"Day and Night" \\\ Improvement

I've decided to have the earth rotate constantly, when a shadow is cast over the light sensor the sky changes from light to dark and vice versa. Also at night either a rocket or a shooting star will fly through the air at random. At day either a blimp or a plane will fly through.

The soundscape also changes according to the light from daylight sounds to night time sounds.

"Day and Night" \\\ Initial Setup

I've successfully managed to link ardiuno to talk to flash. I'm using a 2.5k resistor and a light sensor, but have been testing with the 10k knob adjuster.


Below is a test run of my project. The movement is quite choppy as the moment but apparently there is a line of code which can smooth it out. I've gone for the rotational method as my flash knowledge is still at fairly basic level but I will attempt to add some more dynamics to it such as pop up buildings and small animations. We'll see how I go.

"Day and Night" \\\ Sketched up

Here i've drawn over a few of my sketches in illustrator and placed them over my Globe.
It's starting to look like something now... I'm still yet to cover more of the globe and fix small flash animations to it to give more detail as it's a bit simple for now.

Reading \\\ Do Adroids dream of Electric Sheep

So we've been reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep By Philip K. Dick, which is set in a apocalyptic future where the majority of animals have been replaced with androids and human emigrants to Mars are granted human replicate androids. A main theme brought up in the novel is the ethics of artificial life, intelligence and dehumanization.

A strange item named the 'Penfield' is used by the humans which they dial in settings to evoke specific emotions. "... At his console he hesitated between dialing for a thalamic suppressant (which would abolish his mood of rage) or a thalamic stimulant (which would make him irked enough to win the argument).

I liken the Penfield as a digital drug where the user has complete control of the output but addresses the issue of dehumanization.

Do Androids dream of Electric has so far been an interesting read addressing topics which relate well to Interactive design.

"Day and Night" \\\ Sound Effects

I've made a collection of sound files to be looped in the background of my project.

These sounds currently include: Atmospheric noise, Vehicles, a collection of city sounds, wind blowing. ( I will post a video with the collaboration of sounds very shortly)

"Day and Night" \\\ Sketches

I've sketched up some landmarks and miscellaneous vehicles, which will be positioned around the globe. Next i'll trace over them in Flash, add colour and some dynamic animations to a few such as the wind turbine, trees blowing in the wind and the blimp floating in the sky.

"Day and Night" \\\ Progress

Here's a finished version of the earth and sky gradient . . . now its time to start
creating landmarks etc


The earth and sky will rotate as one as the user interacts with the light sensor (mini photocell) . Although the user will only see a portion of the earth. ( See the below image ). Still a few more details to go from here.


Below, I have placed a texture over the background gradient to give it a specific look.


Overlay -Linear burn


Overlay - divide

"Day and Night" \\\ Sky gradients

Heres a couple of nice sky gradients I snatched from flickr to give me an idea for colours:

I've created 4 different background sky gradients, I think i'll go for the top left as it has the right
colour theme to suit my illustration. Still deciding whether i should texture the it like I have done so with my water.

"Day and Night" \\\ Whats on the world?

Just a few things on earth i'd like to illustrate in my project

"Day and Night" \\\ the build

I've decided to create a 2D globe which will rotate with the physical interactions from the arduino unit rather than one 1/4 of a globe where buildings and landmarks pop up although the aim is to still include dynamic animations.


Above is my Initial globe illustration, colour and texture will be added shortly.


Coloured globe ( slightly reshaped earth )

Proposal Feedback \\\

" All of your concepts are really good starting points for this stage. I am partial to the city daytime/nightime concept and also the Spud idea. The latter has a lot of potential with the external device. However the city could be really fun – it would be great to see intermediate states, not just on/off binary system. " Doug


From the above feedback from Doug i've decided to give my 'Day and night' concept a shot. First step background Gradients!

Proposal: Concept 003 \\\

Topic of focus: Creature by the name "Spud". He seeks affection through his fur ball companion(sensor). Spud is cuddly and loves to be near other but is highly sensitive to loneliness.

Intention: The user is invited to engage with Spud's furry companion which has a PIR sensor installed to detect movement. The movement triggers Spud from a dormant depressed state to a warm and welcoming state. Facial expressions and body language change in reflection to his mood state.

Production: This concept will be created and animated within flash and illustrator to produce an illustrated design style. A PIR sensor will be installed into a fur ball to detect user interaction/movement.

Proposal: Concept 002 \\\

Topic of focus: This is an environment based project where the user interacts with a light sensor which in turns changes the environment from a pleasant day scene to a thriving night life.

Intention: To simply show the contrast of life between day and night through shadowing a miniature globe.

The sensors will be installed in a miniature sphere representing the earth. The day scene would be complete with animations, including planes, birds and the occasional character. As the user places their hand or casts a shadow over the sphere the objects in the scene would pop down and newly lit objects would dynamically pop back up displaying an animated thriving night life. Once the user removes their hand the day scene will dynamically pop up replacing the night scene. Alternatively I will have a complete globe which spins around as the user interacts with the light sensor.

Subtle Ambient sound effects suited to the environment will loop in the background and change as suited.

Proposal: Concept 001 \\\

Topic of focus: mechanical creature whose name is "Thump". It enjoys loud electronic music, heavy bass and roaming around in search for some attention. Thump has a speaker for a heart, is a very curious creature and highly excitable.

Intention: to display affection and excitement in response to the users physical interaction
As the user becomes close to the device, Thump will travel closer towards the screen, it's speaker will begin to beat faster and the antennas will extend. As the user distances themselves from the device the beat of the speaker will slow down, Thump will wheel away further into the screen and the antennas will detract.

Rather than use a speaker to portray his emotions I have also come up with the idea of illustrating a screen on the body which displays digital facial emotions.

Production: "Thump" will be created and animated within flash and illustrator. A IR sensor will be used to detect the distance of interaction.

Arduino Tutorial 001 \\\ let there be blink

Few simple things to note :

Board type - [ Arduino Duemilanove or Nano w/Atmega 328]
Usb - [ Itty.usbserial - A700eKLS ]