Breath OSC Interface iPhone App Support

This page is for support of the Breath OSC Interface iPhone App. Please feel free to ask any questions or provide bug reports below.

Ordered SheevaPlug

So I went ahead and put in an order for a SheevaPlug. They say it will take "2-3 weeks" from order date. I ignored the GuruPlugs because of the reported heat problems. I may use the SheevaPlug as a "more reliable/powerful" network interface for physical computing systems like Arduino that can hang off of its USB. I may also use it as an el-cheapo "meet-in-the-middle" server for PHY2PHY projects.

No sooner had I ordered the SheevaPlug did I see a neat mini-systemboard ALIX3d2. LAN / 2 miniPCI / LX800 / 256 MB / USB / 500 MHz AMD Geode LX800, $99. Needs an external DC power supply. But, hmmm.

Then I saw the Mini2440. Also in the $100 department, it has a 405 MHz Samsung S3C2440A ARM920T chip, a 3.5″ touch screen display, 2MB NOR flash, 64MB SRAM, and 128MB NAND flash, Ethernet, USB, COM, audio out. It comes preinstalled with Linux 2.6.3 and a Qtopia graphics. There seems to be a version without the touch screen a bit cheaper here. And it appears to have a cheap camera available as well. And, oh yeah, it has 8‐channel 10 bit A/D converter with sample and hold, and a bunch of digital GPIOs (more info here). And here is a video of the GPIO at work. This sounds like an awesome system for PHY2PHY projects, it could be its own webcam and webcam display as well.

Tesseract OCR

If you need a free OCR program, try Tesseract. It is awesome!!! Skip GOCR.

No problems building it on OS X. One thing you may need to know is to use ImageMagick "convert" command with "-depth 8" to build TIFF files that Tesseract can read.

Breath-over-IP redux

So honestly, my breath-over-IP project is not at cool as I want it to be. It actually an on/off system rather than a more "analog" transmission of breath speed.

The problem is that the anemometer impeller and the output fan both have too much inertia. The anemometer impeller is incredibly sensitive, but once it starts spinning it can take several seconds to stop, even without any breath. The fan is the same way, once you turn it off, it takes several seconds to spin down.

So I am contemplating redoing Breath-over-IP using a servo motor and servo controller. This should allow me to speed up and slow down the fan motor very quickly. On the breath sensor side, I could use a pressure sensor chip.

Finally, I'd like to solve my networking challenges using a plug based Linux PC with a USB-attached Arduino. That way I can do very complex networking in Python on the plug computer, and let the Arduino handle analog/digital I/O, which it does well.

So that's my plan...

Physical Computing Talk TONIGHT [Thousand Oaks]

“Physical Computing – Interaction Design and Systems Engineering”

Wednesday, 10 March 2010, 6:30-8:30pm

Richter Auditorium, Cal Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks

Meetings are free and open to the public. Parking is free.

Carlyn Maw, a co-founder of CrashSpace, a Los Angeles Hackerspace, formerly an instructor and graduate of NYU ITP, presents an introduction to Physical Computing.

Physical Computing is a hands-on multidisciplinary approach to interaction design and systems engineering. It is neither electrical engineering light nor advanced hobby electronics, but rather a holistic approach to invention and problem solving. Practitioners are frequently experts in their fields who want to harness the power of electronics within their own discipline. Examples include:

· A musician composing a symphonies based on data collected from sensors on the body.

· An occupational therapist working to develop a pressure vest for children with sensory modulation disorders.

· A scientist tracking monkeys.

· A fashion designer creating a dress that unfurls like a flower.

Physical Computing methodologies quickly grab the imagination of beginners by treating electronics and programing as tools which extend what the new-comer already knows rather than as complete separate realms of expertise. With an emphasis on learning by doing and rapid prototyping, Physical Computing provides a quick pay off for those just starting out and for experts making “sketches.”

Additionally, Physical Computing has become a way of life for the communities forming around it. People around the world are working to increase the accessibility of the making things way of life. Carlyn will provide an overview of the conceptual approaches, tools, people and communities that are contributing to Physical Computing today.

Ignite LA tonight (Monday, March 1)

Tonight is Ignite/LA, the event where speakers get 5 minutes/20

slides/15 seconds per slide to give a lightning presentation.

At the last Ignite/LA, talks included:

- The Future of Money

- Turning AI gurus into Comets and Star Field Explosions

- Bubble Nets among Humpback Whales

- A talk by former Dorkbot SoCal speaker Heather Knight on Social Robotics:

http://ignite.oreilly.com/2009/07/heather-knight-on-social-robots.html

- A talk on physical interactions over IP by myself

http://igniteshow.com/videos/getting-physical-over-ip

You MUST sign up to attend tonight ASAP here:

http://ignitela.eventbrite.com/

7PM

Cinespace

6356 Hollywood Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90028

Cinespace is an awesome venue, and after the talks you stay there for

live band karaoke hosted by Cedric Yarbrough of Reno 911.

-Thomas

http://www.t11s.com

Dorkbot SoCal March 20, 2010

Dorkbot SoCal 39

***** Saturday, March 20, 2010
***** 1:00pm
***** Machine Project
***** 1200 D North Alvarado Street
***** Los Angeles, CA 90026
***** Google map of Machine Project

Ruth West, Todd Margolis, Joachim Gossmann
http://www.atlasinsilico.net/

"ATLAS in silico" is the result of a vibrant collaboration between artists and scientists spanning new media, computer science, metagenomics, biology, and engineering.

Ruth West is an artist with background as a molecular genetics researcher. She is Director, Interactive Technologies for CENS (Center for Embedded Networked Sensing) on the UCLA campus and is concurrently an Artist-Research Associate at the UCSD Center for Research in Computing and the Arts, where she is the first CALIT2 New Media Artist crossing over to the Digitally Enabled Genomic Medicine Layer.

Todd Margolis is currently the Technical Director of the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA) at UCSD. In 2004, he received his MFA in Electronic Visualization from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a founding member of the immersive and interactive art and technology non-profit organization, Applied Interactives, and also a member of the art collaborative Sine::apsis Experiments.

Joachim Gossmann is an audiocentric media artist interested in a true interdisciplinary discourse between science and the senses. He is currently working on a PhD in Computer Music at the Center for Research and Computing in the Arts at U. C. San Diego. He also holds a a Tonmeister degree from University of the Arts, Berlin, a MFA in Composition/Experimental Sound Practices from the Californian Institute of the Arts, and has 6 years of professional experience in research, production and development of music in experimental media working at Fraunhofer IMK and the Center for Arts and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany.



Dane Picard
http://www.danepicard.com/

Dane holds an MFA from CALARTS, and creates electronic sculptural works that blur the line between organic and inorganic.



MluM
http://mlum.com
MLuM is a Long Beach and Singapore based punceptual histriophonic art ensemble, comprised of multi-national artists whose creato-researchive interests include: The utilization and/or incorporation of scientific, scientistic and pseudo-scientific technologies, methodologies, idealogies and procedures in(to) aesthetic and artistic processes and practices; The aesthetics of sustainability; Sustainability as artistic tradition and genre; The geographics of social networking pertaining to the environmentics of location and mindset; Performance orientations relative to interactive systems within improvisational structures and environments; Charting influence within the aesthetic-ismos.

Always in search of collaborators, MLuM will deliver a paper (presented at MUSICACOUSTICA, Beijing) entitled "Databasethetics."