Ghost Cubes
Interaction Installation 2019
Role
Ideation, Industrial design, Prototyping
TEAM
Xiaofang Fan, You Zhang, Bowen Shen
Timeline
November - December 2019
Adivisor
Eric Forman
Introduction
Ghost Cubes is an interactive piece that explores the concept of applying physical objects to visualize music through color/shape movements and using the body as the controller without touching any buttons or knobs. The project adapts leap motion, p5.js, and Arduino.
Inspiration
Launchpads and MPCs are common music controllers, which have color LED buttons placed in a cubic grid.
What if we use such a cubic form to visualize the music instead of controlling? To work around this idea, we did some research and came across the idea of using Japanese origami ghost cube to be the core mechanical structure because of its flexibility and Leap Motion as the technology choice to support touchless interaction.
Steps of interaction
Inputs
Leap motion provides some gesture readings such as the hand height, hand rotation, finger distance. It also distinguishes the difference between the right hand and the left hand.
outputs
Outputs: Adafruit NeoPixel LED strips, an Arduino servo motor, and music.
Input : Height of hands
Input : Angle of hands
Output : Rotated Origami Cubes
Iterations
After making the smaller scale model of the cubes, we understood the mechanical structure better. Thus, we were able to sketch out the whole object to combine the cubes and electronics. To diffuse the LED light, we used tracing paper to create the cubes.
Design sketch
Laser cutting
Components
After making the smaller scale model of the cubes, we understood the mechanical structure better. Thus, we were able to sketch out the whole object to combine the cubes and electronics. To diffuse the LED light, we used tracing paper to create the cubes.
Sound manipulation
Using the filter() function from p5.js, we mapped the hand rotation and height values as sound volume and frequency to create filters that change the music while playing. The output turned out pretty well without much tuning.
Final presentation at New Lab