The first build: Slider v01

To set off my research in a hands-on fashion, I am building a system that enables a haptic connection between two (or more people). The system consists of modules each containing a motorfader, where each motorfader tries to follow the position of the other. Central idea of this system is that action and (haptic) feedback is collocated. (ref. Wensveen)(expand with theory?: Lenay, Deckers, Gibson, Merleau-Ponty)

The goal at the outset of this building project on the one hand is to learn new and hone existing tinkering and prototyping skills, on the other hand it is to literally get a feel for what it means to create a haptic connection between two and more people and to explore the feel of different variables in that connection, e.g. elasticity/firmness, friction. time-delay.

To some extent this system echoes inTouch, a classic tangible interaction system built by Scott Brave, Andrew Dahley, and Professor Hiroshi Ishii of the Tangible Media group, MIT Media Lab.

(more details after the jump)

First Build
Here’s a foggy intro video to this work in progress…

The system in this video runs on a quickly hacked together way of getting one slider to follow the other.

Initial version consists of 2 motorfaders controlled by one Arduino-uno (through an H-bridge).

The motorfaders are built into rectangular boxes. A 10mm diameter bead is fixed to the handle of the fader and placed under a funky 3d-weave fabric in such a way that the moving bead is only visible as a small bump in the fabric surface. These slider boxes resemble somewhat the screen of an old fashioned CRT TV.

Specs:
controller: Arduino Uno
H-bridge: L298N
motorfaders: ALPS RSA0N11M9 10k Lin
Vin(motors)=12Vdc

The circuit:

slider v001

You can view/get the Arduino code I wrote for this here. Any comments welcome….