Final Year Studio - Bibliography

Below are the resources I have used for the research and development of my project that I have not yet referenced in my blog:


Books:

A.M. Cassandre
Henri Mouron - 1985

Envisioning Information
Edward Tufte- 1990

e-topia "Urban Life, Jim - but not as we know it"
William J. Mitchell - 1999

Life Style
Bruce Mau - 2004

Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity
Marc Auge - 1995

Railway: Identity, Design and Culture
Keith Lovegrove - 2005


Webpages

A Wall is a Screen
Art Deco at the Victoria and Albert Musuem
Art Deco - Wikipedia
ASCII Chart - Wikipedia
BBC Motion Gallery
Beacon
Birth of Moving Movies
Bruce Mau Design
Cassandre - Wikipedia
Cecile Babiole
Cloud
Crank the Web
Wooden Mirror
David Rokeby
Edward Tufte
Ess Sound Library - Soft Clip
Ess Sound Library - Play
e-topia review
Flip-dot Display - Wikipedia
Infosthetics
Domain Name Facts
Interfascia Interface Library
Jim Campbell
BitFall
Nick Crowe
National Railway Museum
National Media Museum
LCD Display Screen - Wikipedia
LED - Wikipedia
Letter Frequency in the English Language
London Transport Poster Collection
Lumieres
Magentic Core Memory - Wikipedia
Non-Volatile Memory
Railwayana
Virginal Trains Branding - RKCRYR
Robin Collyer
Rollsign
The Terminal's Split-flap Display Creation
Split-flap Display Screen
SPOTS
Southern Railway Posters
Time Stops at Grand Central Station
Train Travel Article
Urban Screens Manchester
VinylVideo
Rollsign
VisitorVille
Webpage Dimensions


Places

Manchester Urban Screens

National Media Museum

National Railway Museum

Final Year Studio - Development - Multiple Stepper Control

While both the on screen part of my project and installation space is all setup I have simply ran out of time on the development for my analogue display board. Above shows each stepper motor animating, one after another and moving to a random position as each Datamotive starts to arrive. Controlled by my time function in the Processing code, the whole screen starts to animate when its arrival time falls to 60 seconds or under. Controlled by a total of 6 breadboards, 2 Arduino boards and 48 relay switches I managed to wire up all the motors that would be used to show the text of the domain address.

Each stepper motor is controlled by a group of Arduino output pins and 4 general relay switches that fire each stepper motor's 4 individual relay switches and each motor simply requires the turn on and off of their ground to animate. In theory the next step would be to build in some kind of reset mechanism so that the stepper motor can keep track of its own angle. This could then be used in conjunction with knowing the step count of each character to show specific letters and numbers. Also the stepper motors that control the arrival time would have to be wired up to a separate breadboard and programmed with a slightly slower delay for a slower more accurate animation that would countdown properly.

Final Year Studio - Development - Exhibition Environment

Exhibition Enivronment, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

With the end of my project looming I decided to visit the space that will be used for the end of year exhibition. After consulting with Jen it became apparent that the 'ideal' design for my installation would have to be slightly comprised to fit in with the space. I have decided to create the illusion of a train station as best I can my using a PC situated on a desk along with my analogue public display board. The space will be also enhanced by using a clock, arrival time board and station sign, as well as speakers for ambient sounding. Once setup I will then evaluate whether or not the space can cater for a bench, but this I must stress will be decided upon nearer to the time.

Final Year Studio - Development - Multiple Stepper Output

After getting one stepper motor to work the next step wire up multiple stepper motors. This involved using four control relay switches, plus four motor relay switches and one ground relay switch for each motor. The motors were alternatively driven and were animated by simply turning their ground connection 'on' and 'off.' This resulted in a very complicated circuit, that in theory when adapted will allow me to directly control each motor and dictate which letter will be shown.

Final Year Studio - Development - Review #4

datamotives review 3, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Another good review and I felt that I am getting to narrow down my project very well. All the theory, research and development seems to be coming together. My only problem is that it is looking like I will not finish my analogue screen on time due to the problems I have had previously with the servo motors. Regardless of this I have constructed the actual housing for the screen and it was a useful tool when explaining my idea, as well as in the conclusion of my Special Study which compliments all the trials and tribulations of developing a analogue mechanical public display screen.

The aim now is to finish the main digital bit of the project, and analogue screen if I get time, as well as experimenting with different digital visual aesthetics, just to understand the alternatives of offer.

Final Year Studio - Development - Initial Stepper Motor Test

After a while struggling with servo motors it has been decided to swap and change my design so that I can use stepper motors instead. Initial tests have proven very encouraging and show that the stepper motors are both smooth and reliable due to lack of physically moving parts inside. Due to the fact that the main area of development for my project is on the digital monitor, it is now looking as though I will not be able to finish the analogue style public display screen in time for the end of the year. This will not stop me trying in my spare time and constructing the housing for the screen, because all the trials and tribulations of development make up the body of my Special Study. So it will be useful to have the screen constructed and a stepper motor working for my conclusion where I can talk about possible implementation.

Final Year Studio - Development - Arrival/Departure Time Board Design

arrival board, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Using the above images taken from Bradford Interchange's train station as inspiration I will create an arrival timetable board for my Datamotive idea. Displaying search terms that represent key words that I have come across during the development of my idea, it will show the arrival times of each Datamotive, dependent on the finalised formula for optimum screen representation. This will work as an extra stimulus for widening the associative bandwidth of the installation environment as well as a 'witty' hint for users to find out more about my project.

Final Year Studio - Development - Review #3

datamotives review 3, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Just a quick report on review #3 of my studio project, Datamotives. I felt it went really well and I think I have concentrated what I was presenting more, resulting in less time spent explaining the idea and more time spent showing the various experiments I have done and first person research. The only thing to do now is make sure my elevator pitch isn't misunderstood and continue making my project!!!

Final Year Studio - Development - Servo SUPER DISASTER!!!

Above is the final experiment I did to try and solve the 'wobbly' servo problem. In the end incrementing the servo arm, changing to Oasis foam for the screen and programming the servo by not using the code library still did not solve the problem. A possible factor is that the small servos simply don't react well to being controlled from a computer, chipping all the gears inside them. A possible solution is use a stepper motor instead that has only one gear and is animated using magnets, resulting in very little wear and tear inside the motor itself, hopefully eradicating any kind of developing wobble. The only problem with a stepper motor is that it cannot keep track of what angle it is at, this then means I would have to use some kind of marker such as a light resister and laser to tell the stepper to reset its angle to 0 for further instructions.

Final Year Studio - Research - Domain Name Facts

As my digital screen development for my idea progresses it is becoming apparent that I will have to decide the number of characters going to be shown on my public display mechanical screen. Although according to the Length Distribution graph located on the link below states that most domain names (2006) are 11 characters long (not including the suffix (.com etc.)), I decided to go with a 10 character long screen (including suffix) so that I can then save two servo or stepper motors for the time of arrival of each URL. In the long run this will not effect the installation, because one of the main points of using two different mediums is to highlight the limitations of each, in this case the limit of not being able to vary in display depending on character length.

Link: Yalfa.com - Facts About Domain Names

Final Year Studio - Research - Grand Central Stands Still

While researching the theme of train stations and time I came across the above video created by improveverywhere.com, which involved 200 'Improv Everywhere Agents' standing still at Grand Central Station, New York. Train users are baffled and amused as it takes a while for each user to notice that some people are not moving in conjunction with the overall crowd.

Final Year Studio - Development - Relay Switch

relay 400, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above is what I hope will be the component that will solve my servo wobbling problem. The image is of a relay switch that only powers the servo motor when the servo arm isn't at the angle it is supposed to be at. This then means that if the servo arm starts wobbling it stops, the instant it hits the correct angle. This in conjunction with slowly incrementing the angle of the arm and creating the screen out of Oasis foam, often used in flower arranging, has seemed to have also solved the problem and at the moment a single servo motor is working fine. Hopefully it will be a simple step to add more servo motors onto the single relay switch so it can turn all of them off as soon as they all reach their specific angles. Fingers crossed!

Final Year Studio - Development - Large Servo Test

With the small servos struggling to cope with the momentum and weight of the acrylic screens I thought it may be a good idea to test the torque on some large servo motors. As you can see above they operate in exactly the same way as the smaller ones but without attaching anything to them they already felt slightly loose in inside. So to finally test to see if they would work with out wobbling I attached a screen to the servo arm and tested a single servo unit. Unfortunately the weight was still too much, and still vibrating occured.

In testing this though I came up with a possible solution. My theory is that if I can get a light enough semi-circle screen to attach to the servo arm and use a two way switch to turn the servo motor off once it arrives at its specified angle, I may be able to salvage a workable screen. Possible materials to experiment with for the servo screen could by polystyrene or the 'Oasis' blocks used by florists in flower arranging. Both highly durable very light materials that wouldn't put too much strain on the servo motor and its arm.

Final Year Studio - Research - Flip-dot Display System

sent email to first, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

I also emailed First buses to ask what they do with their flip-dot display screens once they replace them with LED equivalents. Unfortunately I did not get any response from them and I am still waiting.

Final Year Studio - Research - Split-Flap Display

screen email, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Although at the moment I am using servos motors to design my analogue screen, I am still trying to source a split-flap display to understand their availability. As I mentioned below Thomson & Craighead's Beacon project uses this display system so I emailed them, asking where they got theirs from. Unfortunately it was bespoke and made by Solaris themselves at great expense, it is also important to note that Thomson says the technology is now discontinued.

Final Year Studio - Development - Servo DISASTER!

Above are the first initial servos that I have been experimenting with and they are now clicking, sticking and whurring as all the gears inside them are loosened. Partly a weight problem and partly an accident they have loosened inside by myself rotating the servo arms when they are not live. Also it seems the shear weight of the momentum when the arm stops has forced the gears to loosen. To solve this I am going to first try out a couple of new servos, not rotating them when they are not live and I will also tape them up when not in use to irradiate any unwanted rotation. Secondly I will code the movement of the servo arms so that they slow down progressively as they reach their instructed angle. Hopefully this will solve the problem and stop them vibrating so vigourously, like above. Their condition will be evaluated in a weeks time and a decision to then continue down the servo motor route will be made.

Final Year Studio - Development - Typeface Experimentation Poster

datamotives typefaces visual.indd, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above is poster I created investigating the difference in display aesthetics between various fonts, both modern and traditional. Doing this allowed me to understand why certain fonts are used in 'Non-places' and certain ones are not. For example since my project is all about using the associative bandwidth of the train station or airport terminal to express my theory, it would be wrong to use a sci-fi looking font. Instead I have opted to use simple Helvetica, because it is seen as the world wide standard when designing informative signage. This means then that people subconsciously expect this font to be used in areas of connection, thus this will be the font used on my servo screen.

Final Year Studio - Development - Datamotives Intro Poster

dm intro poster.indd, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above is an introductory poster I have designed to show what my project is about. As well as creating the strap line 'Using the metaphor of the train station to investigate into out interaction habits with the Internet.' This combined with the idea of a GSER or Great Search Engine Railway, I think really expresses the thinking behind my idea very well and seems in class to be working. All there is to do now is to put some components on the microchip illustration to create a more 'lifelike' board.

Final Year Studio - Development - Datamotives Screen Visual

Untitled-3, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above is the screen design for the on-screen part of the Datamotives project. Taking influence from both transport map design and signage graphic design, the actual mapping of the data is circular to show the elapse of time and create suspense. The user will use the application by typing in a term in the search box and clicking on the search arrow button. The application then plots the top five search results on screen using their IP addresses for position. The websites then arrive one by one with their arrival times also being shown on the servo screen. As the website arrives it is shown on the screen while a timer starts to count down, once the timer reaches zero the website departs and another one arrives. The user at any moment will be able to cancel the search buy simply typing in another term.

At this moment in time I am starting to experiment with the PHP cURL function, but it is clear to me that this application for successful integration with the servo screen will have to be produced in Processing. This may mean that the graphics will have to be simplified but where I can I will try and be true to my original screen design.

Special Study - Subject Area Plan

After narrowing don my ideas the main focus for my Special Study will be to investigate into how the aesthetics and physicality of media used in areas of connection or 'Non-places' such as airports, railway stations and search engines, effect how inhabitants understand and use the data on offer to them.

I hope to ascertain a greater understanding of how non-places have a efficiently controlled and encouraged public interaction using various mediums through time, as well as looking into how a media's "Associative Bandwidth' is used to both inform, entertain and move people through these environments.

Subjects to look into include:
- Associative Bandwidth Theory - Bruce Mau
- Global Image Economy Theory - Bruce Mau
- Non-place Theory - Marc Auge
- Airport Terminal/Train Station Environment Design
- Split Flap Display Screens
- Flip Dot Display Screens - Magnetic Core Memory
- Rollsign Display Screens
- LED Display Screens
- LCD Display Screens
- Future Interactive Digital Screens - Jeff Han
- Future Heliodisplay Screens
- Airport Sign Graphic Design - Norm
- Map Design - Harry Beck
- Helvetica Font
- Subliminal Signal Sense Stimulation
- Cloud installation - Trioka
- Beacon installation - Thompson & Craighead

Final Year Studio - Development - 4 Servo Unit Screen

2 unit servo close up 400, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above I simply added an additional two servo units and activated them again by pressing specific keys on the keyboard. The servo arms twitched again so next time I will defiantly try adding resistors to the breadboard. Also I will need to develop the actual text size, spacing and font so that I can specifically show a desired character. Unfortunately due to the size of the model the text will be small but if the concept works at this size, there would be no reason why it couldn't just be scaled up in theory. One final thing to do once I am sure this style of screen will work will be to glue the semicircle to the circular servo arm using a poly melting glue such as the one you find in model kits.

Final Year Studio - Development - 2 Servo Unit Screen

2 unit side view 400, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above is the latest development of my analogue servo display screen. The code hasn't changed but I have managed to make brackets that support and hold the servo motor as well as attaching the blank semicircle screens to the servo arms. As you can see by the videos above I am very excited with the way the rotating screens are performing. It really gives the feeling of a 'clock work' like mechanism as well as a cool 'whizzing' noise, giving the medium a wide associative bandwidth. The only problem at the moment is a slight twitching every so often from the servo arms which I think may be down to the power rate being sent out by the Arduino output pins fluctuating. To solve this I will try putting resisters between the pins and servo motor.

Special Study - Initial Subject Area Planning

The main focus for my Special Study will be to investigate into how the aesthetics and physicality of media used in areas of connection or 'Non-places' such as airports, railway stations and search engines, add to their identity and effect their inhabitants.

I hope to ascertain a greater understanding of how non-places portray themselves to output the correct kind of subliminal signals to their inhabitants and efficiently control and encourage public interaction, as well as looking into how media and its "Associative Bandwidth' is used to both inform, entertain and move people through these environments.

Technologies/Styles/Methods:
- Route mapping
- London underground brand identity
- Art deco transport graphic design
- Public sign graphic design
- Analogue displays systems
- Digital display systems
- Train depiction in Film
- Virgin Trains branding - 'The Return of the Train' campaign

Key People, Artists, Technologists, Specialists of Fields and Communities of Practice:
- Marc Auge - Non-Place Theory
- Bruce Mau - Associative Bandwidth & Global Image Economy
- Norm - Swiss airport graphic signage
- Cassandre - 'Romanticism' of art deco transport
- The Lumieres - Arrival of the Train La Ciotat film
- William Turner - Rain, Steam and Speed
- Harry Beck - London underground map creator
- Robin Collyer - Public space photographer
- Crowd Control Theory
- RKCR Y&R - 'The Return of the Train' campaign
- Trioka - Cloud installation
- Thompson & Craighead - Beacon installation
- Helvetica font

Process of Documentation:
Blogging
Bookmarking
Sketchbook
Photographs
Video
Overall presented in a Flash Mini Site

Final Year Studio - Research - Data Visualisation - Beacon

Image courtesy of www.thomson-craighead.net, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Created by Thompson and Craighead this split-flap display screen uses live search activities to control what letters are shown on it. In a sense it almost acts as physical mirror to our digital activities. Although similar to part of my idea I still feel confident that by making my own analogue style rotating screen and digital search mapping tool I can further enhance what this and other projects that I have researched are trying to highlight to the audience. The increasing ease in availability of both physical and digital mediums really highlights the need for a wider understanding of a medium's associative bandwidth.

Click here for website

Final Year Studio - Research - Analogue Screens - Cloud

Created for British Airways by Trioka this sculpture uses 4,638 flip dots to create an artistic impression by replicating the physical presence and sound of traditionally mechanical airport information systems. Each dot is able to be flipped independently, this results in a series of programs that transform this black matte 'blob' into and almost organic cell. Trioka like myself are trying to bring some 'romanticism' back into travel, they state 'The indicators, dots which can flip from one side to the other with an electric impulse, have a fantastic materiality, a physicality which more modern technologies often lack, de-materialised into the virtual,' in summery my theory that analogue screens have a much wider associative bandwidth than ther digital counterparts.

Taking eight months to produce this project I feel represents a key factor in relation to my own idea. It is the idea of physicality, the restrictions that analogue screens have over digital but which at the same instance seem to enhance the epxerience due to this restriction in flexibility. The main aim for my idea is to show this to the audience and allow them to understand the difference in sublinal signal projection between analogue and digital technology mediums.

Click here for website

Final Year Studio - Research - Data Visualisation - Similar Diversity

Image courtesy of http://similardiversity.net/, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Produced in the multi-purpose tool VVVV and visualised using Processing this artwork investigates the similarities and differences in comparing different religions and their followings. Christianity, Islam and Judaism holy books were used to pull data from. The arcs represent character connections between each of the words, and the font size and bar charts underneath each display the amount of verbs that are mostly used with the key words in the holy texts. Various typographic visualisations of this visualisation were then produced using the most popular words, one being just above the mans head in the image.

I have included this work on my blog because I think it is an elegant use of both typography, graphic and colour to visual textual data. In its entirety the various arcs used in the visualisation give the piece an almost cathedral like persona.

Click here for website

Final Year Studio - Development - 4 Servo Motor Control Breadboard

4 servo board blog, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above is a the wired breadboard used to control and power the motors. The only problem is that to power the servos I must use a 9V battery. Also the servo motors rely on a very high electricity ampere rate, for example once the voltage in the battery falls to approximately 7V it becomes to weak to power the servos. As this is happening when only four servo motors are connected, the battery will not last, if at all when asked to power twelve. So to replace the battery I am going to buy a Regulated AC Adaptor to eradicate this minor problem and give me a constant current rate to the servo motors.

Final Year Studio - Development - 4 Servo Motor Control

Once I had two servo motors working I then wired up four. These worked on exactly the same principles as before and were very reliable in reaction. The next step for my development is to create an array that then stores a collection of key inputs so that the input values can be collected in various groups and then sent to the servo motors, a key factor when I want specific website addresses shown separately and independently from each other.

Final Year Studio - Development - 2 Servo Motor Control

Above is a video of multiple servo control in which I control both motors using the 'a,' 'b,' 'c' and 'd' keys on the keyboard. Using Processing, angle values are sent to the Arduino that then fills an angle position array up with these values. Each servo object then pulls a value from this array and outputs it to its specific servo motor. This then means that when a key is pressed servo 1 moves then on the next key press servo 2 moves and so on. Although in my final idea the servo screen will react to text charactors on the screen, it is very useful to use key presses at this stage for easy testing.

Final Year Studio - Research - BAE Systems Poster

Image courtesy of www.rkcryr.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Although not advertising a public transport service this idea is very effective at bringing the idea of our understanding of associative bandwidth that we use to compare both the physical and digital world. Here a microchip style image has aeroplanes superimposed onto it creating an airport style illustration. Allowing the audience to make the connections between electronic development and mechanical advancement. It also allows the user to start comparing the physical and digital world before he or she has even seen the product or idea. This poster I think is very effective and is display method that I could adapt and enhance for use in advertising and explaining my project.

Final Year Studio - Research - Virgin Atlantic Billboard Posters

Image courtesy of www.rkcryr.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

While I was searching for Virgin Trains branding literature I came across these billboard posters of Virgin's airline brand. Completely different to the train branding, image is used as the key feature in the above examples, type is simply an information feature.

Final Year Studio - Research - London Midland Trains Website

Image courtesy of www.londonmidland.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Final Year Studio - Research - South West Trains Website

Image courtesy of www.southwesttrains.co.uk, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Final Year Studio - Research - East Midland Trains Website

Image courtesy of www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Final Year Studio - Research - Eurostar Website

Image courtesy of www.eurostar.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

After briefly looking at the overall branding of Virgin Trains I am going to have a look at other train service company identities to just get some extra influence for my idea's brand.

Final Year Studio - Research - Virgin Trains Website

Image courtesy of www.virgintrains.co.uk, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Any respectable transport company now has a dynamic website and Virgin Trains is no different. It is interesting to compare the update-able design of the website to its fixed print and film counterparts. Notice how although the main aim for the website is to inform the viewer, italicised type and slanted graphics still emphasise and advertise the speed of Virgin Trains, subliminally. It is important to take from the Virgin Trains branding that their marketing media almost act like sign posts, instructing the audience to either their website or train stations to then buy into the product they offer. This is done by using the same colours, images and typography on all of their branding media, so the audience does not misunderstand who is giving them the message.

Final Year Studio - Research - Virgin Trains TV Adverts

Image courtesy of www.rkcryr.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Most recently Virgin Trains' new identity has been moved to the small screen using both real life film parodying the 'Railway Children' and stylised animations. Again italicised typography is used but slanted so that it catches the audience's unexpecting eye as well creating the sense of speed and motion.

Final Year Studio - Research - Virgin Trains Billboard Posters

Image courtesy of www.rkcryr.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Above are some billboard posters again designed to emphasise the speed and efficiency of Virgin Trains.

Final Year Studio - Research - Virgin Trains Branding

Image courtesy of www.rkcryr.com, originally uploaded by Jimbo (Alan James Wellock).

Since my idea uses our knowledge of the associative bandwidth of an actual train station system, it will be important to create an identity that further enhances this association and allow comparisons to occur. In the United Kingdom Virgin Trains is seen as having one of the most contemporary transport company identities and their marketing and branding created by the agency Rainy Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R tries to replicate and bring back the 'romanticism' of train travel.

Above are some posters that have been used over the past couple of years on various campaigns. The typography used is especially vital to showing motion and speed, key factors in public transport advertising. The posters have a feel and identity that I would like to build on for my idea.

Final Year Studio - Development - 4 Key Servo Motor Angle Control

Above is the development of the code used in the Roboduck activity. The single servo is controlled by the user pressing either the right, left, up or down arrows on the keyboard. The Processing code checks for which key is pressed then sends out a value to the Arduino board. The Arduino board assigns this value then to the servo angle variable and outputs the instruction to the specified pin, the servo arm then moves to this angle. This is done many times a second as the Arduino board checks whether Processing is sending a value, and a key is being pressed. The next step is to us the ASCHII keychart to allow the user to use the whole keyboard to send values to the servo motor as well as creating an array that allows values to be sent to multiple servo motors. I have tried this just using two servo motors but the control seems very intermitent and unreliable. Ideally once this code is completed I will be able to transfer this program to one that then reads what letters are on screen, again sending out specific values to the servo motor for each charactor.