Reactive Spaces v1
| For Softness last week the topic was ergonomics. In my definition of ergonomics is probably wrong, but it all seems to be about the human body relating to things. How do we fit or interact with space. This all made me think of handles, mice (computer), gloves… all positive spaces, or spaces we wrap around. All of these didn’t really catch my interest… and maybe it was the architect in me, but I started thinking of the opposite: spaces that wrap around us. Like clothes that mold to your body or buildings that come to you. I think we are used to affecting small objects with our bodies, but what about big ones. What would it feel like to have a wall move around in response to you?I got lucky with timing because it just so happened to be motor week in pComp, so I figured I’d mix things up. What I envisioned was a hanging ceiling that would move and respond to you walking up to it and in it. The ceiling would move up to allow a little bubble of space for you to be in. Ideally, the ceiling would be a large area that many people could inhabit and interact in. A smooth, rich, surface would mold to your personal space. The people I talked to about this space/idea all really excited. There seems to be something in the largeness of the whole system… affecting a room, architecturally, with your presence.
Obviously, I could not complete a whole full scale ceiling in one week. So, I scaled back in a few ways: I changed the two-dimensional plane to a one-dimensional strip, and I made it physically smaller. It ended up being a little model where I could work out the mechanics and technical stuff, in preparation for a human-scale version. I learned a lot from this model. 1) DC motors are not way to go (too hard to accurately control), 2) IR sensors are a bit flaky and should be used with caution, and 3) A human-scale version of this project will be complex and expensive. The basic system works like this: six panels of cardboard are connected together so they make a snake-like structure. At four different points, the structure is hung from strings which are connected to motorized rods. Below the panels are IR sensors which sense if something is under a specific panel or control point. When the IR sensor ’sees’ something, it tells that motor to pull the panel up. When it stops seeing it, it tells the motor to lower the panel. Simple. And because all the panels are connected, it makes one undulating surface. This prototype was somewhat of a failure, but I learned a lot of what not to do. So for next week I am going to make a second go at it. The topic will be space, so this project is well suited for it. |
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I was reminded of a segment on home & garden Tv where the designers had the living room on a large lazy susan type structure so that the couch and persons in them could turn the whole living area to look out sliding glass doors, to the kitchen or to a game room type tv set up. The structure was up off the floor about 8 inches but it was a similar idea–the room would change to suit the needs of the family and move