GMU:Printed Circuit Board Art/mxkllmnn: Difference between revisions

At first, the concept was to introduce capacitive touch areas (a formation of discrete sensor pads, a matrix or sliders <- pictures) to the surface of a conventional switch to extend its binary characteristic and to broaden the repertoire of input gestures. However, I soon realised that such a modification would undermine exactly what I am trying to preserve – the switch mechanism’s inherent psychophysical feedback. Great user interfaces (read: Switches), which are much more in line with our human sensory nature, have been replaced by touch displays in many places (picture). Especially with regard to automation, this was an obvious choice, as graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are much easier to integrate due to their ability to react to system changes simply by programming. A physical switch does not respond if the system’s status is being changed automatically or remotely. So the idea to have a remotely switchable switch was born, hence the working title SwitchSwitch. Furthermore, by temporarily decoupling the switch from the circuit of the object to be turned on or off and putting a microcontroller in between, the (automated) system becomes capable of utilizing the acoustic, visual and haptic signals evoked via the usage of its interface to articulate intent (at least this is the hypothesis to be confirmed). To conclude, my thesis is about designing output gestures made of sequences of clicks in combination with flickering lights. To do so a conventional switch is being equipped with some more advanced technology, and that is what this project is about.