Lately there have been many ideas/thoughts flying around regarding potential project outcomes for my fledgeline Ph.D. research.I wanted to get some of them out into the blogosphere, so I can get them out of my head and into some kind of intelligent format. So here goes;bus trackerWeb based interface for seeing real-time locations of buses (user defined, the 370 route for example).gps/wifi units installed in sydney buses, which update on a 30/60 second interval to a central server. The data for this can be accessed via the web (for computers or mobile devices), specific to each bus route or roadway. This could be achieved via an intelligent algorithm to parse gps info and isolate the particular road/street the bus was on, or compare the data to typical route windows for particular routes.Possible configurations for this could allow for the actual bus times to be compared with the ‘timetable-d’ buses (think ghosting from car racing games), so you can see if the bus is early or late, or an automated ‘location-destination’ mode for finding the buses most useful to you.(the motivation for this idea came to me one day as I stood waiting for a bus for about 20 minutes!)Notes: This idea could be fairly quickly mocked up using freely available tools, such as google docs and google maps (I’ll have to find my demonstration of this, which does not work in real time but can update a google map with a gps location as it is plugged into the spreadsheet), which are already web based and would work well with handheld web-able devices.pixeltagRealtime collaborative grafitti, using depth/physics/tag manipulation all from a single hand-held device. Inspired by the mobispray project, but looking to take the work much further.This idea is a bit of a cheat, actually, as I’m currently implementing bits of it as we speak. At the moment I am able to create a drawing, however primitive, using the wii remote as an input device. The prototype can control location (X/Y axis) using a trigger and the accellerometer data of the wii, and colour (up/down) and size (left/right) using the ‘d’ pad of the remote.Ideally I would like to be able to relate the wii location relative to the screen (possibly using IR) to control the ‘depth’ (Z axis) of the drawn element, as well as adding some imitative features of real graf (such as drips, splashability etc) based on the wii’s accell data. Also there is the possibility of taking the project to new levels by multiplying the users possible, the canvas space (which theoretically is an area measurement approaching infinity) and even the networking ability to allow for users to grafitti much larger environments – such as a whole room, the entire inside of a building or even an entire street/suburb.This is definitely a possibility, and within reach as the current input device is so widespread. As Johnny Lee would put it, the Wii remote (not the console, the remote) has outsold most tablet pcs or devices, making it the most commonly owned computational input device on the marked. All that is required is a number of (possibly networked) pcs and projectors and you’ve got your own grafitti city. Theoretically.So that’s where I’m at currently. The first project could get up off the ground over the summer, but I’m also very keen to get my hands dirty with the arduino module and some more bluetooth-able projects before next semester begins. The computational environments students won’t know what hit them~!
Archive for October 2008
Palin vs science
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wii testing
As part of my research into interactive architecture, I have come across some very interesting ideas for designing and implementing feedback interfaces.One such idea was embedded in the wii remote, as discussed in an earlier post on the pixeltag project. Another such test we worked on in the interactivation lab is the connection of the wii to other items or devices such as an LED light.
The example shown below is done using the Arduino software interface, an Arduino Diecimilia hardware interface, some nifty arduino-max/msp connection patches and of course osculator to input from the wii.
Wii to LED from Jason McDermott on Vimeo
These kinds of tests are very exciting as they point to an expansive array of possible interface connections, especially those that do not require complex processing or connection to a computer. The example Arduino kit used was connected via USB to the computer, but could just as easily been connected to the computer via the arduino bluetooth module.
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links for 2008-10-28
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