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An Interactive Installation for Regional Culture
Pulse of Cities
Type
Individual Design
Personal Project
Physical Computing
Time
09/2021, Year 4
Location
Beijing, China
Tools
Arduino/ Rhino
Overview
This project aims to visualize regional culture, by designing an Arduino-based interactive installation, which collects environmental data that represents the characteristics of the region and expresses the unique beauty of different regions through ferrofluid, colorful lights and perfume fog.
Introduction
Nowadays, Chinese people's life in different places gradually become reconcile in every way with the burgeoning modernization process, including food, clothing, architecture and art. We can't deny the fact that this is the embodiment of social development. Howver, it is gradually killing off the regional cultures.
THus
How might we visualize the regional cultures by showing how different regional characteristics shapes local people's lifestyle, thus attract the attention of the public to reflect on, protect and inherit their own regional culture?
FINAL Prototype
BEIJING
115°25′E 39°26′N
As the capital of China, the historical sense of the city gives it a mysterious beauty. Located in the north of China, the cold winter will cap the ancient architectures with snow, which, along with the lively voice produced by the millions of people seeking for their dream in the prosperous large city, shape the magnificent appearance of Beijing.
Poeny&Blush Suede Cologne
JILIN
125°40′E 42°31′N
Located in the extreme north of China, Jilin owns the coldest weather and the hottest people throughout the country. With a great mount of land and quite few people, those who live in Jilin will spend a lot of time together during the long, freezing winter, sharing their unique liquor, hot pot and love for each other to warm themselves.
Fragonard Les Naturelles: Cedre
WULUMUQI
86°37′E 42°45′N
The lack of water all year around shapes the unique desert landscape in Wulumuqi of Xinjiang Province, and thus contributes to the prosperity of animal husbandry. Furthermore, due to the ample amount of sunshine and huge temperature difference between day and night, the fruit produced from here is extremely sweet and juicy. Enjoying the treasure about the nature, people living in Wulumqi still keep the spirit of bold and unrestrained.
Rose Nacree du Desert
WUXI
120°18′E 31°34′N
Known as " Home for fish and rice", Wuxi, located south along the Yangtze River, is rich in all kinds of agriculture products such as paddy, peaches and tea. large amount of rain all year around makes it the city of water. People here live by the rivers, and start to build their business and culture by the gifts from the rivers.
ElizabethArden
CHENGDU
102°54′E 30°05′N
Chengdu, located in the basin middle of China, has a unique weather of hot and wet. In order to overcome the problems caused by it, people here invented a famous food called beef tallow hot pot, the spicy taste of which successfully drives the wetness from the body. People living here has a special life attitude of being leisurely and carefree, which makes the city lively.
L'Artisan Parfumeur Piment Brulant
Ideation
Inspiration
INPUT-Characteristics shaping regional culture
Then, which factors can be used to represent regional characteristics that shape different regional cultures, and in which form should we present people's lifestyle shaped by different regions, thus build a relationship between them?
After research, it comes to me that climatic conditions have been playing a significant role in the birth and development of regional cultures.
Liquor of Northeast
Needs of keeping warm during the severely cold winter here contributes to the growth and prosperity of liquor.
Herbal Tea of Guangdong
With a great number of rivers crisscross, people living in the wet areas along the Yangtze River develop a special senery of water-town.
Temperature Sensor
Clay Caves of Loess Plateau
Herbal tea, as a speciality in Guangdong Province, gains popularity due to its capability of Cooling in the hot summers here.
Water Town along Yangtze River
The rare light in Guizhou Province provides plenty opportunity for tea to grow, and thus shape the prosperios tea industry here.
Humidity Sensor
Tea farm of Guizhou Province
The dry tight soil shapes the unique living form of clay caves in loess plateau, which is comfortable in all seasons.
Fruits and crops of Xinjiang
Fruits and crops from Xinjiang win a reputation due to the extreme sweetness, since the plenty light promotes the accumulation of sugar.
Light Sensor
Meanwhile, life is by all means an important part of the region. I choose sound as the symbolic factor in order to express the rhythm that life brings to the regional culture.
Sound Sensor
OUTPUT-Pulse of cities
When it comes to the presentation of people's lifestyle when living in different regional cultures, I choose ferrofluid to represent the vitality of humanity and culture from the region, RGB lights to express the cultural atmosphere, and fog made from various perfume to show the flavor of the city.
Ferrofluid
RGB Lights
Perfume Fog
Interaction Design
Concept Development
01
I decide to take "Regional Station" as my modeling design concpet.
04
Sketch
02
Surface Layer significance:
Weather Predictor
Monitoring and broacasting the environmental data in a certain area, "Regional Station" works just like a weather predictor.
03
In-Depth Implication: Documentary of Culture
Meanwhile, recoding the distinguished regional characteristics of different places and displaying the differences of people's lifestyle living in the regional cultures shaped by them, "Regional Station" can also be seen as a documentry of culture, telling the humanity power involved in the regional cluture.
The shape looks like a televison-shaped messager bag, which can be taken by the users while travelling, experiencing the regional culture of different places.
Combining a retro look with the futuristic colour design, it attemps to express a charmful kind of contradiction. The unity of opposites, to some extent, symbolizes the inheritance of regional cultures ever from the past to the future.
prototype process
Prototype Map
Prototype 1.0
Coding, Connection & Circuit Test
Aim:
Try to run the program and check if the coding and connection would work in the expected way.
Outcome:
The elements of Arduino all worked in a right and stable way, thus make out that the interaction would work out.
Structure & Functions
Production & Frame Test
Aim:
Try to find out the problems of the structure and frame
Container Test
Outcome:
Acrylic plates which are much thicker ought to be used to hold the movement of the steering engines stably. Moreover, stabler forms of connection should be found.
Aim:
To find a suitable kind of material of thecontainer that would let ferrofluid move fluently in it.
Outcome:
Only the crystal glass and pyrex glass would work, with the other types all soaked by the ferrofluid in a weird way. Considering the shape and cost, I finally chose the crystal glass as the material.
Transparent resin
Failed
Plastic
Failed
Acrylic
Failed
Crystal Glass
Succeeded
Pyrex glass
Succeeded
Prototype 2.0
Structure Test
Aim:
To test the way to fix the steering engines and seek for the proper position and way of movement of them
Outcome:
The new structure of the frame was achieved, which managed to effectively control the movement of the ferrofluid in a stable and beautiful way.
Structure & Functions
Feasibility Test
Aim:
To find out whether the whole system would work stably together
Outcome:
Due to the pulse signal of the speed control program, the atomizers and RGB lights worked in an unstable way. Thus, two Arduino Uno boards were used, to make sure that the program run well.
Steering Engine Test
Atomizer Test
RGB Lights Test
Coding Logic
Production Process
Final Design
Interactive Display
NEXT
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