As far as I can remember, I've always loved taking things apart and putting them back together. Over time this has grown into a passionate compulsion to make gadgets, doodads, and even environments that allow me to "play" with all kinds of devices and tools. This is a small compilation of projects that, though highly varied, all have scratched that itch to tinker and build.
Huecube is an interactive, collaborative installation-sized game that invites its participants to think of color like a computer - as a combination of red, green, and blue. Envisioned as a multi-modal interaction meant to challenge perception, this exhibit was designed and built in the span of less than two weeks and debuted at the Northwestern Design Expo. Taking inspiration from the color knobs on old TVs and contemporary art installations, I wanted the room to work with and against users’ perception of color, challenging them to work and think together.
I found this very retro radar scanner in my grandmother's garage (I chose not to ask questions). With a look reminiscent of vintage Dallas Rangemaster boxes and a name like "Fuzzbuster II", I couldn't help but think how fun it would be to cram a fuzz circuit for my guitar inside. After a few hours of soldering, drilling some extra holes for the inputs, output, and controls, the Fuzzbuster II 2.0 was born and has been helping me make noise ever since.
In my continuing quest to bring new, quirky life to old things, I created what some prior inventors in the circuit-bending community have called a "wobblevision". Essentially, I spliced the stereo output of a homemade amplifier into the coils used on the electron gun of a small CRT television (one to vertical, one to horizontal), which turns the TV into a kind of oscilloscope. When music is played through it, the amplitude and frequency of the signals "draw" interesting shapes on the screen, making for a pretty wild light show. Notice in the video how different tones in the bass spectrum can make different round shapes, while the higher frequencies add spiky wiggles to those larger shapes.
In our product interaction studio in graduate school, a team of my peers and I were challenged to make a box that embodied the emotion of "surprise". I spearheaded the programming of a set of servo motors, sensors, and lights to make the box come to life in unexpected ways. We made a "treasure chest" that responds to proximity of a person, offers the temptation of unlocking it, and then proceeds to come alive and eat its own key.