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18May

iQue

In Interactive Media, Thesis by William Meshchery / May 18, 2015 / Comments are closed

The iQue was a success. After many long awaited months we successfully managed to manipulate an environmental lighting system using our brainwaves.

The final demonstration of the Interactive Project took place at the Subspectra Senior Show at the Fashion Institute of Technology. On opening day, those who attended were given the opportunity to use the device and enjoy the changing dynamic environment. Although the show proved to be a success, a series of changes needed to be made in order to accommodate the show.

The first major change came with the funding of the Animation Department, which allowed us to increase the lights in our system to five, up from one. Four Hue bulbs were aligned down the center of the show, while a large floodlight illuminated the space behind the display. The added lights required changing the code to allow the headset to communicate to the bridge while also connecting to each of the five lights.

After updating the code, we kept the lights on a purple pulsing idle state. When the user would bring their level of attention higher than 85%, the lights would dynamically light up with new colors and luminosity. Each user would try the device and be rewarded with a newly lit space.

However, the programming wasn’t the only drastic change made to the device. An attached Raspberry Pi with an external battery allowed the headset to be completely mobile. This removed the need for long dangling wires and gave the user a sense of freedom and comfort. The new battery allowed the device to function for over 8 hours before losing it’s charge.

In the end, the goals of the project were satisfied and appreciated. Over a dozen attendants bravely sampled the device, including professors, students, investors, and even the Dean of the school. The satisfaction when the lights would change could clearly be seen across each user’s face, which made the long months of work worthwhile.

It was a pleasure to work on such a visually stimulating project, and the future of the iQue is still unknown. Possibly after some time to rest, we may return to the creation and improve it for personal use.

Thank you to those who have supported us and shown interest in our work.

William Meshchery
Max Rodriguez

03Dec

iQ Prototype

In Interactive Media by William Meshchery / December 3, 2014 / Comments are closed

We have successfully managed to communicate to the Phillips Hue lightbulb with the Mindwave headset. By using nothing but our brain waves we can turn our lights on or off. Once the user’s attention reaches a certain value, the light will turn on and stay on. To turn the light bulb off, simply do the same by meditating.

Although this may seem simple, the ability to use our very own brainwaves to manipulate the light is a major breakthrough towards our final goals with the project. As of today we will only be demonstrating the proprietary eSense meters. We will be streaming our attention and meditation values directly controlling the hue api using Cylon.js. In the future, we will be expanding our research to control the Hue and Luminosity of the bulb, visually representing our mental state in vibrant color.

But How?

When we first started we ran into a problem with the operating system. Windows was incompatible with the software so we switched over to Ubuntu Linux.Cylon is a JavaScript framework for robotics and physical computing. It runs inside of Node.js which is a platform built on Chrome’s JavaScript runtime for easily building fast apps. The headset transfers values to our Linux laptop via Bluetooth into Cylon.js to the Phillips bridge via WiFi router to the hue bulb.

Future plans include changing the colour of the light based on brain waves and making it all work on a raspberry pi.