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

One idea for this course was to introduce capacitive touch areas – a formation of discrete sensor pads, sliders, or a matrix (see sketches below) – to the surface and the frame of a conventional switch, where the PCB itself serves as the cover with all components on one side and touchpads on its rear. By that, one would extend the switch’s binary characteristic and broaden the repertoire of input gestures. However, I soon realised that such a modification would undermine exactly what I am trying to preserve – the switching mechanism’s inherent psychophysical feedback that makes this kind of interface so appealing. Such feedback is in vain with touch displays that replace great user interfaces, which are actually much more in line with our human sensory nature. With regard to automation, going for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) is an obvious choice, as these are much easier to integrate due to their ability to react to system changes simply by programming, whereas physical switches do not respond automatically. 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). The SwitchSwitch prototype functions as a platform to design output gestures made of sequences of clicks in combination with flickering lights as means of communication. To do so a conventional switch has been equipped with some more advanced technology. Now this project is about turning this technology into an appropriate form.