What
A prototype multi-touch capacitive data capturing device, which translates your interactions through electrical sensors as a unique generative art design.
Why
This work follows a previous capacitive project and is inspired by the participatory design work of Becky Dodman Wainwright.
I am exploring how interactions with a physical object or device can be used to influence a generative design through visual feedback – in this case, allowing the participant to adjust the drawing in real time.
The tacticity of the touch sensors allows more natural interactions and fluidity to dynamically change the parameters of the colour and drawing.
The visual style is based on the linear simplicity of the warp and weft used in weaving. The technique shares similarities to computational instructions and rules, which can be represented on screen by pixel based coordinates. The current visual style also references pixel art of the 1980’s and 90’s. The simplicity and limitations of the colour palettes created a distinct aesthetic.
How
Each of the 8 capacitive touch pads are woven together and connected to the specific touch inputs of an ESP32 microcontroller. It runs on 2 LiPo batteries, which don’t last very long, but can be recharged directly from the board. The software maps a manually calibrated min/max range reading for each sensor and sends this data continuously as a serial string. This excellent TouchLib library helps fine tune the electrical signals when a sensor is touched and the raw data is used to map the capacitance value. The data is streamed in real time over a bluetooth serial connection to a P5.js script. This data is parsed by the script and used to set the values for the design. Using a capacitive range of 0 to 360 for each sensor allows for a fine degree of touch variation and easily maps to the Hue, Saturation, and Brightness (HSB) colour space. Using wonderful color libraries to help with harmonic palettes. Finally, using the captured data to create a visualization to show values over time and also average and highest reading etc.
Becky provided the invaluable skill and patience required to weave the conductive thread pads together. The frame was cut by the FabLab in Arts University Plymouth.
Next?
Develop improved devices and software using capacitive textile technology and participatory design. Expand ideas on visualisations representing human interaction data in interesting ways. Exploring further design ideas influenced by technical data dashboards combined with esoteric interpretations of individuals datasets.
