GMU:Artists Lab:Zhen Qin

Interactive Botanic art

Description of idea :Just as you become accustomed to the equipment around you, and just as you’re able to make something momentarily perfect out of it, the seasons change, you grow some more, and the cycle starts again. It’s a beautiful process, and how to capture this momentary beauty, to create some thinking out of it, to give people some feeling about it.

• An botanic installations, show reaction to people's movement.
• Focused on to amplify the relation between human and nature.
• Approach :physical installations that sense the participants and create reactions.

As each participant come closer to the plants, their movement are sensed and cause minor impact on the movements of these plants, hopefully creating the feeling that there is life inside this botanic installations and they are breathing、trembling or rotating because of sensing the participants, like they are telling a story. By using natural plants and create a botanic installation, the intended outcome is

• a mechanism to control the plants and have them connected with fabric.
• using multiple sensors to detect participant's movements
• present minor reactions to participants.

What kind of story will the participants feel from them?

Further links: Anya Gallaccio preserve ‘beauty’ http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gallaccio-preserve-beauty-t11829

preserve ‘beauty’ is an installation work composed of bright red flowers arranged in four adjacent rectangular compositions underneath large panes of clear glass. The flowers are presented in a single layer with their heads facing out towards the viewer, and their stalks are positioned downwards, so that the lower edge of each panel features a band of green made up of the stems of the bottom row of flowers. The type of flower used in the installation is a hybrid between a gerbera and a daisy that is known by the name ‘beauty’. During the period in which preserve ‘beauty’ is displayed, the flowers wither and die, and this decay process is visible to viewers through the glass. Due to the shrinkage of the flowers as they rot, the glass panels require adjustment over the period of display, and the dead flowers often fall out of the glass and decompose further on the floor. Viewers experience the installation through their sense of smell, as well as visually: they encounter either the smell of the flowers when they are fresh or their rotting odour as they decay, depending on the amount of time that has lapsed since the work was put on display.

Use the natural shape of plants to convey the feelings.

Progress: Currently I am still at the stage of experimenting arduino kits, the ideas are: Ultrasonic sensor: Detecting on visitors‘ distance from 10cm- 100cm Servo: playing the movement of open and close and this creates reaction to human. Sound sensor:Detecting noises and send signals to the motor. The following picture shows some code to motivate the servo, there may need more servos in the following steps to create better movements. Possible Materials:

09 January

Inspiration part: I am getting near, here is a picture of an sculpture, the inspiration is from Ursula which I am pretty fond of:

The powerful sculptures that leaves people impression at the first glance.

It's using metal material to support and hang the sculptures.

Through the distorted animal sculptures and large devices filled with sense of space and power, people are given visual impact and thinking. On the roadside, observe how people interact with plants. Home plant, roadside creeper wall, plant wall art

23 January

The attempt is to do some experiments with bio material , see if we combining mechanism with plants branches, would the outcome be to any extend exciting, or would it seems like human communicating to plants. The scale is well considered, it should be approximately as human scales. So it’s a problem to control such big installation. I started sketch about possible movements that can be created by small motors. These pictures shows possible mechanism and how people can interact with it.

There are more need to be considered, the feeling of being connected with plant, by humans, how to convey plants' possible feeling? If you observe in the street, people seldom really stop to have a look at the creatures around, that is too normal and neglected by them. Imagine it, what could be more movements when try to provide a meaningful experience, when someone try to feel and discover these plants? Should it be quite pleasant? Or should we "design" and provide some kind of experience- Quiet,shocking,inspiring... ...

05 Feburary

Model and Mechanism part： Here collects some possible movements that can be tested.

After several times trying to build the model. there is also an idea that use a big branch looks like human’s arm, or makes people feel that it's the "creature" 's arm.

The branches create a surrounding that when they drops down it makes human feel surrounded by them.

There was also an attempt trying to use supporting structure inside.

12 March

Working on Arduino and Mechanism Details, test on the possible movement that can be created by motors.

The ultrasonic sensor is used to detect distance. At first I also tried using sound sensor to detect if it's quiet enough, but then it makes the code too complicated.

The screenshot shows how it works when detecting distance.

2 Servo are used to create high speed tremble.

Use Stepper and ropes create the shrinking and relaxing.

Test on real materials.

Use rope to tie them together.

The ultrasonic kit is right in front of one of the branches.

Below: The Code for controlling the motor's speed and direction, via the ultrasonic sensor. The sensor outputs a range of distance values, and by continuously detecting the distance it can predict the mode of visitor's movement.

int SNUM[3] ;//
int INA = 4; //
int PWMA = 5; //
int INB = 7; //
int PWMB = 6; //
 
void motospd(int sp1,int sp2) //电机速度控制函数。括号内分别为左右电机速度值，
{                        //范围-255～+255，正值为正转，负值为反转。
 if(sp1>0)
   digitalWrite(INA, HIGH);   
 else
    digitalWrite(INA, LOW);
 if(sp2>0)
    digitalWrite(INB, HIGH);
 else
    digitalWrite(INB, LOW);
 analogWrite(PWMA,abs (sp1));
 analogWrite(PWMB,abs (sp2));
}
void setup(){  
pinMode(11, INPUT); //配置左传感器IO口为输入
pinMode(12, INPUT); //配置中传感器IO口为输入
pinMode(13, INPUT); //配置右传感器IO口为输入
Serial.begin(9600); //打开串口，初始化
pinMode(INA,OUTPUT);
pinMode(INB,OUTPUT);   //配置电机驱动IO口为输出
 }
void loop(){ 
SNUM[0] = digitalRead(11);//左传感器赋值
SNUM[1] = digitalRead(12); //中传感器赋值
SNUM[2] = digitalRead(13); //右传感器赋值
for (int i=0;i<3;i++)
{
  Serial.print(SNUM);//串口输出每个传感器的值，打开串口可显示传感器检测结果
 }                 
  Serial.println(SNUM[2]);
 if ((SNUM[0]==1)&&(SNUM[1]==1)&&(SNUM[2]==1))//
motospd(100,100);                          //
 if ((SNUM[0]==0)&&(SNUM[1]==1)&&(SNUM[2]==1)) //
   motospd(100,50);                           //
   if ((SNUM[0]==1)&&(SNUM[1]==1)&&(SNUM[2]==0)) //
   motospd(50,100);                             //
   if ((SNUM[0]==1)&&(SNUM[1]==0)&&(SNUM[2]==1)) //
   motospd(-100,-100);                           //
delay(50);}

const int pingPin = 7; // Trigger Pin of Ultrasonic Sensor
const int echoPin = 6; // Echo Pin of Ultrasonic Sensor

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600); // Starting Serial Terminal }
void loop() {
  long duration, inches, cm;
  pinMode(pingPin, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  digitalWrite(pingPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(10);
  digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);
  pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
  duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
  cm = microsecondsToCentimeters(duration);
  Serial.print(cm);
  Serial.print("cm");
  Serial.println();
  delay(100);
}
long microsecondsToCentimeters(long microseconds) {
  return microseconds / 29 / 2;
}//

The code part that controls the servo:

25 March

Here is a short video of the Functioning scenario, and it showed in details how the installation works and interact with visitors.

https://youtu.be/lvkl8N43DuI

As each sensor controls one component, their branches movement are connected via the Plastic rope to the other components, hopefully creating the feeling that there is only one mechanical 'life' feels and reacts to the move of participants.

Will the participant feel in connection with the plants, feel like "it" is breathing, observing, carefully using its branches exploring, or even trying to communicating with the participants, in its point of view:strangers？ What does it feel like? When you get closer, when you have to keep quiet to make it "calm" and then that's so quiet that you can hear yourself breathing... Closer, together? And when you are completely surrounded by these green live plants, no distance to the leaves，will it feels like you are together？

29 March Summary More can do: 1,Observe more how people interact with plants. 2,Build and improve motor mechanism. 3,Find another materials to connect with motor and tests. Consider how this helps build the relation between users and plants. Basic movements

This is a plant that spins alone Rotating Getting close/ pausing/ thinking Closer/ Trembling/ Attempt to deterring from approaching Get close- Moving up and down /shrinking

Retreat- Stretching and Relax Stay- more and more relax Get in harmony... stretching the branch like gentle touch

Closer, together? what does it feels when in extremely quiet and surrounded by plants?

Moving up and down Is that a threaten? What will plants do if they really can move like animal?