Internet of Things (IoT) Here I Come!

Taking inspiration from Jie Qi and Natalie Freed, I am embarking upon a quest to create a wifi connected book of my own.  While I'm only at the start of my inquiry, I've already got a few ideas swirling.

Photon Unboxing

After reading details about Natalie Freed's Tide Notebook at NEXMAP, I discovered that she used the SparkCore microcontroller to connect her book to the web.  In particular, she accessed tide data and used it to control LEDs mounted inside.  The newest iteration of SparkCore, the Particle Photon microcontroller, can also send or receive data through Particle Build.  Paired with a free open-source Internet of Things (IoT) platform called ThingSpeak, anyone can access or share data and use it to control physical objects, such as the LEDs in a book, wearable, or other type of physical object...even without an MIT degree!

Hello World!

My Remembrall

One enticing project that uses a Photon, in combination with several cloud-based apps, is the Internet Connected Remembrall, a physical orb that glows red when its owner neglects something on their to-do list.



By following the directions and really thinking about what each app was communicating with the other, I began to slowly understand how the Internet of Things (IoT) works on a small scale.

Once I got my own Photon connected to the Internet, I was able to start taking the code apart and changing it.  I literally squealed when my LED, connected to a hashtag on Twitter, turned on for the first time!

I've started learning a bit about the role of Web Hooks and JSON (Java Script Object Notation), both of which are aspects of connecting physical objects with data. Thanks to the excellent documentation in the Remembrall Instructable, I now have a road map for making my first wifi connected object tied to the data I choose.

Another thing that I've been playing with is creating an object connected via Particle Build to ThingSpeak's CheerLights channel.  In case you haven't heard of CheerLights yet (I just did), data, generated through people's tweets around the world, can be harnessed to control the color of LEDs in your own physical objects.  For example, if I send a tweet to @CheerLights and request a specific color, a Web Hook triggered by the Twitter feed will signal a change in the LED color on all of the objects connected to the data feed, including my own.

If I connect my own object to the data (in this case, a Photon with a Spark Fun Wearable Shield attached to a neopixel), I can see the light color change in near real time!

Etextile Bracelets = Fun with Felting

I recently started experimenting with needle and wet felting after a generous friend gave me some of her beloved wool stash!

While I've been dabbling with etextiles for about three years, my interest in wool as a medium was piqued by Barbara Liedahl's Ultimate Felt Bracelet with LEDs Instructable (CC BY NC).  A fresh take on an old idea, Liedahl's detailed tutorial inspired me to set aside the craft store felt to make something unique.

My first pieces of felt were fun to make, even if they were a tad on the bulky side.  

Needle felting propelled me into a meditative state almost immediately!

While I was happy that I'd used slow flashing 5mm RGB LEDs to add visual interest, I thought my sewing along the edges looked a bit sloppy.

In the second iteration, I added a snap switch and substituted machine stitching along the edges.  

Circuit details of the snap switch are depicted below, although I used different LEDs for this project.

Thank you, Barbara Liedahl!  

Here are a few more bracelets I've made for friends, including one that incorporates an Attiny85 (bottom).

MIDI to Arduino: Easily Add Music to Your Wearable Electronics!

I just discovered a magical tool that can convert a MIDI file directly into Arduino code that may be uploaded to a wearable microcontroller such as a Lilypad!  It's called Green Light Go -- Midi to Arduino Source Code Generator.

Using this tool is a MUCH easier way to code music than trying to use sheet music and a frequency chart to cobble a song together.  (Ask me how I know.)

To get started, your computer needs some type of MIDI sequencing/notation software, such as Rosegarden, which is open source.  From there, you'll be able to upload MIDI files and modify the names of individual tracks to correspond with the pins on your microcontroller.  This demo video explains exactly how it works.

Here's a video of my Lilypad playing the Simon and Garfunkel song The Sound of Silence through a buzzer on pin 7.

• I started by finding a MIDI file I wanted to use on this site.
• Next, I uploaded The Sound Of Silence [4] (MIDI sequencing by Mick O'Neill) into Rosegarden.
• After changing the names of the tracks, I exported the file as a new MIDI file, which I then uploaded into Green Light Go.  
• Once the code was generated, I pasted it into an Arduino sketch on Codebender and uploaded it to my Lilypad.  You can find the code for it here.

In the process of tinkering, I learned that MIDI files with a short simple tracks work much better than sophisticated files with lengthy tracks.

Flora Sparkle Skirt #etextile

After learning how to make digital clothing for my avatar in Jokaydia Grid (for a graduate class), I decided to return to the real world to try my hand at sewing a real skirt.

Taking inspiration from a variety of YouTube videos (most notably this one), I purchased 20 yards of black tulle (I only used six) and two yards of blue satin (I only needed one) to sew my first garment ever!

My first skirt...sans electronics.

While it turned out pretty well (albeit a little on the large side), it wasn't complete without some bling!  So, I followed Becky Stern's directions for creating a Sparkle Skirt, using a Flora, motion sensor, and 12 neopixels!

Strand test mode

I'm sure there is a better way to do this.

Throughout this process, I learned quite a bit.  In addition to figuring out how to make gathers in fabric using the cording foot on my sewing machine, I discovered the beauty of fabric paint as an electrical insulator, which I'd never thought about prior to this experiment.

Since my skirt has so many gathers, it was prone to short-circuiting before I applied a shiny, navy fabric paint to the exposed conductive thread.   This was the most tedious part of the process, since my circuit went all the way around a rather lengthy diameter. But, it worked like a charm!

On the underside of the skirt, I used iron-on fusible webbing to insulate the data line of the circuit, since it was hand-sewn.

Bryan Cera's Paper Synth

After finding a link to Bryan Cera's Paper Electronics Workshop on the Google + 21st Century Notebooking community page, I ordered a few supplies and got started making my own paper synthesizer!

I made a few mistakes along the way, but I learned how to use my multimeter in continuity mode and how to manually designate a sketchbook location in the Arduino IDE under preferences, neither of which I've ever had to do before.

Bryan's instructions are very detailed, and he generously shares his templates, code, and supply list.  So, if you are interested in using an ATtiny85 to create your own musical instrument, be sure to check out Bryan Cera's Paper Electronics Workshop!

Channeling the 80's: Sound Reactive Flora Skirt

After putting the finishing touches on this sound reactive leather skirt (made for my daughter, who may never actually wear it in public), I found myself thinking back to my high school years, hanging out in the discos of Germany! While I wouldn't dare go out in public wearing something like this today, I am amused to no end, imagining how quickly I would have jumped into this skirt back in the 80's!  Forgive this shameless indulgence.

If you want to make your own sound reactive wearable, or see the process I followed to make this, check out the Sound Reactive Equalizer Skirt on Instructables.

A Few Words on Words

Photo Courtesy of RETN: 29 Jan 2016

Last night, while reading Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, I was struck by something she said about writing being a "desperate endeavor," driven by our deepest needs "to be visible, to be heard...to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong," to better understand ourselves and connect with others.

In pondering this raw truth, it occurred to me that while I routinely document things I've discovered while playing with tech tools, I don't spend nearly enough time writing about the meat that matters.

One of the triggers that got me thinking about this, was a blog post written by Bonnie Birdsall, referencing the impact of work that I was lucky to have done alongside Doug Dunbebin prior to his untimely passing. Drawing attention to the fact that Doug's legacy lives on through media creation, partly as a result of our collaboration, made me reflect upon the importance of human connection and the intricate web of our interactions and relationships.

I met Doug in July of 2014, while taking Jay Hoffman's powerful course “From Idea to Impact: Harnessing the Power of Video in Your Classroom."  That experience, coupled with my first foray into the Create Make Learn Summer Institute, whet my appetite for digital story-telling and eventually led to my exploration of green screen video production.  After showing Doug some projects I'd been working on, he encouraged me to keep creating and agreed to co-present a workshop at Dynamic Landscapes in 2015.  The workshop was so well-received that we continued our collaboration, and I had the benefit of learning a great deal about myself and the power of words.

When I started working with Doug, I was terrified of presenting to an adult audience.  At one point early on, I made a disparaging comment about something I'd shared while presenting to a small group.  Doug addressed this later, in such a kind and powerful way, that it awakened something in me, fundamentally derailing some old patterns of thinking.  I look back on this conversation with gratitude, and consider the importance of words.

The last time I saw Doug was at the RETN/VCAM producer's party in late January, where I was honored with a Lifelong Learner Award.  Because he'd given me a little advanced warning, I was able to express a few heartfelt words of appreciation to Doug that evening.  I didn't really have much time to fully reflect upon the experience, however, because my father passed away a couple weeks later after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.  My father's loss was followed by Doug's passing three weeks later.

It's taken a while to process these events and begin shaping my thoughts into words, but I think that the heart of the matter is this:  the words we tell others and the words we tell ourselves are powerful.  We cannot underestimate the power of our words to inspire and heal others; but, this can only happen if we share them.