The central voice of J-Rock in your piece is a great speaker. He does a great job of showing both sides to his personality, the single guy and the father of two. From the language to the presentation, he really nails it. The time when he changes from this supposed macho guy to explain some of the realities of his situation is the highlight of the piece.

Overall, the audio on the piece is a bit rough. There are a few edits that are a little raw, with people fading unusually. The levels could also be evened out to smooth over differences in volume between the speakers.

But overall I think it’s a nice piece. It would be great to have the piece run even a little longer and to get a deeper sense of some of the other speakers.

Feedback for Jason:

Jason, I didn’t see your audio posted on your blog.

One of the things that the readings fail to mention is how incredibly bad all the writing on these fan fiction sites are. This was my first time visiting sites like FanFiction.net. It will also probably be my last. The majority of the stories I read were all based on really cliche story lines and predictable plot twists. While it is easy to support the idea that young writers can use the Harry Potter series to improve their own storytelling skills, it is a bit embarrassing to see what older writers have produced.

As part of our assignment for the week, we were to produce a day’s worth of hourly comics or write a piece of fan fiction. I chose the latter. Here’s my story:

Miami Vice

Mic Check

[The scene starts in classic style of Michael Mann with a helicopter filming a night scene over Miami. The camera is pointed straight down, filming the streets below as it flies low over the city. In the background, a Dire Straits song plays.

Eventually the camera stops and holds on a rooftop pool party. We see lots of people in swimsuits having a good time. But slowly it becomes clear that there are no bikini-clad women. All the guests are male.

Detectives “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs are undercover and learning the true meaning of being partners. They are seated close together on one side of a hot tub. On the other side is a blonde haired Icelandic man named Bjornson, his arms around two unnamed young “friends.”

It is the week before Art Basel Miami, the huge international art festival. Our heroes are posing as a couple in order to make a buy from Bjornson, who produces high-quality fakes of Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock paintings.

Just as they are finishing with the small talk and getting to the details of the deal, Crockett sees his emergency mobile phone light up with a text message. This must be big. Maybe headquarters is preparing for a big drug raid. Perhaps it’s another lead on a terrorist plot. They wouldn’t be texting him now unless it was urgent.

Crockett makes some excuses as he and Tubbs make a quick exit.

Next, we see them back at police headquarters, heading straight into their Captain’s office.]

“We came as soon as we could, Captain. What is it, a code 76? Al Qaeda maybe?” asks Crockett.

“Crockett, Tubbs, good God, why the hell are you wearing Speedos?” says the Captain.

“No time to change, sir. We were in the middle of the Bjornson case. About to break it wide open. Figured this must be urgent. Is it the cartels again?”

“No, God damn it. First, put some damn pants on! How many times I told you, those are the rules around here! Especially after that incident with Fernandez last week. Anyway, no, it’s not the cartels. I wish it was that simple. This one comes from up on high. The Mayor. He’s been giving the Commissioner hell about this Occupy Miami thing. It’s an election year and he needs to shut this thing down. The business community is up in arms! But he can’t be seen fighting the common man, especially with the primaries just a month away. Crockett, that’s where you come in. He wants us to set them up, an inside job, make it look like they’re all criminals. That way the Mayor can avoid a big Bloomberg-style raid. I want you to get down there, find out who the leader is, plant some drugs on him and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“But Captain, what about Bjornson?” interupts Tubbs. “He’s dumping millions of dollars of fake art into the city just before Art Basel.”

“Yeah Captain, really bad stuff too. It’s gonna be mayhem if these paintings hit the streets,” warns Crockett. “His color palettes are totally off, sir. Those Icelandic painters, they make all the hues too cold. It’s gonna be mayhem, I tell you!”

“Yeah, sir,” continues Tubbs. “It’s a complete departure from the underlying subtlety of their work…”

“How many martinis have you guys had tonight?” interrupts the Captain. “Did you not just hear me say that this is coming from the Commissioner! Hell, I know better than both of you combined about the abstract expressionist’s influence on this city. I was delving into post-Impressionist styles while you guys were still in diapers. But we got no choice! Crockett, I want you inside Occupy Miami by tomorrow morning. You need to find out who the leader is, plant some methamphetamines on him and get out of there. We’ll take care of the rest. It will be the perfect excuse to take down the whole group.”

[Cut to a crowded scene the next day in a downtown Miami park. Gone is Crockett’s Speedo, replaced with jeans and a t-shirt that reads, “Got Representational Democracy?”

Crockett takes a minute to have a cigarette and survey the scene. A young man walks up to him.]

“Smoking kills, man. You should stop supporting the tobacco multinationals.”

Crockett plays it cool, casually exhaling. Then he snaps, grabbing the man by the throat and lifting him off the ground. “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. Who’s in charge around here? Who runs this show?”

“Chill, man, peace!” says the protestor. “Displaced anger is not the answer! The 99% need to stay united and focus on the corruption in the system! I… I can’t breathe, man.”

Crockett lowers him gently and decides to take a different approach. “Sorry about that. Sometimes my frustration with the growing income inequality in the world just gets the best of me. You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, brother.” responds the protestor.

“Listen, friend, I’ve got some radical ideas brewin’ up here,” Crockett says as he taps his forehead. “Real radical stuff. I’ve gotta speak to whoever’s the boss around here. I gotta get these thoughts outta my head before it explodes!”

“Now you’re talkin’!” says the protestor. “But don’t you know, you are the boss!”

“What?” asks Crockett.

“You’re the boss, I’m the boss, we’re all the bosses around here! The people are in charge of Occupy Miami,” replies the protestor. “Sounds like you need to talk to the General Assembly!”

With all the commotion and excitement, a small circle of protestors begins to form around the two. Slowly it dawns on Crockett that this will be no normal shakedown. High unemployment, disenfranchised youth, backroom corporate deals, political corruption… it is all starting to made sense. Sure, he longs to be back on that rooftop, back in the hot tub with Tubbs. But how can he go on with that lie any more? And besides, even if he wanted to, how can he frame the leader of the protest when there is no one person in charge?

[Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of Miami Vice’s Mic Check.]

I decided the only way I could write a piece of fan fiction would be to mock the style of the other writers. I don’t really watch television, so it’s impossible for me to write an earnest and serious story about the plot lines, especially for such popular shows as Star Trek or X-Files.

I am sure that there are some OK stories lost amongst the thousands of entries on these sites. But I certainly didn’t read any of them myself. Lost among all the shifting power dynamics of the writers and fans is some real criticism of lots of poor writing. This is one of the main points in a recent documentary I saw called PressPausePlay. It questions whether the lower technical barriers to producing digital media has resulted in better art or not. I think it is a valuable exploration of one side of the fan fiction debate.

large, human/natural graphics have a definite effect

It's amazing how immune most New Yorkers to all these colorful boxes that appear on so many intersections...

... yet a colorful chair stands out around the corner in a sea of gray.

the simple change to the design with this angled front is a subtle but effective choice.

amazing that classic cars have not been referenced effectively in modern designs.

getting in touch with nature

this design is simple, yet effective from so many different angles

the layout in no way matches the layout of the elevators. and the positioning on a wall perpendicular to the elevators also doesn't make sense. finally, why does the right side need to be so big? purely to force a symmetrical look?

Reading:

I enjoyed the Paul Graham reading taste & design. Reading through it reminded me many times of the references to Apple designs. Over the break, I read Walter Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs. Much of the themes about elegance and minimalism in that book are echoed in this reading.

In particularly, I thought of the connection between Jonathan Ive at Apple and his inspiration, the German designer Dieter Rams when reading the “Good Design is Timeless” section. Comparisons of their projects are crazy.

Reading through this article in search of the image above, it was interesting to note Ram’s 10 principles of good design:

1. Good design is innovative
2. Good design makes a product useful
3. Good design is aesthetic
4. Good design makes a product understandable
5. Good design is unobtrusive
6. Good design is honest
7. Good design is long-lasting
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail
9. Good design is environmentally friendly
10. Good design is as little design as possible

I think the article has plenty of good things. It is quite interesting his mention of 15th Century Florence and how a huge number of artists emerged from this time and place.

I also like how he chose to end the article, highlighting the fact that great work is often inspired by people seeing what they think is mediocre work and thinking they could do better. With so much bad design in our midst, there is plenty to choose from.

Rounding a Corner

All things considered, this was progress. A loss was still a loss. But everyone in the stands could tell. At last, their team had fight.

I chose to go with the Hint Fiction format for my Collective Storytelling assignment. This limited me to 25 words or less. Given the other options of a 6-word, 55-word or 400-word story, this format just seemed like the best one to me. The 400-word story examples were too much like normal conversation, without the hook that left me wanting to read more. The 6-word examples really didn’t seem like valid stories, just calculated words. The 55-word stories, neither here nor there.

25 words is a nice length. You need to be concise enough to draw people in quickly, to paint a compelling (but potentially incomplete) picture. Calling it Hint Fiction seems perfect. It leaves readers to their own devices, speculating on how the lingering threads of the story could and should be resolved.

This format seems to be like a good elevator pitch. The comparison to business may seem crass, but it plays on the same human emotion. You need a good enough idea that you can create immediate interest from people who hear these all the time. It has to be something very approachable, something that most people can relate to quickly. The pitch needs to conclude with you referencing but not addressing another idea, showing that you have thought about the next step but are holding back your comments.

I liked the examples from NPR link for this format. It was nice to write fiction, unlike the autobiographical 400-word stories. Perhaps that is simply because I read more nonfiction these days than anything else.

This is my first attempt at writing a 25-word story. I was amazed by how many earlier versions of it were 26 words. Getting the ending one word shorter was the biggest challenge. A few rewrites always seemed a bit off or ended me back at 26 words. The shortest I got it was 24 words, but that seemed off too. The final solution had me turning my last sentence into two. I think it works.

The data set is 7729 blood sugar readings from my Dexcom 7 CGM (continuous glucose monitor), representing all the CGM readings for November, 2011. I produced the visualization in Processing, then generated a PDF for the entire month on top and additional PDFs for every individual day of the month below. The circle spans the respective time frames starting at the top (12:00), progressing clockwise.

I changed the color scheme to blue from an earlier yellow version. I think the blue looks better. But it also builds on a comment a classmate made about an earlier version, stating that it reminded her of an eye. I thought changing it to blue would enhance this feeling even more. The blue represents in-range readings (80-140 mg/dL). The gray represents low blood sugar readings (79-40 mg/dL) and the outside white contains all the high blood sugars readings above 140 mg/dL.

I am encouraged by the results of this visualization. The feedback at the show was also positive and supportive. I already have some thoughts about changes I can make in the future. It will be nice to add other data variable to provide greater context. I am convinced that there are better ways of quickly and effectively communicating to patients the message hidden in thousands of data points. This could be part of a more responsive feedback look, giving patients both the motivation and ability to change their behavior and improve their control.

I am excited about taking the Data Representation class at ITP this coming term with Jer Thorpe. Check back later for future iterations!

WWMD allows a user to control a wall of water with the wave of their hand. I built this project along with Mark Breneman for our ITP Intro to Physical Computing final project.

Water control comes from a Kinect tracking hand movement, communicating the data to Processing, which then sends it to an Arduino controlling a stepper motor. The motor turns gears on a tube of water which has holes drilled on one side. The wall of water is open when the holes face down and closed when the holes are above the water level.

From Idea to Execution

Mark and I began just by thinking about a way to control water. I have been keen to learn more about using the Kinect since arriving at ITP, so I welcomed the chance to incorporate it into a project. When we started, we were focused on the water control system and learning the Kinect code (the start and end points of the system). But after meeting with Greg, the ITP resident and Kinect specialist, he suggested we instead learn about the middle part of the equation where Processing and Arduino determine motor movement.

On his advice, we looked into data transmission from Processing to Arduino. We used simple X position from mouse movement to control a motor’s movement forward, backwards or still. All our class examples had dealt with Arduino to Processing communication, so we first worked out the details of the reverse process. We drew a simple sketch in Processing and Arduino that divided a window into three parts. The left zone moved the motor in one direction, the middle stopped it and the right moved it in the opposite direction.

Motor and Water Control

Scaling up, we started by using a motor lent to us from our classmate Jackson. The motor was from a discarded drill, so we knew it had plenty of torque to accomplish what we wanted. But the complication was that it drew 4 amps of current, far greater than the 1 amp Arduino can handle. We frantically ordered a motor shield before Thanksgiving that promised it could handle 4 amps. We hooked it up to our Arduino and bench power. It worked for a few minutes, and then all of the sudden it did not. We never figured out the specifics of why, but guessed that at some point the current or voltage must have spiked when we switched from one direction to the other. With just a few weeks until the deadline, we looked for another solution.

Another issue we had at the time was our water control system. We bought a 6′ plastic gutter and drilled holes along the bottom. We then bought 2 3′ threaded rods and joined them in the center. One rod was threaded right, the other threaded left. With a bolt on each, we attached the linked rods to the motor. When the motor spun, the bolts both moved away from center or towards the center.

We cut paddles using the laser cutter and attached them to the bolts. With the gutter full of water on both sides, the paddles were designed to create a dry zone in the middle by pushing the water out. The opening in the wall of water would therefor start in the middle and move outwards. While this seemed like a great idea in theory, we ran into problems. Even with paddles cut exactly to the shape of the gutter and O-rings along the edge, we could not get a tight seal in the gutter.

With both motor and water control problems, we decided to switch our approach. We were lucky that our teacher Tom Igoe was able to lend us a geared stepper motor. It proved helpful to have this because we could assign specific number of motor steps to open the wall of water or close it. Tom also lent us a prototype of an official Arduino motor shield (which they expect to release soon). It allowed us to handle up to 2 amps of current and use the new motor.

On the water control front, we switched from the gutter to a plastic water tube. We drilled holes into the tube in a V shape, allowing the break in the wall of water to start from the center and move outwards.

The challenge with this approach was that it required us to keep the water level inside the tube at half full all the time. If the water level went higher, then water would leak from the holes on the top of the tube when no water should be flowing out. If the water level dropped lower than half, there would be gaps in the wall of water. With a spinning tube, we couldn’t just place a barrier on one end. In the end we cut a piece of plastic on the laser cutter that had a wider opening on the top than the bottom.

With all these complications sorted, we switched back to the Kinect. We began to integrate two sets of code that Greg had given us, one for hand tracking and one that determines center of mass for people in the frame. We chose this type of code because we did not want to use Skeleton Tracking, one method for controlling input from people in the frame. This requires people to stand with their hands up for a few seconds until the Kinect acquires them. We thought a better user experience allows people to just walk up.

Kinect issues

We realized that perfecting the user experience for this type of control was going to be a challenge. First, in building what is essentially a door of water, a final version would need to work from both directions. But this is difficult because there is no way to combine input from two Kinects (with one on each side of the door). In that type of scenario, there is no way for the code to know which Kinect is “in charge.” Also, we realized we needed to create some sort of safety mechanism that insured that the door stayed open when people were underneath it (some people get upset when they get drenched in water unexpectedly). But there was a good chance that the zone under the door would be out of Kinect’s view. We would thus need to incorporate other sensors to lock the door open.

This raised another issue, where to position the Kinect. Since it has to track a hand, it seemed best to put it in front. But people need to be at least 20″ in front of the Kinect for it to work. We thought about putting it behind people, but it does not work well from there. Trials from the back position worked less than half the time. In the end, we positioned the camera towards the front and a bit to the side.

Scaling down the prototype

With the complexity of this project, we decided to scale back the product in order to make our class deadline. I originally hoped for a 6′ wide wall of water position 6′ in the air. But the extra weight of this water and the frame would have been a challenge. Also, adding more water into a longer tube would have put added pressure on the motor and the sump pump. We were worried that the motor might not be up for this challenge. Even if it had the required torque, it would probably mean it would turn quite slowly.

We hope to tackle these challenges in a later version when we have more time. We also hope to perfect the Kinect code. Our thinking is to create a limited zone based on X, Y and Z position where one person can control the movement. The wall will lock open when the person approaches the door and triggers a light sensor. A second light sensor on the other side will close the door behind them when it is triggered. Or, if someone approached the door from this second direction when it was closed, it would lock open until the first sensor was triggered. This would probably resolve the majority of the use cases. But if this was in a busy location, there is also potential that there would be multiple people trying to enter and exit from both sides at once, further complicating things from a control standpoint.

Conclusion

Nonetheless, we are happy with what we produced in this first stage. Our class demo worked and people were able to control the water with a wave of their hands. We received good feedback from our classmates and learned a lot along the way. It was great working with Mark. We saw eye to eye on most things during development, which helped. His background in engineering and product design proved essential for building this. After the holidays, we will hopefully return to this with fresh eyes and see where to go from here!

Thanks again to Tom Igoe, Greg Borenstein, Patricia Adler, Zeven Rodriguez, and Jackson “Pasta Alaska” Snellings.

This was the mock-up I did before starting the process, imagining how it should look. The yellow circle represents in-range readings (80-140 mg/dL). The gray circle shows hypoglycemic (low blood sugar readings of 40-79 mg/dL). The remaining white area shows hyperglycemic readings greater than 140 mg/dL. For the month view, November 1st is at the top of the circle, moving clockwise through days until the 30th.

After generating the month view, I then went ahead and generated individual views for each day in November. This is helpful to see peaks each day around breakfast, lunch and dinner (midnight is at the top of the circle and noon is at the bottom).

I imported the data as an XML file exported from the Dexcom software. As a user of this technology, I rather happy with the hardware functionality but quite frustrated by their proprietary software. These devices cost thousands of dollars, yet Dexcom and others like Medtronic consistently underwhelm when it comes to managing the data. First, Dexcom hasn’t even bothered to make software that works on my Apple computer. I installed a Bootcamp partition to run Windows so that I could get this working. The device connects to the computer over a USB cable. I then exported the data and transferred it back to my Mac.

Using Processing, I began by importing the readings. This was more complicated than I expected because the beta version of Processing 2.0 uses different protocols for importing XML. Most of the documentation suggested I use proXML, but this didn’t work. With some help from my professor Dan Shiffman, I got that sorted.

It took a few meetings with ITP residents before I was able to map the data along a circle as I wanted using cosine and sine. The very talented Rune Madsen was particularly helpful. Rune makes beautiful data visualizations for the likes of the NYTimes and others.

I had a total of 7729 total readings for the month of November. The device normally takes a new reading every 5 minutes. But there are times when the communication between the transmitter and the receiver gets blocked and data is lost. There is also a 3 hour setup time when a new needle is inserted. These occasional gaps in the readings had to factored into graphing the data. I calculated the total number of minutes in November (43,200) and then converted each data/time reading into a calculation referencing that minute to the total.

notes from my meeting with Patrick

When I began, I was also hoping to import a .csv file from my other glucose monitor, the OneTouch UltraMini. The readings from this monitor are used to calibrate the CGM because they are supposedly more accurate. The CGM tests blood sugar in interstitial fluid (the fluid between cells) instead of blood like a UltraMini. In the end, I didn’t import this second file because I simply ran out of time. Since this is a different brand of device, it formats the data differently and would have required an additional process to merge the data sets. I will incorporate this into a future version of this project.

I must admit, I was a bit surprised by the visualization after I finally got it working. The total number of big fluctuations in blood sugar surprised me. My diabetes control is good and falls within the suggestions of the American Diabetes Association. Yet when I look at this, it makes me think I have a lot more work to do. The visualization highlights the latency issue of taking insulin. When I get a reading that my blood sugar is either high or heading high, I take an additional dose of insulin. But it takes about 20 minutes for that to start working and a full 2 hours before it reaches peak efficacy. Some of these trends are easier to see when viewing the data by day rather than by month.

This work is intended to give patients a “bigger picture” view of their readings. Unlike traditional graphs that are intended to show individual readings, this is intended to see whether they are generally doing well or still have improvements to make. I think it is important for patients to have a proactive attitude towards their control. Yet it is a definite challenge to maintain that attitude over the months, years and decades of living with a disease. Also, with thousands upon thousands of data points a month (and that’s just blood sugar readings!), it easy to be overwhelmed by it all.

But finally, I am hoping to make a visualization that succeeds as a design on its own, even if you know nothing about diabetes. After a few more tweaks, I intend to make it into a poster to hang on the wall. It would be great to look at as a graphic, subtly reminding me to eat right, keep on exercising and aiming for the best possible control.

XML xml;

//datapoints array contains all parsed data pointreadings (value, date, time)
SensorData[] datapoints;

void setup() {
size (800, 800);

// full set of 7729 readings
xml = loadXML(“dexcom1111.xml”);

// children array is an array of all the sensor data, unparsed
XML[] children = xml.getChildren(“Sensor”);

//initiate datapoints array
datapoints = new SensorData[children.length];

//parse SensorData
for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
//SensorData s = new SensorData();
SensorData s = new SensorData (children[i].getInt(“Value”), children[i].getString(“DisplayTime”));

//define sensor data readings to datapoints array
datapoints[i] = s;
}
}

void draw() {
smooth ();
translate(width / 2, height / 2);
background (255);

//background circles
noStroke ();
fill (237, 212, 0);
ellipse(0, 0, 280, 280);
fill (210);
ellipse(0, 0, 160, 160);

float TOTALTIME = 43200;

// for future PVector
beginShape();
for (int i = 0; i < datapoints.length; i++) {

float currDeg = map(datapoints[i].timeInMinutes, 0, TOTALTIME, 0, 360);

// plot the points
float x = cos(radians(currDeg)) * map(datapoints[i].value, 40, 400, 100, 250);
float y = sin(radians(currDeg)) * map(datapoints[i].value, 40, 400, 100, 250);

noFill();
stroke(255,0,0);
vertex(x, y);
}
endShape();

saveFrame(“output/November.png”);
noLoop();
}

class SensorData {
int value;
//String dateTime;
int ye;
int mo;
int da;
int ho;
int mi;
int se;

int timeInMinutes;

//    value = theValue;
//    dateTime = theDate;
SensorData(int tempValue, String dateTime) {
value = tempValue;
ye = int(dateTime.substring(0, 4));
mo = int(dateTime.substring(5, 7));
da = int(dateTime.substring(8, 10));
ho = int(dateTime.substring(11, 13));
mi = int(dateTime.substring(14, 16));
convertTime();
}

/*by minutes
number of minutes in November = 43200
number of days in November = 30
number of minutes in a week = 10080
number of minutes in a day = 1440
number of seconds in an hour = 60
November 1 12:00:00 is 00000. this date/time is currently stored as (da)(ho)(mi) (01)(00)(00)(00).
Formula ((da – 1) *1440) + (ho * 60) + (mi)
test Nov. 30, 23:59 = (29 * 1440) + (23 * 60) + 59) = 41760 + 1380 + 59 = 43199 = Great Success!
*/

void convertTime() {
timeInMinutes = ((da – 1) * 1440) + (ho * 60) + mi;
}
}

HeartWave visualizes your pulse, turning heartbeats into waves.

One or two people can activate HeartWave. To begin, users hold their hands against sensors on the side of the tank. Each heartbeat briefly powers a magnet, pulling a fin and generating a wave. This simple interaction quickly becomes mesmerizing as ripples emanate, override, clash and dissipate. Variations in liquid and lighting allow for a range of unique HeartWave experiences.

PROCESS NOTES
The HeartWave team includes Engin Ayaz, Tak Cheung and Doug Kanter. Our assignment was to produce a media controller for our Intro to Physical Computing class at ITP. Design, coding and construction was both painstaking and fun. After a week of brainstorming, we defined our product and began three weeks of production.

This post documents construction and testing as well as lessons learned along the way. We do not cover details of our first prototype, which are well documented here. For additional information on the construction process, see Tak’s blog entry.

Components
The two essential components for this project were the Polar heartbeat sensor and the electromagnet.

Polar board

Electromagnet

This is a full component list for the final design:

Input:

• 2 x Polar heartbeat sensor ($70 each)
• 8 x metal pieces for touch handles (free)

Output

• 2 x Electromagnet ($25 each w/ discount)
• 2 x TIP120 transistors ($1.60 each)
• 2 x small metal pieces for magnet attraction (free)
• 2 x black flourescent lights ($17 each)
• 2 x soft white LED strips, 18″ ($ 9 each)

Box

• Plexiglas, blue foam, black plastic, magic smooth epoxy polymer finish, spray paint

Circuit Diagram

Box Construction & Lighting
Here are documentation photos from the build:

Lessons Learned

Buying Sensors: We began by trying to build our own pulse oximeters to sense each heart beat. After two frustrating weeks, we were still getting inconsistent and noisy readings (detailed here). We certainly gained a lot of good experience with circuits and hardware. But in the end, this new found knowledge did not translate into good input data. Our input problem was holding up progress on the rest of project. Fortunately, ITP Chair Dan O’Sullivan rescued us with an off-the-shelf Polar heart rate circuit board. Unlike our homemade devices, which gave us analog information, the Polar solution registered pulse in digital form. Since our output was going to be digital anyway, this was a simpler and more effective solution. With the input side sorted, and we could attend to other parts of the project.

Lesson learned: You need to keep perspective on getting the whole project built. If one aspect of the build is not working, you need to consider other solutions to keep things moving forward.

Virtual Model before Physical Model: From past experience, we have learned that it saves time and money to first iterate and modify in the world of bits before moving on atoms. This HeartWave project proves this point. We developed a reasonably detailed SketchUp model for the tank and made multiple design decisions based on that model. It was great for determining all the technical and aesthetic issues throughout the rest of the physical build. It allowed us to determine how to cut the majority of the components (minus the bottom plexi layer and the fins).  Even so, using SketchUp we failed to consider later details including where to hide the Arduinos, place the lights and put a label for the project.

Lesson learned: The devil is in the details. Taking an hour to think through the final presentation can save you many hours later.

Dimensions:  We used a laser cutter for most of the large plexi sheets that form the box. Our tank design was too big for ITP’s laser cutter, so we had to use the one at Canal Plastics. They did a great job, though not at a bargain price. If we had kept our design within the constraints of ITP’s laser cutter, we could have saved money.

Lesson learned: Ambitious designs are expensive.

Laser Cutter > Craftsmanship: There is really no reason to go with manual cutting for most parts. The time saved and higher quality of laser cutter parts beyond compare.

Lesson learned: We could have saved even more time cutting the fins and small plexi components using the laser cutter.

12V != 5V (or how to fry an expensive chip): Pay attention when you are using multiple power sources! I mistakenly wired the Polar board with 12V, which fried the chip ($70 loss!).

Lesson learned: Create a system to distinguish power lines of varying voltages.

Future Work / Wishlist

• Lighting: The Polar board takes 8 seconds to capture and report your heartbeat. A lighting effect could improve the experience by letting the user see that a countdown has begun after they touch the sensor.
• Interaction: Thinking through all the assumptions of the users is key. What may seem intuitive to you might not be intuitive for others. For this project, subtle explanations for the user could allow them to understand what the device does and where to put their hands.
• Code: Refine the code (see comments in Arduino section below).
• Two lighting setups: Create two scenarios, playing with shifting light from below/above, the associated ripple shadow and the mirror effect.

Reference Projects / Inspirations
We found several projects that deal with heartbeat, though none incorporated water as a design element. In this way, it was nice to explore uncharted territory.

• Blow Up
• Emergence
• Pulse Park
• Pulse Sensor
• Your Heartbeat Paints A Picture
• Ink and Heartbeat (ITP project)

Arduino Code 
We went through dozens of code variations for the original pulse oximeter (analog), Polar board (digital) and an if-all-else-fails fake heartbeat generator using RandomWalk (analog).  In the end, we went with the following relatively simple code. In future iterations, it would be nice to replace the delay() function with AttachInterrupt(), add more functionality for lighting and sound output, and perhaps add start/reset buttons.

// TRUE PULSE | POLARTOUCH
const int polarTouch_Pin = 2;
int polarTouch = 0;

// OUTPUT | MAGNET
const int magnet_Pin = 9;

// TEST LED
const int led_Pin = 8;

// OUTPUT | LIGHT
const int LED_Array = 5;
int brightness_high = 255;

// the duration between the high and low pulse for the magnet
const int magnetMoveDelay = 150;

void setup(){
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(polarTouch_Pin, INPUT);
  pinMode(magnet_Pin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(led_Pin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED_Array, OUTPUT);
  analogWrite(LED_Array, brightness_high);
}

void loop(){
  //digitalWrite(LED_Array, HIGH);
   polarTouch = digitalRead(polarTouch_Pin);
   Serial.println(polarTouch);

   if(polarTouch>0){
    digitalWrite(magnet_Pin, HIGH);  // send current to the magnet
    delay(magnetMoveDelay);
    digitalWrite(magnet_Pin, LOW);
    delay(magnetMoveDelay/2);
    digitalWrite(led_Pin, HIGH);
  }
  else{
    digitalWrite(magnet_Pin, LOW);
    digitalWrite(led_Pin, LOW);
  }
}

Electronics Lab:

Servo Lab:

Serial Communication (1/2)