Assignment 5: Picoboard Body Interface

Assigned: Tue Oct 14
Due: Tue Oct 21

Audience:

Your audience for this assignment is the TID class. This assignment will also serve as a brainstorming session for your Exhibit Project.

Objective:

This assignment has two goals:

• Introduce to the Picoboard interface, which you will use in your Exhibit Project.
• Connecting body gestures and motions to software-based activity.

Research:

The PicoBoard is a sensor board that works with MIT Scratch software. Please visit the PicoBoard web site to learn about it. Make sure to do the activities in the Getting Started with PicoBoards PDF file.

Then, think of a body movement -- jumping, twisting, punching, rocking, waving, etc.

Think of the body position that people will use when interacting with your system—sitting on a chair, standing, facing a desk, facing another person, etc.

Think about how you are going to sense it—you may build an apparatus to interface gestures or motion to the PicoBoard.

The Assignment:

Design some kind of screen display that is synchronized, triggered, or otherwise coordinated with the body movement

Implement your idea using a PicoBoard and MIT Scratch software. These are available for loan in the Laboratory for Interactive Learning (Olsen 302). Please note: PicoBoards are not to leave the lab!!

In the LIL, there are more than 10 Macintosh computers (as well as several PCs), all of which have Scratch installed. All of you have already been given keycard access to the lab. The lab is available for your 24x7, with only a few times blocked out (M-F from 7:30 am to 9:15 am, and R from 3 pm to 6 pm). Please see the full lab schedule on the OS302-schedule page.

When you are done, upload your project to the Scratch community web site, and turn in on picoboard-interface-turnin page. Please include a photo of someone interacting with your design—please upload it to the TID web site and display it here (JPG photos only).