michellechandra

Physical Computing: Testing Sensors!

October 31, 2013 by michellechandra in Physical Computing

Time to test out my new sensors!

I wired up my Air Pressure sensor following the tutorial on Adafruit. I connected the sensor to 3.3V and ground. I also connected the i2c SCL clock pin to the i2C clock pin on my Arduino (Analog pin #5), and the i2c SDA data pin to the Arduino i2c data pin (Analog pin #4). → Read more

Processing: Collage Kaleidoscope

October 30, 2013 by michellechandra in Processing

It was great to explore data visualizations this past week, but I find myself most excited by the possibilities of building some sort of weird collage kaleidoscope-inspired animation in Processing for my final project. I decided to mess around with the collages I built two weeks ago, this time randomly adding in translate() and rotate() to see what happens.

Eventually, I created a randomly awesome kaleidoscope-y animation.

There is a moment where the collage rectangles look 3D, which I think is interesting. I also like the contrast between having very thin collage rectangles (where the image is no longer discernible, and the collage becomes about color) versus when my rectangle slices are wider. → Read more

Physical Computing: Prototyping Wearable for Self-Tracking

October 30, 2013 by michellechandra in Physical Computing

This week, I am building a bracelet wearable prototype for my self-tracking headache-diary project. Surprising how difficult it is to just wire up and code 7 buttons and an LED!

This is the working circuit for the 7 buttons I will use to record certain instances (when I drink water, have a meal, and my location):

→ Read more

Infinite Container Now Available to Kickstart!

October 22, 2013 by michellechandra in Physical Computing, Video

Saki and Dan created a hysterical Kickstarter video based on the Physical Computing fantasy device idea that Saki, Sam and I dreamed up for class – an infinite container! Super in love with the video. Hysterical!

Less talk, more video:

Processing: Collage Magic

October 22, 2013 by michellechandra in Processing

No surprise that reviewing image manipulation last Wednesday in Processing sparked a ton of collage ideas!

It’s a little hard to describe what visually interests me when it comes to collage. So rather than describe, here is my sketch:

I sliced up two of my iphone photos into very thin rectangles and placed each slice next to each other one after the other. Because the slices are so thin, and one image is black and white and the other image color, there is this weird, subtle effect where the two images look like one image. → Read more

From Research to Experimentation

October 16, 2013 by michellechandra in Physical Computing

Physical computing wearable project is moving out of research-landia and into experimentation mode!

After discussing options and ideas with many folks and reading up on migraines, I have decided to begin small and build on the project. In order to get a real sense of what factors trigger my headaches, I am going to need to track a variety of factors over a longer period of time (at the very least, a month).

The basic premise is that my brain/nervous system dislikes change. When certain factors change too much – both external (changing weather conditions and light) and internal (stress, emotional state, dietary factors) – my nervous system interprets the changing stimulus negatively resulting in headaches. → Read more