PHYSICAL COMPUTING

Description: The slide potentiometer is an electronic component with a slide contact that allows for user-adjustable resistance of voltage.

slide potentiometer

-10K Slide Pot

Fight Spectacle Use: In Project 1: Fight Spectacle, slide potentiometers were used to record the pressure of a boxing glove as it slides back along the wrist upon impact. The potentiometer was secured to the wrist and a metal piece was attached to the slide and to the glove. When impact was page the glove would push the metal piece into the slide contact. The reading of the potentiometer would cause a series of LEDs to illuminate. A spring was attached to the potentiometer to return the slide contact to it's default position after the pressure is released.

Social Box

Social box was created to provoke social situations in an urban context. For review it was placed on Allen Street in Buffalo where it immediately attracted attention from some. Primarily, Social Box could be used as a tool for studying social environments and the reactions of people within these environments. Social box uses sensors that read the proximity of an object in an environment. When Social Box reads an object/person at the furthest range, the box will vibrate. A reading of a closer object will cause a sustained rumbling noise to be produced in the box. The closest interaction would be the insertion of an arm into a sleeve that is accessible by a whole in the top of the box. When one pushes their arm in to its furthest limit a switch will cause a car horn to produce a noise. During the installation on Allen Street pedestrians interacted with the box. Some inferred immediately that this was some sort of artwork. Others seemed genuinely bothered and nervous. This box would likely inspire a range of reactions depending on a variety of factors. These factors may include location and time of day. To locate this in Allentown would be very different than downtown, for example, because of nearby government buildings. When installed on Allen Street, the social box was effective in drawing a variety of reactions from people. However, we think that there is much room for improvement. The battery died pretty quickly and the sensors failed to detect pedestrians as the battery became weaker.

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