Startled HAL
OVERVIEW
Inspiration for this project, named Startled HAL, comes from the observation of animals. Some animals become startled upon seeing their reflection in a mirror. In this project I experiment with fear and uneasiness related to this experience. I also wanted to play with the idea of technology that is afraid of itself.
To achieve the effect I built an enclosure, a small robot, and programmed an Arduino. The robot runs sequences triggered by sensors. The meek robot form shows behavior through body language, sound, and a red blinking LED.
Scared HAL from David Chan on Vimeo.
PRESENTATION
To trigger the first sequence, place the mirror on the enclosure then step away. The robot wakes up with an audible startup sound and scans its surroundings. A red LED light on the backlit “face” of the robot pulses at a relaxed rate. Upon seeing itself in the mirror, the robot becomes startled. The blinking red LED blinks 4x faster, and the robot makes a quick and sharp turn away. After curious examination, the blinking resumes a relaxed rate. Finally, the body spins back around and collapses into a sleep state.
To trigger the second sequence, lean in close to the robot for five seconds. The robot wakes up and stares at the person in front of them. An increased LED pulse results, and the robot turns away to hide. The robot, now facing the mirror, becomes startled by its reflection and spins back to the person. With no escape, it gives up and goes into a sleep state.
PROCESS
As mentioned earlier, inspiration for this project came from animal behavior. I imagined my scared robot to go through the following stages of behavior in motion in the project:
-Greeting (power on)
-Exploring (scanning)
-Startled!
-Curiosity
-Playfulness
-Reset (power off)
The images below walk through the evolution of project conception, storyboards, and prototyping. A photo sensor and IR proximity sensor were used to trigger the different sequences carried out by a pan/tilt servo. NETLabTookit provided the widgets to control the interactions and program the movements as well as deliver the JavaScript code.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The idea for the red LED is in part from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the film, a red circular light represents an AI super computer named HAL. This is also the origin of this project name, "Startled HAL".
PROJECT BRIEF
Create an interactive piece that uses one or more servo motors to create something that feels alive. It must be based on research inspiration, where you find an example of something alive that behaves through movement.
This project builds on the previous emotion project ideas. But in this project, the physical movement provides the primary mode of expression. The expressive movement can indicate more than emotion, and can be functional (like looking up), or communicative (like shaking left/right to indicate “no”).
This project needs a strong concept as well as thoughtful design and form making – it is not only about technology. Having wires hanging out all over is not acceptable – you must create an enclosure. In other words, the project should feel finished and refined.
Your project must include the use of the Code widget with some original Javascript code that you write. Use one or more variables in your code Include comments in your code to explain what the code does.
MATERIALS AND TOOLS
Arduino UNO
NETLab Toolkit
JavaScript
GarageBand
Pan/tilt servos
Photo sensor
Red LED
IR proximity sensor
Various wires and resistors
¼ inch MDF
Wood shop (various tools)
Foam Core
Acrylic mirror
CLASS
Creative Technology I
INSTRUCTOR
Elise Co