Sensorial Sphere Extended

Individual Project
Course: Ambient Interfaces
RISD Fall 2018

CHALLENGE

To create an immersive environmental experience through the utilization of an Arduino unit and several inputs and outputs.

RESEARCH

I began this project by first considering what type of experience I wanted to create and who I wanted to engage with it. I considered where this experience would be housed and how people might interact with it. In order to inform those decisions, I also looked at what sensors and outputs existed for Arduino. Sound, movement, and light are the main categories of responses an Arduino can operate, so I focused my experience research on these three topics. I decided to determine the sensors I would need after choosing an overall idea, rather than using a sensor type to help define the project. After exploring the many possible Arduino components, I began to focus again on the experience itself. I wanted to create an immersive experience that anyone could interact with and enjoy, and my unlimited goal was to make something that become more and more exciting and engaging as the user explored it.

Inspiration

I was inspired but the scale of these installations as well as interactions they encouraged. They provide experiences that can be enjoyed by many people at the same time and that change as the user navigates in and around them.

DEFINE

I quickly realized that my favorite relevant installations all focused on immersion through light and shadow. I decided to make this the primary element of the experience and also to incorporate multiple colors or a changing color to enrich the experience. I wanted to capitalize light’s ability to have a large spread from a small source by creating the biggest area of light possible. This would enable me to create an expansive installation area with minimal resources and equipment real estate and also make my design effective in a wider variety of locations. I established that the light source itself should be interactive or reactionary and would therefore need a physical form that made this intuitive and approachable. At this point I knew I needed to create a light source with some kind of sensors and reaction, as well as a housing for the light that would make it durable and interactive. I’d also identified a second function I hoped to incorporate into the installation - sound. I wanted to develop an auditory experience that would be just as enveloping and interactive as the visual component and work in perfect harmony with it.

IDEATION

Initially, I focused on creating a physical structure or structural component that would receive input and then display a variety of lights and sounds. I considered making a room or a wall or floor covering that would respond when touched or moved. As I pursued this idea further I quickly realized that anything at this scale would be both impractical for my time constraints and incredibly and unnecessarily expensive. Back at the drawing board, I again examined the strengths and limitations of an experience based on light and shadow. I was reminded of the scalability and spread of light and resolved to create a much smaller unit that could affect a space in a similar way as building an entire structure would. By placing one or many objects in a space, I could envelop the entire environment in light, shadow, and sound and create and equally immersive experience. I next considered what this node must do and how that would influence its form. It needed to be approachable, interactive, and intuitive. I decided that a spherical shell for the Arduino would best fulfill the requirements.

I then needed to determine the size and material for this sphere, as well as how the user would interact with it. It seemed that the two main interaction options were to have it tethered somehow or free to be picked up, kicked, tossed, etc. If the object were to be handled so roughly, it would need to be tough and the Arduino would have to be very well protected. I explored making a hard plastic sphere, an inflatable sphere, and a soft or stuffed sphere. I hypothesized that a hard plastic sphere would not be as friendly to the touch as I wanted and would also muffle any sound being produced within it. Additionally, an inflatable sphere would not hold up to the type of wear and tear I expected and would also dampen any sound being emitted. A soft sphere seemed like a possible solution, but there were a few problems left to solve. If this soft sphere was stuffed, the filler would reduce or eliminate any light or sound being produced, which meant it needed to be hollow. A hollow soft sphere would require an interior armature which might negatively effect the physical interactions with the sphere. This also meant that the softness would have to come from a thin layer around the armature that was padded enough to make it soft and inviting but not so much that it affected the light or sound. Below is the first prototype, which explores both the armature construction and the soft cover materials.

It quickly became clear that I needed a sturdier armature and connection method and that even a very thin layer of padding greatly reduced the amount of light emitted. Not only did the covered portion of the sphere glow less, it also had almost no spread to the surrounding environment, including the surface it was sitting on. I also conducted user interaction tests and found that with a dense enough armature people still found it easy to move and handle. I ran tests where the sphere was hung from the ceiling and others where it was left on the floor. It became clear that an untethered sphere was kicked and thrown quite aggressively and the visual experience was lost to the ball game. The hung sphere, however, still attracted just as much interaction but encouraged people to observe the light and shadows being cast around them and didn’t garner nearly as much forceful use. At this point, I resolved to create a sphere armature that would house electronics and be hung from the ceiling of the exhibit space.

Finally, I determined the responsive nature of the Sensorial Sphere. It used an accelerometer/gyroscope to calculate and map the direction and speed of movement as it swung through the air when pushed. The Arduino was programmed to translate this information into color values and the RGB LEDs displayed the full spectrum of colors the movement and code indicated.

Process

The final sphere was made from ⅛” steel wire that was cut, bent, and welded into 3 specifically sized circles. The finished 15 circles were then oriented on the x, y, and z axes and assembled via welding. I was not able to incorporate sound into this version but the visual effects are still sufficiently engaging and intriguing and it is still effective without an audio component. My next iteration would include the use of sound and light. The technological side of this project required the programming and wiring of an Arduino, 2 super bright RGB LEDs, 2 9v batteries, and an accelerometer/gyroscope. This finished unit was partially encased and then suspended with wire in the middle of the sphere. The sphere was then hung from the ceiling of a large open room for use and exploration.

Solution

• 2.5’ x 2.5’ sphere

• ⅛” Steel Wire, Rope, Arduino, Super Bright RGB LEDs, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Electrical Components

Sensorial Sphere is a scalable installation that creates an interactive physical experience and responsive light display. It encourages play, observation, and curiosity. When first approached, it typically causes a viewer some curiosity and desire to touch, and once engaged its reactionary light display encourages further exploration and continued interaction.

Next Steps

To further enhance this installation I would focus on improving the technological components. I would add additional LEDs to create a more even casting of light, create a new housing that better encases everything but the LEDs, and experiment with ways to very slightly diffuse the light. I would also incorporate sound into the piece that would work in tandem with the lights and would chance tone or pitch in response to data from the accelerometer/gyroscope.