Electronics, circles, people, contexts and vibrating hats

A few months ago fizzPOP – the hackspace I’ve been very involved with over the previous year or two – fizzled out. This left me not only with a slew of new skills and awarenesses of what might be possible, but also a fine collection of amassed bits and bobs.

What it hasn’t left me with is a clear idea of how all this new stuff relates to my art practice.

I’ve done a lot of learning, a lot of tinkering and a lot of making stuff just because I can. Now it’s time to start applying some of that rigour and circularity to the things I do involving electronics, sensors and microprocessors. (I still reserve the right to make flashing superhero cuffs if I want to, but, y’know, I want to make art too…)

I’m on limited resources at the moment and mostly having to make use of what I’ve got to hand, so thoughts returned to a wii nunchuck I’d managed to get an Arduino to read the data from back in August.

Arduino and nunchuck innards. The microprocessor reads the data from the wii nunchuk's accelerometer and then makes things happen accordingly...

I spent a long time barking up the wrong tree with an idea about modernising the old finishing school thing of balancing a heavy book on your head to improve your posture, however, after a few hours at the internet (and a few more at Central Library), I began to suspect this might be more urban myth than anything else. I couldn’t track down any nice references for it. Also, although in my mind’s eye I could easily see the book with accelerometer in it registering when it was no longer horizontal, I couldn’t figure out what it would do next. What would the output be? Why?

Anyway, at some point this thinking got bumped onto some different tracks and I’ve embarked on a series of concept pieces that I’m hoping will help bridge the gap between learning and Proper Work. This is where the vibrating hat comes in…

Starting point: what if well-known behaviour patterns were actually caused by devices?

Example (involving a vibrating hat): So, you know the pattern when someone’s falling asleep in public: their head nods forward three times and then they wake up with a snort and a small quantity of embarrassment. What if, what if, this is not actually the default behaviour? What if, when left to our own devices, we just keep on nodding? What if aforementioned falling-asleep-in-public person has had the foresight to don a special hat that recognises when nodding has commences and then discreetly wakes that person up rather than leaving them nodding indefinitely?

I’m making that hat.

A hat with working circuitry to enable it to detect 3 nods and then buzz the motor to wake you up...

After that I’d like to make a device that reads galvanic skin response and then taps your foot up and down when you’re nervous.

After that I’d like to make a device that… what do you suggest I make? What quirks of human behaviour might it be interesting to consider from another angle? Your thoughts in the comments please!

I’m still pondering what to do with this work once it’s made: I tend to like to see things being put into use. Documentation-wise, I’m thinking something like the way Sputniko! tells stories might work. Anyone up for a train-ride with video camera and vibrating hat?