Summary: The Secret Collector is a tangible installation with metaphor from nature. The audience can take the bird and interact with the flowers.
Abstract: In nature, human perceive that hummingbirds drink nectar from flowers. The smallness of the the hummingbird gives it chance to know more about the flower. The intimate interaction is interesting, as if the flower is telling or listening to a whisper.
When the audience picks up and approach the bird to a flower, the browser will open a web page that reveals the secrets people told to that flower. The display will bring the user to a flower’s Facebook page (why can’t flower have their own facebook page?) You can tell your own secret or see the ones from others.
Repository: https://github.com/mengs/secretcollector
When the audience picks up and approach the bird to a flower, the browser will open a web page that reveals the secrets people told to that flower. The display will bring the user to a flower’s Facebook page (why can’t flower have their own facebook page?) You can tell your own secret or see the ones from others.
You can check the demo video here:
This installation’s circuit is implemented by an arduino, hall effect sensors, and a Memsic 2125 Dual-Axis Accelerometer. The physical is mainly crafted by Maple wood, clay, a magnet. The arduino and computer communication enables the interaction between user’s physical movement and the digital. On the computer’s side, a small piece of apple script handle linking to facebook and publishing.
I may further explore metaphor from interactions in the nature, and make this installation more complex and more rich. When people leave the message, people still use keyboard to link to type the message. It is still a “message” not a whisper. So I think one further feature is a microphone recording people’s voice message. In addition, currently each flower just seems like a query linking to differently pages. The reaction is from the the display not the flower. The flower it self is not moving. It maybe interesting to actuate a plant.
Here is some some of the making process:
