Using some sample FFT code by Zach Lieberman, I put together this audio visualizer in Open Frameworks. The over all volume of the piece breaks apart the square and pulls it back in when it is low. Wu Tang Clan ain’t nothin to fuck wit.

Audio Visualizer in Open Frameworks from Nick Hardeman on Vimeo.

For my computation class, we were asked to give a presentation and some sample code for smoothing an IR sensor in the Arduino environment. I wrote this code that averages the values of the last ten readings. It drops the highest and lowest values, to help control the noise and make sure that it does not influence the averaging.

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I have updated the programming and buttons on this prototype. Thanks to our class feedback and The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda, I decided to make the programming of sequences easier and with less steps. Now someone can walk up and push a button to start programming a sequence, wait 2 seconds to input that sequence and wait another 4 seconds to save the entire sequence. The prototype saves the last two sequences, with a pause in between sequences.

I also worked on the buttons to make them easier to press. The metal washers were not working consistently, so I made yet another trip to the hardware store and found some black rubber washers. These are good because they provide support all around the bottom of the button and contract a little bit to give a “push” feel to the button. I also backed up the pcb board with some wood pieces to support the board so that it does not break.

Check it out in action. The quality is crap cuz I am using a little web cam that has auto focus, so thats why it is annoyingly zooming in and out.

Passage of Time Final Integrated Prototype from Nick Hardeman on Vimeo.

Daito Manabe Demo at Parsons from Nick Hardeman on Vimeo.

Daito Manabe is an artist, designer, programmer, DJ, VJ and composer. Check out his site at daito.ws/.
If you google his name, you can find examples of his performances, where sounds are controlling his face via electric stimulus. Recently I was able to meet him at Parsons, where he gave a quick demo. Here he uses electro stimulus to control my arm and face.

LED Passage of Time from Nick Hardeman on Vimeo.

There are 6 blue leds, controlled by an arduino that uses digital pwm. These leds are supposed to symbolize an organism breathing. There is a red led in the center that symbolizes the heartbeat and is also being controlled by a digital output.