For project 2, I had a hard time deciding on something I’d like to create, at least at first. But then, I was inspired by a discussion from my “Neurohacking” class, in which we talked about virtual reality and how much it could potentially replace real-life experiences in the future, from travel to having relationships to some people possibly wanting to live their whole lives in a virtual reality experience, where the rules of the real world don’t apply and anything can be designed, invented, or made accessible. In addition, I’m currently reading a book called The Nature Fix, by Florence Williams, in which she discusses how attempts at virtual nature, from videos and photographs to 3D virtual reality experiences, fail at creating the same kind of awe, joy, contentment, and chemical changes in the brain that authentic experiences of being outside can create.
From this reading and discussion, I came up with the idea for creating a Virtual Nature box. I conceptualize it almost as a satire of this idea of trying to recreate nature and outdoor experiences virtually, when they really can’t compare (at least not in their current iterations) to the physical manifestation of the real thing: being outside. For the main enclosure, I imagine a small box (6″ by 4″ by 4″) made of wood, with a panel of clear acrylic in the front and an antenna on top, to give the impression of a small TV. I chose this design because I want the enclosure to emulate one way that we virtually experience nature already: watching videos or photos of it on a screen. Through the acrylic piece, I’m going to create a semi-3D scene of mountains and forest with construction paper or some other medium, and Neopixel strips will be attached on the inside of the enclosure (not directly visible to the user). I also plan on using some white LEDs as “stars” (see below). On the right panel of the TV enclosure, I imagine having a button to turn the TV on, as well as one labeled potentiometer, two more buttons and a “grate,” for lack of a better word, that will produce “wind” from a DC motor with a fan attachment. Somewhere else on the enclosure, perhaps on the side, there will be a cutout for sound to emanate from, that a small speaker can be attached behind (inside the enclosure).
Essentially, the first button will turn the TV “on,” which will turn on the Neopixels. The potentiometer and other buttons will each control a different aspect of the “nature” experience. First, the potentiometer will change the colors of the Neopixels to light up the scene, representing different times of the day, from nighttime (dark blues and purples, with the LED “stars” lighting up in the background) to dawn (oranges, pinks and reds) to daytime (yellows and whites), back to dusk and then back to nighttime, as the potentiometer is turned. In this way, the user can control the time of day playing out in the virtual scene. The first button will produce “wind” from the grate in the enclosure, using the DC motor. The second button will turn on the sound effect of birds chirping from the speaker, which I hope I will be able to create by using the tone() function in Arduino and various high pitches at fast intervals of time. I expect this will require a good amount of experimentation. From manipulating all of these buttons and potentiometers, the user can experiment to create different times of day, whether or not they experience wind, and whether or not they can hear the “sounds of nature.”
In terms of practically building this project, I will have to design and laser cut the enclosure, and then use hot glue to assemble all of the internal components (nature scene, Neopixels, white LEDs, DC motor, speaker, potentiometer, buttons and Arduino and organize the circuitry inside. I hope that the finished product will be interesting, fun and intuitive to interact with, while also causing users to think about how we try to represent and recreate reality, especially nature experiences, in virtual (and often unfulfilling) ways.
Bill of Necessary Materials:
- 1/4 inch plank of birch or poplar wood — $7 from Home Depot
- small piece of clear acrylic — free
- small rabbit ears-style TV antenna — $3 from Amazon, or free if I can find one
- Neopixel Strip — free, already have
- white LEDs — free
- construction paper/foam — free
- potentiometer/knob — free/cheap
- DC motor/fan attachment — free/cheap
- buttons/switches — free
- speaker — free
- hot glue — free
- Arduino, breadboard, wiring — free, already have
Total Estimated Cost: < $20
nate bennett 