Original drawing identified basic principle:

1. Twist pencil in tape reel
2. This action twists potentiometer
3. potentiometer relays DATA
4. Arduino board receives ANALOG data in 0 –> 5V
5. Arduino script translates ANALOG voltage to DIGITAL serial data
6. Serial data transfered via USB lead into MAXmsp patch
7. MAXmsp patch interprets data allowing user to triggers samples

Although I considered different configurations (eg. geering) the simplest approach for this test was to directly engage the modified ‘continuous’ potentiometer with the pen lid through the cassette reel.

AND this just felt really ‘RIGHT’!

When building the MAX patch I attempted to identify 3 ‘triggers’ that I wanted to isolate from the user input data:

• twisting
• not twisting
• twisting fast

I basically attempted to identify these 3 triggers using the METRO object to periodically (every 1 sec and every 200 milliseconds) read data coming into MAXmsp and then, using conditional statements eg. pictured, compare the previous two values to identify the rate of change.

I am aware that this is in no way the most sophisticated way of using MAX to interpret this rate-of-change / acceleration data but, this was the fastest way for me to prototype this and get a result with my fledgling knowledge of MAX.

Working on this piece has totally re-affirmed this statement:

simpler interface = more complex interaction

It is fascinating how much data is contained within such a simple single twisting action and there are really huge ramifications for my future ‘user interface’ work if I can develop my skills at using code and software to interpret and translate this data.

Download my ‘Echoes’ MAX patch here.

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