My Work

Information Arts - Stephen Wilson

2007-12-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

Wilson organizes this book in two parts-- He begins by discussing theories that are used by new media artists- then gives examples of works.
It is a good book for getting a better understanding of how people are using technology in the arts. However, does not go into great detail in many instances.

PCB production and Surface Mounting

2007-12-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

Most capacitive sensing integrated circuits come only in a surface mount form (more info) I had do create a printed circuit board in order to be able to use the ic (integrated circuit)---
I used the laser jet toner transfer method--
which consists of:
-designing the board (I used illustrator)
-mirror the image (you will later need to transfer it on copper)
-printing it on glossy INKJET photo paper WITH A LASER PRINTER
-Iron image for about 5 min (on high) onto a copper clad board
-Peal off paper
-The toner from the printer should be adhered to the copper
- a sharpie can be used to trace the lines (making sure they are all connected)
- Soak board in ferric acid, until all the lines are etched--

Once I created the boards--- I needed to surface mount solder the ic on the board--- this is a task in itself--- I simply spent the time--- slowly solder--- however their are other methods that I am looking into--toaster method

Board Setup

2007-12-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

This is the diagram that I followed when prototyping with the QT411 --- I found it in the schematics for the integrated chip ( download schematics)

Sensing Touch

2007-12-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

I started experimenting the the both the qt411 and the qt113h - I found that the 411 was more useful as it can give a reading from 0-127--- I found that it can be used to make a series of buttons with one board.

Goodbye Privacy

2007-12-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

good by privacy is a book documenting ideas and projects that were submitted to this years ars electronica. Ars Electronica is a new media art festival that happens every fall-- I bought this book in order to read essays that are current--- they were written this fall and published right away- It gave me some very interesting ideas concerning our current cultures obsession with self publication---

The New Media Reader

2007-12-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

The New Media Reader is an essential book for anyone interested in technology and conceptual theory concerning new media. It contains articles written in the past century that pertain to new media. They are often the articles that are referred to in survey books like Gere's Digital Culture. The New Media Reader has become an essential part of my week- I usually try to read and understand at least one article a week!!

Busy Bees

2007-12-20T21:22:00.001-08:00

Busy Bees is an interactive installation I created inspired by the techniques Tom Igoe presented in Making Things Talk.

The interaction of this piece is situated in a larger context than just the space of the installation; it is taking place in the community of people using the university wireless network. Busy Bees listens in, or monitors, the interactions taking place on the wireless network and responds directly to this stimulus. the more information that is being exchanged the more active the bees.

Making Things Talk

2007-12-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

Making Things Talk by Tom Igoe is a diy style book that contains many projects that guide one to the various techniques of making the physical world speak with computers. I think this book is great for people who are interested in technology-- and want to jump right in. Tom focuses on creating projects that are accessible for all levels of expertise and budgets. I was most interested in how one can use the internet with microcontrollers!

The two books

2007-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

From reading Gere's Digital Culture and Fry and Reas' Processing I created a project that was a synthesis of both texts.

Processing

2007-12-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

This book was written by Benjamin Fry and Casey Reas. It is written as a handbook for the programming language they developed for visual artists (www.processing.org)

Processing is an open source language that is based off of java.

This book is great for referencing various commands, and better understanding the language.

Digital Culture - Charlie Gere

2007-12-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

"This book will attempt to demonstrate [that], as a culture, [the digital] is neither as new as it might appear, not is its development ultimately determined by technological advances. It would be more accurate to suggest that digital technology is a product of digital culture, rather than vice versa." [p. 13]

This book was great at giving me an introduction to important moments in the history of technology. Gere gives one an overview of what happened, and allows one to see the development of ideas in the past century that have led our culture to today.