FUTURE BLINDNESS » projects

Field Performance – Four Loops

AKA — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:48:30 +0000

20090930 Four Loops by akamediasystem

I walked four times around the same place. Four loops. I was wearing binaural microphones. Even at the same place, the sound is never the same. But it is often familiar.

I geologged as I walked. The geologging and the recording were started simultaneously.

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Special thanks to Kelly Snook from NASA for loan of the equipment.

Protected: Eating / Achieving / Planning

AKA — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:13:14 +0000

Protected: Pittsburgh / Haters

AKA — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:35:15 +0000

v1 liftoff, now for v2

AKA — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:44:16 +0000

I just submitted my paper on AUDIO ORIENTEERING to the NIME conference, which is in Pittsburgh this year instead of somewhere cool. Even so, it feels good to have it out of my hands so I can turn to the task of overhauling it and adding some really sweet features.

If you just want the paper and no web documentation, it’s here. Please don’t re-post it anywhere, it’s not supposed to be in the wild yet—not sure why but I think it has to do with the conference being the first place it gets seen…

the glim-dropper

AKA — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:13:31 +0000

Here is a recording Harlo and I made during our improvisation on Sunday. It is eight minutes long, so go ahead and do other things while the song is playing. This one is the first in our series of recordings with the following names:
THE BIG STORE
THE HYDROPHOBIA LIE
THE STREET MECHANIC
THE PIGEON DROP
THE FIDDLE GAME
STFO

Below is an image by Alex Hays—I really like it.

Flower update – some tense shit!

AKA — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:12:33 +0000

Well, it’s really coming down to the wire here with the flower project. For the next few days I may not be updating as frequently, but I’ll post a final write-up with lots of photos etc when the dust settles.

I have spent too much time working out the mechanics and not enough time planning for the circuitry side of this; I don’t even have a final behavior model yet, so tonight I’ll be hastily curing v2 of my prototype petals and trying to decide what the best operational flow will be, and whether or not that’s feasible. Last-choice scenario is using an Arduino or my flaky CUI board to detect events and actuate the flower.

Meanwhile, my good friend Thenji (a CuriousAV affiliate) has called me in on a film she’s making about South Africa – I’ll be making a small amount of prepared sound from samples she’s recorded. I listened to the first batch of folk instrument samples and they’re quite exciting—mbiras, little flutes, and hand drums are some of my favorite toys!

first results from Dragon Skin test run

AKA — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:33:37 +0000

first results from Dragon Skin test run

Originally uploaded by AKA MEDIA SYSTEM

This weekend I had some encouraging results with Dragon Skin, a silicone molding compound from the pricey folks at Smooth On. Luckily, the silicone we had left over from PS04 was still usable, and it was much easier than I remembered. Some photos of the prototypes are available here.

What I’ll now need to figure out is exactly how to shape the nitinol I’ll be embedding, and how to ensure an electrical connection will always be made regardless of the bend-state of the wire. A journeyman friend is in town tonight but I’ll try to have a more detailed summary by tomorrow.

In the meantime, please have a look at the photos and tell me: how am I going to get the petals to shrivel/contract/close on command and what will have enough force to return the wire to its normal state?