Week 1 - Progressing with I/O

During this week in the lab, we were told to combine an input of an certain thing, in my case DIRECTION, to produce a certain output, for me it was FIRE.

Through my brainstorming, I started with an object which had similar quality of input and output. a FLAMETHROWER, or a TORCH, however then I realized that we can take qualities of the output element and manipulate the scenario which uses the element for its qualities.

So then my scenario became a direction controlled heater. The user is in a structure where the human has become the dial to control the heat. If the user were to spin on the spot to the clockwise, the sensors in the room will detect that and increase the heat, and if he were to do it counter clockwise, the heat in the room would reduce.

Later in a different exercise, I teamed up with Zack Bush, who possessed the input of BRAINWAVES, and the output of WIND. Our job was to make a complete system with all the inputs contributing to the output.

We began to brainstorm by doing each one individually and picked out the similarities. By combining the WIND and FIRE, we created air conditioning as the OUTPUT, and by combining BRAINWAVES and DIRECTION, we created a locator which detects human comfort. Our whole system was suppose to be in a room rigged with brainwave sensors, motion sensors and air circulation system. Depending on where you are and what your brainwave emits, warm air or cool air may blast towards your direction.

After that was done, we tested out Arduino, by lighting up and programming the blinking of LEDs and that was the end of the lab.

-THOMAS