Tuesday, 4 November 2008

RJDJ

RJDJ is a patch designed specifically for the iPhone, and it allows you to created interesting sounds as it reacts to its surroundings.

We were shown a demonstrative video and from this we know that it makes instrument beats from sounds you make out into the real world. So for example if you clap your hands or tap on the table, this program will react to it in real time and create a repetitive sound from the sound the user has just made.

A statement from the official blog reads 
"RjDj is mainly listened to with headphones. Think of it as the next generation of walkman or mp3 player. The listening experience of RjDj is similar to the effects of drugs. Drugs affect our sensory perception, so does RjDj. RjDj is a digital drug which causes mind twisting hearing sensation."

Please click for the RJDJ blog with links, videos and downloads:

Monday, 27 October 2008

Week 1

In week 1 we was introduced to the module and had a breakdown of all the assessment criteria. We have a total of three assessments to complete by week  14, with the second due in week 9. It was explained to us that the first assessment was due in week 5 to create a research journal and a studio presentation of our progress. We were also instructed to create a mini artifact were we were fully using the functions of the Arduino board but it had to be hidden. As being on the Maverick Machines course last year during level 5, we never used the Arduino as a portable handheld or hidden device, we always relied on power from either a usb cable or mains voltage.

So with that were exposed to various solutions in order to achieve this portable/handheld Arduino project. One was Arduino Bluetooth:

As you may have guessed this Arduino board can operate using a bluetooth setting, it can interact with any bluetooth device, such as phones and computers. We was also exposed to the fact that the arduino can be powered by a 9v battery.

In this image you can see that all that is required is a 9v battery clip and a 2.5mm power plug. These two need to be soldered together and with the battery there is enough power to operate th arduino, hence making it fully portable.

We were also exposed to various resources such as 
  • RJDJ - which we watched a video of during the workshop.
  • "Bloomberg" - new contemporaries exhibition
  • RFID
  • "Take Away" Festival
  • thishappened.com
  • FACT
  • "Making Things Talk" Book