Quasar Design University lands at the World Maker Faire in New York (20 and 21 September 2014), with two projects of the students of the Web & Interaction course.
Labyrinth, Amerigo Ievoli and Daniele Martini, and BeeUno, Fabrizio Jimenez and Emanuele Tamburlani, are both the two projects born both within the Physical Computing workshop, one of the features of the Web & Interaction course (coordinated by Arch. Emanuele Tarducci), will cross the ocean to land in what is the most important showcase in the world devoted to innovation, creativity and the idea of ”do it yourself”.
LABYRINTH
With Labyrinth, Amerigo and Daniele reinvented a game of the past, but never really fashioned. In the traditional version, the player had to demonstrate his ability by pointing the ball and overcoming the obstacles to make the entire path and take it out of the labyrinth. In the new version, the original idea and operation remain unchanged, but have been implemented thanks to current hand-tracking technologies.
For its realization, a new technology has been used that allows the base of the labyrinth to be oscillated with the simple movement of the hand, thanks to an infrared sensor that drives the mechanism and moves the two servomotors. Moving the hand to the right or left leads to the ball sliding along the walls of the labyrinth and the player’s ability consists precisely in avoiding it falling into the holes practiced on the path and making it reach the finish line.
Thanks to the functional and aesthetic improvements, the new Labyrinth is a new game that will surprise and entertain the many visitors from all over the world each year participating in this event in the big apple.
BEEUNO
With BeeUno, Fabrizio and Emanuele instead propose an original music console made up of hexagonal wooden modules that through bodily movements or physical buttons offer the user the ability to create small music tracks and create special sound effects.
All this is possible by interfacing Arduino with the computer through a software that allows you to convert the USB port, simulating a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), a standard protocol for electronic musical instrument interaction, allowing the physical connection between various devices.
Thanks to the MIDI emulator, BeeUno interface with “F1 Studio”, a software for music production, thus giving each component a specific command, such as modulation of a note by hand movement or composition of small songs or musical notes with the help of various buttons.
BeeUno can be modified according to the specific needs of the user, making it a unique and customizable controller.
Great attention has also been paid to the design of the console, entirely in wood and painted in wenge and yellow color to create a “honeycomb” structure.
QUASAR & MAKER FAIRE
The participation of our students at the World Maker Faire in New York is a source of pride for the Quasar, which at the same time sees consolidation of a relationship that began last year with the participation of Simon-Cube of Leopold Dorigo, also a student of Web & Interaction, at the first European Maker Faire held in Rome. This report will continue with the participation in the forthcoming Roman edition, which will take place at the Auditorium Parco della Musica (3-5 October 2014), where Quasar will be present with an entire stand, where the many projects of the our students.
Fonte (http://quasar.university/news/studenti-quasar-maker-faire-new-york/)