SIS Thought process and possibilities.

Hello! This is my first post to the SIS blog, and I'm excited to be working on this project.

This is going to be something of a mouthful. Here's where the project is right now.

Below is the current parts list. It's not complete and will undergo revision as the design changes, forseeably by way of sensing and display. It's been suggested to me that I do more research about IR sensors, and I'll be posting about not long from now. We also have an LED panel coming which we have yet to decide upon the use of. Should it be incorporated, we'll need to rework some of the parts.

1. The Arduino Leonardo: $24.95 ($22.46 for 10 units) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11286

I've decided on the Leonardo instead of the Uno because it's a bit cheaper and maintains compatibility with the MP3 Player Sheild I have in mind.

2. Sparkfun's MP3 Player Shield for the Arduino: $39.95 ($35.95 for 10 units) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10628

3. 2 gb Micro SD Card: $5.49 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-208-244&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=100&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

This may change depending on which method of playing 2 sounds at the same time I choose (more below)

4. 100k resistor: $0.15 ($0.14 for 10 units) http://www.parallax.com/Store/Components/Resistors/tabid/149/ProductID/217/List/1/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName,ProductName

Chosen with the IR LED and sensor below in mind. Will probably change as I intend to research alternative IR sensors.

5. IR LED: $0.99 ($0.86 for 10 units) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9349

May change as I look into other IR sensors. The original idea was for it to be a backup in low IR light settings.

6. IR sensor: $1.95 ($1.76 for 10 units) http://www.adafruit.com/products/157?gclid=CIP6m8jBr7cCFc-f4AodZCsACg

This is likely to change as Professor Marantz has suggested I look deeper into the different types of IR sensors out there.

7. Veho 360 PortableSpeaker: $11.49 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=737448&Q=&is=REG&A=details

This will likely change if we go with the LED panel.

8. Sony CycleEnergy portable USB power supply: $19.95 http://www.focuscamera.com/sony-cycle-energy-usb-portable-lithium-ion-power-supply-and-adapter-for-charging-usb-devices-on-the-go-walkman-ipod-ipad-portable-games-phones.html?gclid=CNj6-Ke6r7cCFQqi4AodVQ8ATA

If we use the LED panel, we'll drop this and either tap into it for power, or slap a powerstrip on the back.

9. 2 port USB hub: $9.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817397012&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Hubs-_-N82E16817397012&gclid=CKvb9qWb5LcCFY19OgodhDYAKQ I add this to the list so that the power supply can power both the unit and the speaker.

10. Remote control: $7.05 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4456088&SRCCODE=WEBGOOPA&cm_mmc_o=mH4CjC7BBTkwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CICl_4CX5LcCFSdnOgodRXwA2g

For whatever control purposes we may need while troubleshooting the installation of the units.

11. Wire: $2.50 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8022

Cost to build 1: $124.46

Cost to build 12: $1306.63

With the intention of using the Arduino, a couple road bumps were encountered, but not without possible solutions:

Problem #1: 

We want the device to play two sound files at the same time after a second sensor is triggered, and the Arduino isn't designed for multitasking.

Possible solutions:

#1:Read and buffer two files one after the other: 

The MP3 sheild I've found doesn't have functions built into it to play files. Instead, sample code for playing an MP3 file has been provided by Sparkfun. As many instances of file reading and music playing code work, this involves reading a snippet (buffer) of the file. Then you throw that buffer at the hardware or other code responsible for sound, and do that again with the next buffer with such timing that the file is played as intended. We could alternate which file we play from to play both files, since each buffer would in theory be smaller than perceivable by humans. Pros: Simple, just toggle a boolean variable to signify the use of the other file. Cons: We don't know how it'll sound. There's a balance between the size of our buffer and how fast the Arduino can read between the two. The larger our buffer, the more likely it is to sound like the sound is cutting between two files. The smaller our buffer, the more likely the Arduino is to be unable to play both files with the proper timing.

#2:Interleave the files on the spot:

We could tell the Arduino to combine both sound file buffers into one and then play that new buffer. Pros: Completely dynamic. Cons: Not quite as simple as it sounds. We have to figure out some code for exporting two sound bites as one. Luckily, the MP3 sheild supports a variety of file formats, like WAV and AIFF, making the process theoretically simpler, and we can rummage through Audacity's source code and find out how it exports multiple tracks to one file).

#3:Make a lot (a looot) of files where the two sounds are playing at the same time:

We could take the two files and increment file A ahead of file B by some odd milliseconds (and vice versa), export that file, and then repeat the process with an offset greater than the previous one. Then, the Arduino can choose a sound file based on when the second sensor is trigered during the first audio playback. Pros: A very simple brute force approach, the creation of the sounds could be scripted. I presume people are supposed to be walking through the installation, so the delay between the triggering of the sensor and the second sound playing wouldn't be an issue, allowing a larger interval between sound files. Cons: Size. I'm not yet sure of how big or long the files are, but for our purposes it probably wont be an issue.

Out of those 3, I think the first and third make the most sense to me. I'm leaning towards the third personally, at least as a fallback.

Problem #2: We may be using glass covered LED panels instead of canvas. This makes audio trickier, as glass is a nice material for muffling sound.

Possible solutions:

#1: A speaker bar:

Professor Marantz suggested a speaker bar be placed on the unit, similarly to TVs and some monitors. Pros: It's already engineered to serve a such a purpose. Cons: I can't think of any. We just have to find a bar that's as wide as or smaller than our units (we can throw on pieces of wood painted to look like the speakers for filling out the edges). Unsure: Placement. The pros and cons of placement come with how we mount the unit. We con't want it to be top heavy if we have a stand, and we don't want it to rock if we use wires from above (though I think we nixed wires)

#2: Origaudio Rock-It speakers:

Found at www.origaudio.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=product_id=29877 these speakers are like pick up mics in reverse. They stick to a surface and send vibrations through it, turning the surface into a speaker of sorts. Pros: It's discrete and will turn the unit into a speaker. Cons: These speakers work best with shapes that are conic, or otherwise work well with sound. We're dealing with a flat pane. I'm also having trouble finding documentation of these speakers working with glass surfaces, which tells me that people don't think it's worth showing off. However, most of the showing off that I have seen is "Look at how loud this is!" and that's nice, but this installation is going to be in a closed space.

I think the first will work without a doubt, but I'd love to play with the second.

Things to do:

#1: Look deeper into IR sensors

#2: Get my hands on some of those parts and see what sound solution works best. If none are good, think of something new or look at a different microcontroller.

#3: Greet and tinker with the panel upon its arrival.

That's all for now.

The Coveted Connection

Time and again I look at people with many, many connections and wonder, how did they get them? Now rounding 2600 friends on FB, I can honestly say that I have personally contacted all those who sent friend requests. Some I friended because I like their work as artists; some because I like their job or the cause they're working on; some because I honestly identify with their outlook on life, even if they are in a universe far away from mine.

Social Media is, after all, the great promotion tool, but promoting what? Promoting everything from your morning coffee to the elation of creating a huge multi-media art work. [Sigh]. The central activity is getting the buzz out about the installation. I want people to know about it, to get as excited about it as I am about making it. There's something in me that tells me most people really want to hear about it, and that little cheering-on I get when someone RTs or Likes a post makes me glow.

The installation has to be experienced. How can I get people to breathe the same breath as I, see what I see, feel what I feel?

Perhaps the daily musings to it builds: A familiarity cements an identification with the struggles and successes a consuming endeavor demands. Or, an understanding develops rather than a presentation being absorbed on an intellectual level. Appealing to the heart rather than the mind is what's going on here, doing it through the dairy of a morphing concept is the vehicle.

Jonas Mekas with his Bolex not far
from the Anthology Film Archives
he founded.

I have often spoken about Jonas Mekas' film diary of Lithuanian-American immigrant life. It moves slowly, but it is a document that exists at the moment of its creation, without reflection: a raw, unconsidered moment of life lived to its fullest.

Sincerity in All You Do

Sounds like a goody-two-shoes statement, and there are many levels of upstanding, but it's a statement that floats by in many frequencies. I believe it's the foundation of creating something inspiring and innovative.

Although all visionaries need to deal with their personal convictions, artists often bear the brunt of whether they, in the course of their careers, are doing what they believe or whether they're selling out.

Many outside the creative circles have the idea that once an artist--doesn't have to be a visual artist: could be an actor, a writer, a jazz musician or a rocker--gains a certain popularity a.k.a. money, fame, real estate (!), that their creative morals are compromised. 

Is there any truth to this?

For many friends and colleagues who are fine artists, their lives aren't fraught with poverty--real poverty. They're not poor; they're monetarily strapped. They could, and in fact, do something--many things, to earn a living and make art. Really poor people can't do that. What artists have to deal with is the horribly difficult balance of making their living expenses and subsidizing their work. The highly demanding work ethic pounded in by most day jobs leaves most people exhausted, and artists often need a third job to subsidize their second; forcing projects' timelines and risking dilution of the original passion that fueled the concept. Or, as in my case, working in a related field that aids expenses but sometimes wields a stamp of disapproval from the arts community and employer alike.

The composite analog negative of
"He speaks with a smile", the lead-off
image of See My Voice. Note it was
"stripped" in rubylith, with windows
cut out for the black-and-white film
negative and the text. This method was
used to expose offset litho plates before
CTP (computer-to-plate) desktop publishing
 became the standard.

As a fine art photographer, I needed funds for equipment and film. To subsidize my projects, I held a job as a print production manager. I used the technical smarts learned in the daily grind to produce the large prints for See My Voice. An offset press with a copy camera exposed the fiber-based roll photo paper I provided with a composite negative made up the actual 120 mm film strip (yes!) and the high-contrast text neg called a Kodalith. I thought I was a technocrat because I got the text output on film by a service bureau on Canal Street. While it took a lot to convince the prep-room foreman to do an "artsy-fartsy" job in his shop, at the end, everyone loved the work; it didn't matter how I did it. Part of the magic of that work--the prints and the images--is that it's analog.

Today, as I sit in front of my sleek, brushed aluminum computer to "edit" my images and "post" them to my printers' FTP site, I think about those days. Is it a sell-out when the acquired knowledge permits projects to be executed in a different work flow? The answer to that doesn't matter. There's no video tape of me working in a hot, dirty pressroom in Long Island City, and I wouldn't care if there was. I did what I had to do to get the work done to my expectations.

However, I immediately aver that the driving passion is still there, regardless of the machine or the method that makes it happen. Every step of the way is carefully considered, and not an inch is budged without reflection and love.

Let There Be LED

OK, I did it.

Pushed the button to order an A0 sized LED panel from Szenzhen Haichen Light Box Co., Ltd. The link to their catalog is below.

Here are the stats:

Model 2532

Poster size (image area):  A0  1118 x 841 mm [44 x 33 inches]

Weight: 13 kg [28.5 lbs] 

Price:  $ 285 USD

Shipping: $ 325 USD [DHL; door-to-door, 3-5 days]

Packing: Air bubble bag with wooden crate

Includes hardware and cable.

The shipping is more than the unit, but I'm working on that. 

I can't wait for it to get here!

Shenzhen Haichen Light Box Co.

Integrity and the Work Ethic

Have to bring up MJ here. The fourth anniversary of his death today, chatter about his integrity circled throughout his long career. His personal demons are not what I'm talking about. Those will always be a topic for debate by people who did and didn't know him (and I question their integrity). 

This image borrowed from the
documentary, MJ came to work each day
dressed like the rock star he was.

What I am talking about is the consummate integrity he had toward his work. The DVD of the pre-production of his unrealized "This Is It" tour says it all. It was no secret that MJ was a workaholic. However what shines through in the video is the depth of his belief in himself as an entertainer. The film contains scenes of dedicated staff at all levels of production, and every detail is visited by the KoP.

The rehearsals take place in an empty concert hall in front of his crew of directors sitting at consoles or on cargo trunks. The dozen or so dancers, five or six singers and a score of musicians are there, in their comfy gear, set to follow MJ's instructions that he gives with the flick of a finger, note by note, inch by inch. At times barely able to breathe himself due to illness and everything else that was plaguing his system, he nonetheless battled singing during the takes with conserving his voice for the tour.

Impeccably dressed in every scene as he glided across the stage,  he was turned on as he would have been at the first show, at every show. Six minutes in, he directed a musician to hold the syncopation of the music with "it's all for love". Fascinating. 

Is ego wrapped up in this? It might be, but I'm not so sure. The 90-minute-plus film defines what goes into performing for the audience, not the self, and I believe this fervor would have been present with or without the team of people trying to understand MJ's perfectionism. Don't get me wrong: he had the best working with him. But they were there because of Michael. Michael was there because of his audience.

Engineering the Engineers

Two Engineers are now working on the electronics for SIS: one, a colleague: a professor of Electrical Engineering Technology, Dr. Zory Marantz and a student engineer from the Emerging Media Technology Department, Remy Cucui.

I was a little apprehensive about this at first, since I am very sensitive to the management no-no of parallel work tasks and concern myself greatly with job ownership and proper credit. A team--even one as small as two--working on a creative project for/with me has the potential of opening a can of worms.

Turns out there was no need for the additional grey hair or two. The three of us met on Friday in my office and it was a hit. The ideas bounced back and forth, since one was thinking about a circuit constructed with a series of chips and the other was instead considering a micro controller to run the functionality of the components.

One possibility that exists in theory but could fall out of practical usage is that two separate sound bytes on one chip can be processed by the micro-controller and interleaved in real time as their sensors are tripped, rather than having two separate chips each outputting its sound data. But, alas, applying the theoretical may not yield the desired results, since the human brain [of the viewer] will process any sound gaps faster than any micro-controller can process the data. So excellent, so wonderful, listening to all this.

We were able to talk about other limitations: The depth of the photo panels themselves. I'm about to order the LED panel from China (which, the supplier told me, should come by air if I plan on showing the installation this year).  When that comes in, the sound unit's dimensions will be considered as it's designed. 

In the meantime, I still will get the muslin and mount the prints on paper. Reason for this is that I don't have any guarantee that I'll make my Kickstarter goal in September. If I don't, I still need the panels for the show in Trenton while I figure out what to do beyond. As it is, I'm cutting it close to fund the playback units with a research grant I won last year. 

I'll save my nail biting for that. 

Hooked on LED

Just got off the phone with the supplier in China. By Friday I'll have a quote for two LED light boxes: the A0 (84 x 118 cm or 33x 46 in) or 1200x1500mm [47.25 x 59 in]. He's gonna include the following:
a) the cost for parts and labor to install the hanging hardware
b) additional suspension cable
c) shipping and handling both by air and sea.
He recommends air shipping. OK, let's do it.

This piece drills into the panel. This will
need to either be spray painted or anodized.
(Some might this of this as neurosis, but
others will identify completely).

The hanging hardware might drive me crazy since it's silver colored and the frames are black. Depending on how it looks, I'm probably gonna get the lethal chemicals and anodize the aluminum. Can't have that garish silver gaping on top of my lovely photos.