Module 1 Formstorming

Weekly Activity Template

Cerin Noupbaev

Project 1

Module 1

During Activity 1, I explored circuiting basics, with material experimentation as a main focus.

Activity 1

After asking how far copper can light an LED during the in-class demo, I decided to find out for myself! I limited myself to the sheet of paper so that I wouldn't run through the tape too fast. I don't think there's much of a change between the lights. I wish I would've done this with the same color, but I didn't know how to tell the light colors apart without having to put them in a circuit...

While chewing gum, I wondered if the gum wrapper would be conductive enough to work like the copper tape does. It didn't work with just one battery though...

I tried the same circuit with two batteries, but still no luck.

Same circuit with three batteries this time. For some reason it still doesn't work?

After a Google search, I found out gum wrapper is actually conductive, but something about the last circuit didn't work for some reason? I think there wasn't enough contact with the negative side of the LED sticker. Also, the foil might be too thin to fold it over like the copper tape because when I didn't bend the foil this time, it worked!

During the last two attempts, I painstakingly separated the foil from the paper and I finally realized that I could just twist it and it would work the same way. It's so much sturdier this way, whereas the foil by itself was quite fragile.

A plan for a multi-light heart circuit!

I decided to test it out with just a few lights on the heart so as to avoid wasting the LED stickers without knowing if I'm even doing it right. It didn't work. I figured this one didn't work because the negative side of the LED was facing towards the positive side of the battery. Also, I placed the LED on top of the tape instead of breaking the tape around the light, which messed the circuit up.

I tried again, but it still doesn't work?... I took special care to reinforce both sides of the LEDS, but something isn't working...

I decided to make sure the first light works. Thankfully, it did.

I figured something was wrong with the second light, but I still wasn't sure if maybe I just oriented it wrong or something?

I took out some fresh LEDs and just added them to the same circuit. Still doesn't work for some reason? I decided to focus on figuring out different materials since this is something I can just troubleshoot later. Also, I wanted to know all the everyday options I had available to me before going into the final project.

I wondered if the metal on my pencil would work to conduct the electricity to the light. At first, it looked like it didn't work.

Then I angled the pencil down and it worked! The way the pencil works in the circuit reminds me of a lever! It made me think about the phrase “putting pen to paper” and its meaning in starting a creative project. It also reminds me of the “idea lightbulb” that cartoons get when they think of something great.

This is a bracelet I was gifted by family and I wear it everyday. While listening to the Week 1 lecture, I knew I wanted to see how my jewelry would interact with the circuits we're making.

Unfortunately this bracelet didn't work, but thankfully I have another one!

Here's the mentioned bracelet. It's another one gifted by family that I wear everyday. It's easily adjustable, so I looked forward to using it in a circuit.

As opposed to the last one, this bracelet worked! It looks so much less awkward in the circuit than the last one since I was able to adjust the angles of both ends.

Since our bodies are able to conduct electricity, I was curious if dry hair could do the same! Unforunately, it seems it doesn't... It makes sense since it doesn't naturally contain water or electrolytes like the body does.

Even though I already knew water can conduct electricity, I wanted to experiment with electrolyte drinks and decided to set water as a sort of baseline. This LED is charged by one battery.

This time I wanted to check out two batteries. Pretty bright!

Now for the electrolyte drink. I decided on Gatorade since my family already has it around the house—it's good to drink when you're sick. I feel like this light was pretty bright for a one-battery circuit, but it's that obvious of a difference from the water.

Here's the two-battery Gatorade circuit! Much brighter than the equivalent water circuit! I wasn't expecting to see this much of a difference, but it makes sense since the Gatorade would conduct electricty more effectively with the electrolytes.

I tried out a multi-light star design! It didn't work though... I wasn't sure if it was because the tape was touching before reaching the battery, I stacked the tape, or I just placed the LEDs wrong.

I tried putting both sides of the tape more definitively on the positive and negative sides of the battery. It still didn't work. After discussing the project with my boyfriend who's in mechanical engineering, he said that the electrons were probably skipping out on the LEDs since there's more efficient paths to the battery that don't include the lights. This design would probably work better using tape with non-conductive adhesive.

Activity 2

My multi-click Pilot FriXion pen I use everyday. I love fidgeting with the various clickers and I use it every day with my to-do notebook. I found it interesting how the knobs on it serve multiple purposes: to suggest that the user click for a different colour; to make it actually easy to click a new colour; and to prevent the pen from rolling.

This is my makeshift wallet until I can get an actual slim wallet. It's originally meant to be a business card holder. The design on the front is an engraving of Astana—Qazaqstan's capital.

The tab on this card holder provides the affordance of opening and closing the holder to the user. It's more visible in the previous photo, but the tab actually juts out quite a bit to provide more surface area to quickly push open the tab with just a flick of the finger.

This a tarot card deck I own, it came with a good quality tin.

I chose to take a photo of the deck tin both because I use it regularly and because I was thinking about how I could hide some circuit components under the lid (e.g. a switch).

This is my mouse I use at home. It's the Logitech G502X Plus. I chose it not because I was interested in using it for one of the circuit designs, but to see how it uses light and color to communicate device status. <br> <br> When it's off, it shows red under the switch.

And when it's on, it shows green under the switch. I know it seems pretty basic, but I remember when I first got it, I was actually surprised that it had this small detail. Even other similarly-priced mice I've used don't have this feature.

This is the mouse in idle mode, which activates when the mouse hasn't been moved or clicked in a few minutes. The lighting changes colours to this from the default that the user set. I found it interesting how the lighting changes specifically for idle mode since other light-up devices don't have such a setting, other than phones, computers, and tablets.

This is my keyboard, the Yunzii AL68.

This is the back of the keyboard, which is where the user sets up device connection.

It has a really nice 2.4gHz dongle magnetic holder on the backside of the keyboard's case, which I just found to be a really nice small detail.

The keyboard can be connected to a device using three different methods, 2.4gHz, traditional USB cord, or Bluetooth. The desired connection type has to be set with this switch. They use a Wi-Fi symbol to represent 2.4gHz connection, a squiggly line for corded connection, and BT to represent Bluetooth (which I feel like should've been the Bluetooth symbol instead).

When pairing the keyboard, this indicator light will flash to communicate the device is in pairing mode and what connection it's expecting: it will flash green to show 2.4gHz pairing or blue to show Bluetooth pairing. It has no such indication for wired mode, which tripped me up the first time. I suspect this feature doesn't exist for wired mode because there's no dedicated “On/Off” switch for the keyboard. As a result, the keyboard when unplugged in wired mode is the unofficial “Off” switch. <br> <br> This particular break in the communication pattern is why I selected this keyboard, since I can attempt to restore the pattern with this project.

This is the back of the Keychron V2, a keyboard I used to use before my current Yunzii one. It's compatible with Mac and Windows, so I'd use it with my iPad and PC. This switch was the only way to know which mode you're on, with no light indicators or otherwise, which became a small point of friction for me, so I considered using it for this activity.

The wrest rest has this ledge so it connects seamlessly to the actual board. I figured it'd be a good place to hide a circuit switch.

I first decided to design a circuit for the Yunzii keyboard to indicate a ready-to-pair mode for a wired connection. I was thinking of adding a circuit switch by the USB-C plug of the keyboard, so as to keep the unplugged wired connection as the unoffical off mode. <br> <br> I wanted to try putting the switch inside the actual USB-C head, but it felt way too unrealistic with how small the USB-C head is. Also, it was just completely directionless to start on the switch, so I decided to refocus on the actual circuit.

After some thought and drafting, I landed on the idea of putting the flash LED indicator onto the USB-A head, wrapping the copper tape in a spiral along the cord, making the battery look pretty by camouflaging it as a cute accessory/charm, and keeping the USB-C head as the switch (but with a different method).

This is a higher-fidelity diagram of the circuit. I also decided to add decorative tape to the keyboard to create a sense of cohesion between the cord and the keyboard.

When designing the tarot card tin's circuit, I wanted to increase the sense of mystique that comes with using tarot cards. I wanted the lights to turn on when the box opens so it could be used to set the atmosphere and because it reminded me of the “Fake Psychic” trope in media who tricks people into thinking they're magical, when really they're just using special effects and science. <br> <br> Also, from the start of the project, I always thought that the LED stickers almost looked like eyes in a way, which totally fits the concept of tarot and mysticism. On top of that though, the LED stickers are triangles, and pop culture always seems to think of the shape as mysterious, as seen with the Illuminati and the Bermuda triangle.

When thinking of my greivances with the Razer keyboard's wrist rest, I wanted to solve the problem of giving up looks for comfort, so I designed a multi-LED circuit that would light up when the wrist rest is attached.

This was unpictured because I didn't get a chance to use the TTC in real life, but in class on Jan 22, I had the idea to make an interactive transit map for the GO Trains, inspired by the TTC subway's real-time stop indicator maps. <br> <br> I drew out the TTC light up map I'd seen on the top of the page. I always liked it since it was so easy to see what stops passed, where it's next stopping, and future stops. I found my experience with the GO Train was pretty different though, particularly when figuring out what train I need to be on so I can go to the corresponding platform. I always get my easts and wests mixed up, so I have to read through the departure information screen to figure out what's happening. I always wished there was some kind of map at least so I can orient myself and visually see which Lakeshore line I need to go on.

I put together a concept for a circuit I'd want to make in conjuction with a laser cut map of the GO train routes that would use the lights as switches. Of course, the full circuit would be pretty involved, but I drew out a sample of how one circuit would work.

Through all my ideation, I've been focusing on “contact points” since those points of contact are opportunities to add circuit switches which create interaction. While I don't weightlift much anymore, I still have a lot of interst in it and my favorite lifts is the deadlift. I wanted to see if I could design a circuit to do a “form check” since I always noticed my friends having a hard time remembering this aspect of the lift's form.

Project 1

Final Project 1 Design

Wearable Interactive Affordance Based Circuit

For the wearable object, I made a light-up finger gun glove. The circuit is only completed when you actually make the finger gun with your hand.

This finger gun glove works by using copper tape, a battery, and a red LED. To complete the circuit, the user must put their index and middle fingers together and bring their ring finger to the battery on their palm. This was done by breaking the tape between the index and middle fingers, and using the ring finger's tape as the positive wire for the battery. Most of the tape on the thumb and pinky finger is decorative for continuity and a futuristic feel.

Non-Wearable Interactive Affordance Based Circuit

For the non-wearable, I made a circuit that detects when you're using the keyboard. The weight of your wrists on the wrist rest

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