Hacked into the Wii Remote, since I will be using the accelerometer. First step was to remove the plastic casing, which provided the first problem: How to attach batteries to it without the plastic casing. Solution was to get a battery pack. Partial success, it works without the plastic casing, but the connection right now is a little flimsy, so will have to solder the connections in. Below is a picture of it.
I’ve bought the Nintendo Wii controller. Realised that the best way to try and sense any low frequency sound waves would be by using an accelerometer…and the best device for that would be the Wii controller. It’s already up and running, got it connected using DarwiinRemote. Now the next step is to build the device in which the Wii controller will be placed. After that I would experiment and see how it can pick up the sounds. From the looks of it, I will have to remove the plastic casing from the controller so that it becomes more sensitive.
I was reading The Waste Lands by T.S Eliot and it got me thinking of the environment that man has created for himself through the course of evolution.
Here are some excerpts which I have been reflecting on:
“A heap of broken images, where the sun beats and the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief”
“Unreal city,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet”
Tried some experiments today with low frequencies and 2 speakers. I used cheap speakers and PD to simulate a low frequency environment, to see how the speakers respond. This is important if I am to use speakers as tactile transducers. Here are some observations:
Was doing my research and came across this excerpt which I found quite intriguing. It opened up a new avenue on how we possibly perceive our environment. Highly desensitized and non-instinctual?
“…the extent to which civilization is built up upon a renunciation of instinct” – excerpt from Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud.
Was thinking about the interface and it dawned upon me…the importance the psychiatrist chair has played in history. The whole idea of lying down (link to horizontality) and free association, allows one to get in touch with the subconscious and perhaps allow certain instinctual perceptions to filter through.
This image would be an interesting reference.
The link between sight, sound and touch could be quite key in pushing this project forward.
The last thing we could ever possibly hear could be the lowest possible frequency, since we naturally lose the ability to hear high frequencies as we grow older.
“The Silent Distance” – The distance that infrasonic waves can travel is much further than higher frequencies. Although the waves are silent, they do travel the distance and can be physically felt.
How about our brain’s frequencies? Or how about the low frequencies that the human body gives out in an attempt to silently communicate with others?
Some thoughts, slowly formulating ideas.
Looking at parabolic microphones and how they pick up sound. Also, the idea on how infrasound could affect vision could be a possibility (although that might be dangerous).
Speakers embedded on a floor surface, translating infrasound using tactile transducers. This might create a slightly more tactile feel to the whole project. Still working on thoughts…
Infrasound is produced in nature through seismic movements, volcanic activity and even through animals. It has been proven that elephants communicate with one another using infrasonic waves. Same goes for whales and giraffes.
This article by BBC highlights the fact that elephants communicate using infrasonic waves. More links will be added in a separate category showing the more scientific research on infrasound.
Humans can listen to sounds from 20 – 20 000 hertz. Anything above that is known as ultrasonic sound. Anything below that is known as infrasonic sound. I am interested in exploring the area of infrasound in an urban environment.
Came across this link which has a comprehensive list of infrasound and projects/research on it. This would definitely be a good reference for me.
