PUMP IT!!! is a performative media project that I have made for the last and the biggest physical computing assignment.
Ideas
In the fall break, my girlfriend and I went to the Georgia Aquarium since we were both obsessed with watching sea creatures (especially belugas and dolphins). We were told that the water level of the Arctic Ocean is rising each year, which might threaten the living of these fantastic, cute animals.
Hence my primary idea for this project is to create an interactive poster focusing on the topic of ocean protection. I wanted to create something related to water operation, like using a weight scale to manipulate the ocean level in the p5 file, or use a water pump that requires you to do something physically to control the water level.
Process
I selected the distance sensor in the Arduino kit (I should be selected the pressure sensor but I had some difficulties with it). I tried to let it output a specific value of “distraction” or “derivative” of the distance of a card to the sensor.
Debug: I used the Arduino console for debugging, and check if it outputs as a number instead of a string, this was further fixed by using parseInt() in p5.js to guarantee it as a number.
A p5.serialcontrol software was further downloaded through github. It should be used to connect the serialport of the computer to p5.js and select an input source (arduino board).
Debug: Check the control panel console if the output is the same as the Arduino ide console.
Then I crafted and created a p5 project that is very simple as an interactive poster. I learnt from open-source code about the ocean wave animation and recrafted it in the file.
Debug: See the console.log method that I used in the file. It shows a displacement value for the water level.
Final Thoughts
This is a really interesting and challenging task that I have been making for the class. I really enjoy how we are using the physical component and modeling out a potential interaction form. I felt really inspired when Professor Nitsche told me that maybe change the simple interactions (click, drag, or something in figma) to complex, physical interactions (touch, push/pull, squeeze, etc.). These may add a lot to the overall “interactivity” of the creative project.
Project Video
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