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