub groups for further research and clear division of labor. Rudan and Jin are responsible for more detailed Arduino coding and installation creating process. Jalea and Yuan are in charge of music generation with MAX. In this blog, I (Jin) and Rudan would make a reflection on our submission one based on our research on other installations with Arduino and lights.

Rudan:

Project One: “Plant Sensory Visualization

【Notes: On the rational integration of installation design and theme】

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1LL4y1T7oG/?share_source=copy_web&vd_source=a8711564270b15c0c52431a25b613a14

Case concept introduction:

Plants are often overlooked, but they live in symbiosis with us. They collect invisible information about nature and express it through their own state – the color of their leaves is richly colored, their form is uplifted or drooping – and they are the most important part of our lives.

This project aims to explore the possibilities of human-plant interaction by ‘touching’ plants through art installations and ‘observing’ their data – light, water, and emotion. This will help people to understand what plants know and feel, and to deepen their connection with them.

【Notes: There is a certain similarity to our concept. The design uses the Arduino and the installation to show the life of a plant, and our design uses water to show the life of a person. Through this design, I thought about the possibility of using devices to complement the concept of ‘human life’.】

Studyable component:

• The way in which touch sensors and humidity sensors pick up data and import it into the device (data transfer from the device via Arduino only).
• The way in which the plant state is represented figuratively.
• The way in which the device interacts with people.

Arduino:

The installation is divided into two parts: the moss and the device (blue optical fiber). The moisture sensor is used to obtain soil moisture data, which is fed into the Arduino, and the blue light dot on the optical fiber increases. In this way, the moisture of the soil is visualized.

By means of a touch sensor, the red light spots on the optical fibers increase when a person touches the moss.

【Notes: The installation visualizes the state of the plant in a fiber-optic variation. In our design, the concept of the ‘human life cycle’ was intended to be presented through the changing projection of water on the wall, but this did not seem to be a direct way of making the viewer appreciate our intentions. We thought about the possibility of using some sensors to make the projection of the water change and at the same time make the wall appear to represent the stages of a person’s life (child, middle-aged, elderly).】

Project Two: “Mirror World

【Notes: On the use of the sense of fragmentation in the expression of meaning.】

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1q14y1h74J/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.0&vd_source=6fa38bbeeec457ffe4bd5ac5a5e3fb8e

Case concept introduction:

The materials are mirrors, acrylic panels, acrylic columns, UV adhesive, and the model is purely handmade. A visual art display combined with the materials.

【Notes: The sound and nature of the material can be used wisely to achieve unexpected visual effects.】

Studyable component:

• Visual effects.
• Sound effects.

【Notes: Consider whether the sounds and effects of the material can be used to further highlight the changing ‘stages of life’.】

– Thinking about the development –

• Using the principle of pin-hole image, the projection of ‘a life of a human’ on the wall will change.

https://byjus.com/question-answer/draw-a-labelled-diagram-to-show-the-formation-of-an-image-of-a-tree-by/

For example, in our design we use wall projections to present the three stages of a person’s life, i.e. in the first stage, the projection of a child appears on the wall and the colorful ripples produced by the water surface are reflected in the child’s projection; in the second stage, the projection switches to a middle-aged person and the colorful ripples reflected in the middle-aged person’s projection change; in the third stage, the projection switches to an elderly person and the ripples change with the music.

(This image was drawn by Rudan Zheng)

• Transformation of pictures in small-aperture imaging using the kaleidoscope principle, achieved with a mechanical gear mechanism.

Conception: the weight of the water is sensed by a pressure sensor and the rotation of the gear is controlled by the change in weight (the fall of the steel ball). The picture of the small hole imaged is bound to the gear and changes when the mechanical gear undergoes rotation. Case reference:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oo4y1677q/?spm_id_from=333.1007.tianma.4-4-14.click&vd_source=6fa38bbeeec457ffe4bd5ac5a5e3fb8e

• Combine fragments of highly reflective materials such as broken mirrors and glass with the reflection of light to make it more complex and achieve a more striking visual effect.
• Consider incorporating the sound of breaking mirrors and glass into the soundtrack of the ‘middle age’ stage to convey the idea that life is not always easy.

– Arduino (distance sensor coding)-

CS:

Arduino:

Jin:

After reading Philly’s feedback, we decided to analyze three aspects of other installations:

1. How do these works convey their complex idea and concept?
2. How do Arduino work for their installation and process?
3. What are the advantages of these installation and how do they affect final result?

Project One: “AMBLIGHT” – An Interactive Installation based on the Research on Social Patterns in the Post-pandemic Era

• Introduction of this project:

Loneliness has caused a strong sense of anxiety of human beings. The answer to overcoming loneliness is the establishment and maintenance of love and intimacy. What does intimate relationship mean in the post-epidemic era? Was it lost in an environment where isolated and alienated? The work reconstructs the intimacy in the post-epidemic era to show the positive impact on people of emotional and spiritual closeness replacing physical closeness.

• How does AMBLIGHT convey its concept?

① Subtitle

The designer applied subtitles for prompting the current content of the work and implying the metaphor and the meaning of elements in the work.

Subtitle: The source of anxiety for human beings comes from the feeling of separateness from others. —Fromm, The Art of Loving

From my perspective, subtitle is the most direct way to describe a work and ensure the audience understand the work in the designer’s way. But it, at the same time, deprives the audience of the pleasure of experiencing the connotation by themselves. If we have another better way to help the audience to experience our project, we prefer not to use subtitles or words.

② Transition of Music and Color

Changes in color and background music express changes in state and attitude.

When there is only one person interacting with the installation, the pure white lines flow with the music, and the non-stop flowing lines symbolize the process of life and the passage of time.

When two people interact, the pure white lines transit to rainbow colors, and the music becomes cheerful, to express “When intimacy is established with others, loneliness becomes intense, monotony becomes colorful, and pessimism becomes positive.”

③ Symbolic meaning of installation elements

The symbolism of the transparent plate between the two sensors: everything that prevents people from being objectively close.

In the ward, the observation window for doctors, nurses and patients is separated, and the mobile phone screen is separated by the communication room for people in the two places who are forced to divide the office.

We found that the biggest problem of our project was that, it was hard for the audience to combine the process of installation with the process of human. Therefore, we need to find the common ground between metaphor and ontology in our project.

• Technique of Arduino in AMBLIGHT

When a finger touch is sensed, the sensor switches to a high frequency. Through the Arduino serial port communication, the data is integrated and transmitted to TouchDesigner, so as to control the switch and realize the switching between images and music.

The interaction achieved by TouchDesigner may be our reference to project something on the wall.

Project Two: Heart Waves

• Introduction of this project

"Homeland China" has a famous point of view: the pattern of differential sequence. The pattern of the Chinese people is not bundles of clearly bundled firewood, but circles of ripples pushed out like a stone thrown on the water. Everyone is the center of the circle pushed out by his social influence, and those pushed by the circle are connected.

This project expresses this concept in visual language. Water waves symbolize the existence and rhythm of life. When waves intersect, individuals are also connected: intersection, never intersect, distant but know each other...

A circle intersects with a circle to form all the circles entangled together. Like people and people, the complex patterns formed on the surface of this earth.

• Technique of Arduino in Heart Waves

① Main Interaction:

The audience puts his hand on the sensor, the heart rate of the audience is converted into the vibration frequency of the ball, and the ball hits the water surface to produce water wave changes.

The body temperature of the audience is converted into the brightness and color of the light, the lights project water waves generated by vibrations onto the ceiling.

② The Other Interaction: 

If the audience coughed, smoke would be released from the water tank to block the light, the top image was blurred, and the heart ball was still beating, which is a metaphor for the life group suffering from disease.

• How does HEART WAVES convey its complex concept?

Designers use similar metaphors and analogies with our project (e.g. sensor reads heartbeat of human, heartbeat rate = tap rate, water ripples = people, interaction between ripples = communication between people), but there is a strong and powerful connection between the metaphor and ontology in HEART WAVES. (e.g. heartbeat -> water wave -> human), the idea and concept of our works are difficult to for the audience to connect with human the object.

Subtitle: Intersection between waves represents connection between individuals.

Reflection

From my point of view, our future problems are as follows:

1. How to combine the elements and process of the work more closely with human, and let the audience understand our content and ideas without subtitles or other forms of direct explanations/description.
2. The process of interaction should be strongly connected to the concept of project.

My personal ideas for Improvement:

• One sensors -> Two sensors

Two sensors (two audience) of interaction make more sense to represent the beginning of life.

• Change the shape of our installation into a meaningful one.

For example, the dropping part can be created as a heart. The process of water dropping away from the heart represents the passage of time and loss of life.

• The content of projection should be more concrete rather than abstract.

It is expected to show some frames in key points of life to imply narrations or emotions, such as joyful, depressed, angry, be accused, achievement…

• The Interaction of Audience can be changed to be more immersive and important to the frames.

The interaction of audience represents the interference in life by others. When the audience points to or touches the installation, the pictures projected on the wall could be distorted, and then the music and color of lights changes at the same time.

– Arduino (temperature sensor coding)-

Mar 5, 2023