My final project is an art installation- The Energetic Hybrid Pod, that was inspired by the quantum physics idea that everything is energy. Based on this principle I created a futuristic object that invites touch. Depending on one's conduciveness the object displays a specific color. It is intended to be an immersive playful and exploratory experience.
Total: Aprox. €50,00 (€48,74 + small expenses like soldering wire)
Context
Everything is energy
“Quantum physics … is the study of the behaviour of matter and energy at the smallest levels – molecular, atomic, nuclear and even smaller … In modern physics, it is used to refer to the smallest possible discrete unit of matter or energy that can be predicted and observed by various means."¹
The color spectrum
“Light can move as waves or as particles … The only wavelengths that you can see fall between 400 and 700 billionths of a meter. All of the colors that you can perceive fall within that range… Light waves are also measured according to their frequency, which is how many waves can pass a given point in a given amount of time. Frequency is measured in Hertz, or Hz for short. When it comes to visible light, your eyes can pick up anything from 430 trillion Hz -- which you understand as red -- to 750 trillion Hz -- which you see as violet… Visible light can also be measured by its energy. All waves are made of traveling energy, and the amount of energy contained in each wave is related in proportion to its frequency. The more energy a wave has, the higher its frequency, and vice versa. When it comes to visible light, the highest frequency color, which is violet, also has the most energy. The lowest frequency of visible light, which is red, has the least energy.” ²
Hawkins scale of emotions
"Hawkins was a renowned psychiatrist, physician, spiritual teacher, and lecturer...Hawkins was particularly interested in how humans could reach a state of “Self-realization” in their lives. He found that rarely if ever does such a state occur in a scientist or physician, so he wanted to bring this state into his own consciousness and do so in a way that could be understood scientifically...the Map of Consciousness is a numbered system from 0–1000 showing exactly where your consciousness might fall from the lowest (shame) all the way to the highest (enlightenment) levels of consciousness." ³
Mapping the color frequency to the emotions
Color and Emotions
Wavelenght (mm)
Frequency (10¹⁴ Hz)
Energy (eV)
Violet (limit) (Enlightenment, Peace)
400
7.50
3.10
Blue (Joy, Love)
450
6.66
2.75
Cyan (Reason, Acceptance)
500
5.99
2.48
Green (Willingness, Neutrality)
550
5.45
2.25
Yellow (Courage, Pride)
580
5.16
2.14
Orange (Anger, Desire)
600
5.00
2.06
Red (Fear, Grief)
650
4.62
1.91
Red (limit) (Apathy, Guilt, Shame)
700
4.29
1.77
The human body
"Our bodies naturally conduct electricity. In fact, every organ and cell in the human body has its own field. The magnetic field produces electrical currents that are weaker than you may first think... As all electricity does, this activity also creates a magnetic field. Once our bodies’ exposure to the magnetic field stops, so does the current. However, as these electrical currents are tiny, they are unable to affect the nerves and muscles in the human body." ⁴
So what can we measure?
Humans give off radiation, mostly infrared radiation, which is electromagnetic radiation with a frequency lower than visible light. Humans emit thermal radiation and we can measure that with a sensor.
Inspiration
I found out this artist - Andrew Huang on instagram doing a really cool project that more or less is what I wanted to do. He is using sensors that get (I assume) electromagnetic fields and maps that directly to a music synthesizer, check the video here.
Moodboard
The initial concept
Based on the principle that everything is energy and that we humans are energy too, I wanted to explore how can we use that energy to serve as an input to a device. The idea is to use the human body (electromagnetic field or voice frequency or temperature) as an input(s) that result in an output of color and/or sound.
In a more ambitious perspective, the person(s) interacting with the device could control the output by controlling the input (change their emotional state, the temperature they use has an input and so on). This is a conceptual project intended for art installations sites or similar.
Iteration 1
My first idea is to create a device that can measure the human body electromagnetic field, measure it and map it with the color frequencies and emotions described above. It can be used individually or in group producing different results depending on the input values detected.
The output of the device can be shown in the device interface by lighting up the correspondent led color (with the correspondent emotion legend craved).
In a further iteration, the machine could evolve to be connected with a digital display for the output, such has a screen or a projector. (Also another possibility would be to connect it with HUE Lights)
In the context of exploration, this device could also evolve into a musical instrument for example, mapping the input with colors and musical notes.
Ideally the device can also serve the purpose of research and investigate further if there is a relation with the emotional state of the person interacting with the machine and the machine output.
Iteration 2
After doing a bit of research I found out it might be really hard to measure the human body frequency, because it's very very low (still I want to try in in out input week).
I started to think more and more about this idea of having an object/device that can sense (EMF, Temperature, Frequency) and that take the measurements to map it out with light/color and sound. I started to think about this project as an hybrid musical instrument, with 7 modules (hexagon shape to be re-arrange as desired), each module being a color (7 visible colors in the color spectrum) and a musical note(7 musical notes) (output) and all being sensitive to the same input (or several).
Now that I have learned and experimented in the previous weeks it is easier for me to commit to the final project designs and how it will work and what I will need.
My concept its the same - an object that has as an input the human body voltage, that is mapped to a color and sound. The output is visualized in the object (I call it the energetic hybrid pod) and it is also visualized in an interface.
I evolved my previous iterations considering my experiment in the input devices week, where I used capacitive sensors, the output devices week, where I experimented with a piezzo sensor, the interface and application programming week where I experimented with visualizing the input sensor data in an application using Processing. I was also inspired by my experiments during the 3D scanning and printing week where I explored organic shapes and this is what I will be using for the capsule. I will also use the laser cut machine to cut the base of the pod.
Details
Input
Touch
I will be using the human body - the hand, to add energy to a capacitive sensor(stores energy) and map those values to color, sound, and emotion.
Requirements:
Capacitive sensor
Conductive ink
Ouput
Sound and visuals
For the output I will be using a speaker to output the sound and LEDs that show different colors upon specific energy (also mapping the color with it), I will also visualize the color and the emotion in an interface using processing deployed to an IP. In order to diffuse the light I will also use a translucid paper/silicone bellow my 3D structure.
Requirements:
IP to visualize the data (ESP32 can store this)
Translucid paper/silicone to difuse light
Interface and programming
Processing and Arduino IDE
For visualizing the data I will be using Processing to deploy the visuals to an IP and Arduino IDE to fetch the data from the input sensor into a serial port (that processing will read).
Requirements:
Bluetooth serial port
Processing
Arduino IDE
Electronics
ESP32 and SAMD11
I will be using the ESP32 and the SAMD11 (this is to allow the ESP32 to communicate with the computer). The ESP32 has a lot of capabilities that allow me to do this project (touch sensor, wifi) that I discover on embedded programming week while doing an analysis of the ESP32 datasheet.
Requirements:
Kicad
Milling machine
Soldering
Components:
ESP32
SAMD11
Sound Speaker
LEDs
Resistors (for LEDs)
Voltage regulator
Battery
...
2D and 3D Fabrication
3D Printing and laser cut
For the object itself I will be modeling the capsule in 3D in Blender and printing it in 3D (in white). For the base of the object I will be designing it in 2D in Inkscape and then laser cut wood.
