Here are some pictures of my projects, taken by David Steele Overholt. Check out the complete set for many more!

The Winslanirian has 11 strings: 6 guitar strings and 2 bass strings on the top, which are playable, and 3 guitar strings on the underside of the instrument, which are resonating. The sound is picked up using two-by-two sets of single-coil guitar pickups, one bass humbucker, and two piezo contact microphones between the nut/bridge and the pegs of the guitar strings.

Each pickup network has its own output jack, and so can be altered separately using a mixer. The guitar pickup network is also connected to an on-board crossfader, which balances the volume of the front and back pickup sets.

http://silentlycrashing.net/card2008/

ITP Winter Show 2008
Dec. 17th & 18th from 5pm to 9pm
@ 721 Broadway, 4th Fl

Just attach one of the smaller units to an item you are prone to forgetting, like your keys or your umbrella, and keep the larger unit in an item you are likely not to forget, like your bag. If they ever get separated, your bag will scream out at you to remind you to go find your keys.

The system works using XBee wireless radios. Each small unit pings the base constantly, which analyzes the incoming packet to parse out the address and signal strength of each message. If any of the units has a signal strength lower than a certain threshold, a trigger signal is sent to a hacked sound module, which plays the appropriate sound for the missing device.

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//----------------------------
// Forget-Me-Not
//
// by Elie Zananiri & HyeJin Yoo
// based on code from Making Things Talk by Tom Igoe
 
//----------------------------
#define SOUND1    4
#define SOUND2    5
#define SOUND3    6
 
#define MONITOR   13
 
#define THRESHOLD 79
#define MSGLENGTH 22
#define INTERVAL  30000
 
//----------------------------
int packet[MSGLENGTH];
int byteCounter;
 
long lastPlayedSound1 = 0;
long lastPlayedSound2 = 0;
long lastPlayedSound3 = 0;
 
int address = 0;
int rssi = 0;
 
//----------------------------
void setup() {
  // open the serial port
  Serial.begin(9600);
 
  // configure output pins
  pinMode(SOUND1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(SOUND2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(SOUND3, OUTPUT);
}
 
//----------------------------
void loop() {
  // check for any messages and read up to 2 packets at a time
  int readCount = 0;
  while (Serial.available() > 0 && readCount < (MSGLENGTH*2)) {
    handleIncoming();
    readCount++;
    delay(5);
  }
 
  // flash the monitor pin to let us know all is working
  digitalWrite(MONITOR, HIGH);
  delay(50);
  digitalWrite(MONITOR, LOW);
  delay(50);
}
 
//----------------------------
void handleIncoming() {
  // read a byte from the port
  int b = Serial.read();
  // if this is a start byte, it's a new packet
  if (b == 0x7E) {
    // if there is data, parse the previous packet
    if (packet[2] > 0) {
      parseData();
    }
 
    // reset the byte counter
    byteCounter = 0;
  }
 
  // store the current byte into the packet
  packet[byteCounter] = b;
  byteCounter++;
}
 
//----------------------------
void parseData() {
  // read the address, which is a two-byte value
  address = packet[5] + packet[4]*256;
 
  // read the signal strength
  rssi = packet[6];
 
  // get the time
  long now = millis();
 
  // trigger a sound if the signal is not strong enough
  // and the sound has not played in a while
  if (address == 0x1ABC && rssi > THRESHOLD) {
    if (now - lastPlayedSound1 > INTERVAL) {
      lastPlayedSound1 = now;
      playSound(SOUND1);
    }
  }
  else if (address == 0x1CBA && rssi > THRESHOLD) {
    if (now - lastPlayedSound2 > INTERVAL) {
      lastPlayedSound2 = now;
      playSound(SOUND2);
    }
  }
  else if (address == 0x1BBB && rssi > THRESHOLD) {
   if (now - lastPlayedSound3 > INTERVAL) {
     lastPlayedSound3 = now;
     playSound(SOUND3);
   }
  }
}
 
//----------------------------
void playSound(int sound) {
  digitalWrite(sound, HIGH);
  delay(100);
  digitalWrite(sound, LOW);
  delay(6*1000);  // enough time to play the entire sample
 
  // flush the serial buffer to ignore all backed up messages
  Serial.flush();
}

The project is still a prototype at this stage and many improvements could still be made. For one, the smaller modules should be as small as possible and should be equipped with rings or clips so that they can be easily attached to objects. The base module should also be more compact and the audio circuit should be cleaned up because it currently does not sound very good.

One suggestion we got during our presentation was to try switching over to Bluetooth signals. This would allow us to use a cell phone as the base module, which is compact and already has good audio recording and playback ability. Also, using a phone would allow us to create a graphical piece of software to add more units to the system and to customize the behaviour for each one (which sample to play, how far the object should be to trigger the sound, etc.)

Remember to check out my Donor Page to make a contribution!

A camera captures a live feed of the student lounge and sends it to the computer, which performs a frame differencing algorithm to measure the amount of activity in the room. The resulting image is highly pixelized, and projected on one of the windows. The second projection is a pre-recorded video, also highly pixelized, which changes depending on the amount of activity. We see a person studying when there is hardly any movement, people walking and talking when there is little movement, and people dancing when the amount of movement is high.

By Elie Zananiri and Kim Thompson. 
Special thanks go out to our actors Eddie, Amanda, John, Winslow, and Matt.

1. I shave my whole face except for my mustache on Thursday.
2. You see me and how silly I look, and it makes you laugh.
3. You feel guilty getting all this pleasure for free, so you want to give me money.
4. Instead of accepting your money, I direct you to my Donor Page, where you can choose a program to help out.
5. We repeat the process for about a month.