Week 1 - Principles and Practices
Assignment
- describe and sketch your final project
- describe what it will do and who will use it
Final Project Potential Ideas
- Mi-Mu style controller
- Lightpainting brushes
- Juggling balls
Mi-Mu style controller
Our Fablab coordinator Kelly Snook is an integral part of the MI-MU gloves project. I saw one of their collaborators play with them at a festival a number of years ago, and the scope of potential in music creation with this kind of tool is incredible. For example The Guardian has this piece discussing the gloves and other assistive music production tools. I am interested in the potential for a modularly compatible sensing system based around music production from movement. The huge variety of musical instruments, playing styles, and creative potential of musicians would lead to a good reception to an adaptive modular system based on the fundamentals expressed through the Mi-Mu glove project.
One of the students in the fabacademy at Brighton University started working on a DIY version of the Mi-Mu glove with a closer functional useability to that displayed above.
I think that the more variations of DIY 'instructables' there are for things, the more adaptive and creative people can become with their own personal creations.
I see this project as being one of two main parts:
- one of a textile and ergonomic based construction elements
- one being the central control and communication centre and sensing system
From my experience with working from instructables and online DIY tutorials, I want to get into the heart of the problem, and try to avoid the window dressing. Because of this I think that I'd like to go in the sensor and control system direction, leaving the window dressing (textile support) to the end user as they will have a significantly better understanding of their specific use case.
I am trying not to simply re-hash the Mi-Mu gloves as I think they're really rather cool as they stand, and creating a less functional but easier to construct version wouldn't feel like an overly great use of my time.
I want to try to get into building sensors for my final project, and try to learn and thenceforth discuss how and why a user would use what sensor where for what task.
What will it do?
This project will connect worldly sensors with a control unit. The purpose of this is to create a Mi-Mu style 'instrument' however instead of being locked into a gloved format, the physical manifestation of the final 'product' for the end user can be infinitely customisable.
Who is it for?
The project is for musicians who want to expand their instruments capabilities by using parts of their body, instrument, or environment to control the musicality, effects, or other.
Light Painting Brushes
I saw these light painting brushes in relation to 'unbelievable' photographs uploaded to 500px by Tim Gamble.
I think they're really cool photographs, and would like to create some brushes which interact with their environment such that the photographer themselves become further removed from the creative process. I have been thinking about combining the motion controlling system within the mi-mu gloves to create a control and interaction system between camera, light sources, and the artist.
This is probably my favourite of the ones I saw during my researching of him as a photographer.
Here's his Facebook photo page, and Instagram were you interested in seeing more of his work.
Light Balls - Juggling Balls
I am planning on making for my final project a set of juggling balls which are light painting 'brushes' they should be able to flash and change colour depending on different input variables such as height, spin, or speed for example.
Formulation of useful ideas
Luo
Luo is an experimental electronic producers & live 2-piece based in Brighton & Bristol.
Their discussion of linking reactionary light displays to musical triggers among other things is very interesting and connected to my ideas surrounding a potential final project. After some fleshing out of my ideas and the practicle or feasibility is worked out some more, I am planning on contacting the group to discuss the possibility of using some of my light painting system in the future sometime.