Author: Rohan

Week 2

,
Rohan

Working with the Makey Makey was the main highlight of this week for me. I did not face any issues understanding or setting it up, but I did get stuck coming up with the idea for the project. The Hack#1 guidelines encouraged an out-of-the-box use of the device, something beyond just a controller function for a digital tool, as I understood it. However, most implementations of the Makey Makey seemed to end up using it as a controller-enabler for a digital app. Initially, I decided to turn a chair into a VR controller, using the feet and armrests as buttons for movement within the game, but again, I wasnt sure if that would qualify as a particularly new use since it fit the controller-for-app concept.

It took me most of the week just to get to the idea of using a conductive handheld board with a freely moving object inside it, instead of using a finger or limb movement to press buttons. Implementing it was not as difficult, just tedious. The surface of the board had to be carefully wrapped in aluminum foil without letting it wrinkle, which was a challenge. I did go down a rabbit hole of installing Arduino to somehow remap the Makey Makey keys, before realizing it was much simpler to just do it on scratch.

When writing the Artist’s Statement, I followed my own approach, using concepts from the readings as I understood them, but not directly referencing any author, and I’m not sure now if that was the expected writing style.

I think the demoing process in class can be improved. The Hack uses a lot of tiny, sensitive parts that can easily become misaligned, and transporting them to the screen and setting them up right before presenting can add a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. My project didnt require going up to the screen, but it was still difficult to demo it while everyone was physically oriented towards the screen. One possible redo could be to have each student set up their project on a separate table/space in the classroom, and demo it one by one, and then have students walk around and use each others’ projects. Plugging into a big screen is not necessary in this case, as each student can get up close to the laptops, which is also a more realistic use of the product in most cases. It’s still possible to connect each computer to the tv screen from a distance (T&I could set it up), if more desirable. Then, students can take turns talking about each project.

Apart from the Hack, there wasn’t much else to face a challenge with so far. The readings this week were quite insightful.

Artist’s Statement

Rohan

In my project, I converted a handheld board into a conductive surface, with a metal ball rolling inside it. The Makey Makey button is anything that is electrically separate from the board and can make contact with the ball. Having a free rolling ball capable of triggering Makey Makey buttons unlocked a surprisingly unique dimension of functionality. 

When you use a Makey Makey, you imagine the buttons being pressed by a finger or arm or a direct movement that connects some limb to the conductor acting as a button. However, the fact that a metal ball that requires no direct touch or manipulation, except for it to be on a conductive handheld surface, eliminates the step of moving forward, mentally or physically, and initiating the interaction. Instead, you rotate and tilt the board, asking gravity to lead the ball where you intend. This renders the metal ball as an extension of the player’s limbs, although with a much larger set of physical and psychological limitations.

 Instead of “willing” a physical pathway from the button-pressing object to the button, you have to visualize the fields of gravitational potential that would pull the button-pressing object (the metal ball) at ever-changing velocities and prevent it from reaching certain areas. Since there are magnetic obstacles in its path, you must also account for the ball’s interactions with the magnetic fields at play. This strikes an amazing contrast with the typical freedoms of bodily movement in human-computer interactions. We cannot ignore external forces and rely solely on the mind’s agency over its limbs to trigger the button; magnetism and gravity have entered the gameplay. 

In such a design, you cannot trust that the button will be pressed. Controlling the tilt of the board to guide the ball requires incredible concentration and patience. The process of reaching the button becomes the main focus of play, rather than the outcome of the button press.

Such a form of play introduces another twist. You do not want the button to be pressed. If the ball collides with the obstacles in its path, they trigger an alert and signify the failure of the game. Magnetism and gravity dictate the rules of play: how close you can come to the magnets before being sucked into them, how fast you must go to bypass the magnetic pull, how much velocity you can summon at any point, ignore these natural forces at your peril. The objective of gameplay is isolated as a particular mental image: a rolling ball with an unhindered trajectory, as opposed to an image of successful or timely button-interactions that permeate the majority of Makey Makey implementations. The outcome of a successful button-press has been rendered undesirable.

 This difference significantly flips the source of entertainment in the game, such that there is immediate, physical risk of failure. Once you grab the game board, the ball starts moving. The tiniest movement can lead the ball into an obstacle. Suddenly, your entire body is part of the game, forcing you to remain still and intentional with each motion, each breath, determined to defeat your treacherous opponents: magnetism and gravity. Play becomes serious, yet seriousness leads to the win and therefore the thrill.

The Materials

Week 1

,
Rohan

This class is a new concept for me in many ways, including this flog. The particular assignments and class structure and approach are very unique, especially compared to Computer science and Math courses I’ve taken as a CS major. Of course, the unfamiliarity requires an initial adjustment which was the main task for me this week. I definitely enjoy and appreciate this class structure for it’s creative prompting.

I like the classroom choice, although it is inconvenient to reach a charging station the way the tables are set up at the start of class usually, which is a significant hindrance. There are movable charging stands in the room though, so I will try to reposition one somewhere more accessible and hope the library staff don’t mind it too much.

I also had some challenges setting up this flog through Davidson domains. It seems you cannot change the domain name you initially created your Domains account with, which in my case was for a coding project called StudBud. It’s not a name I want to stick with for this class, so I’ll see if T&I can help me fix that. Navigating wordpress took a while to readjust to, and feels more complicated than necessary in some areas, but it’s a smoother experience now that I understand the basic structure.

The readings have been interesting so far. I have disagreements with the authors, in both perspectives, on the overall duality of the ways they define play. There are various ways to reconcile their differences by visualizing play in context of its emotional significance and psychological effects for conscious beings as part of the same chain that leads to material outcomes both ways. Material interests end up being influenced and directed by the involved persons’ emotional health and experiences, and emotional health is strongly grounded in play, therefore I am reluctant to follow both authors’ assumptions around material productivity as a largely separate reality from the emotional productivity of play. Further elaboration seems outside the scope of this flog so I’ll leave it there.

That’s all for the first week of flogging.