End of term 1: the comforts of home, and Merry Christmas!

After a successful term 1, I return home to my native Hampshire, where whenever we have snow, we have lots and lots, and much more! Adjusting to home after 4 months was quite a quick process, nonetheless I get to enjoy excellent chili con carnes, which unlike my version that I do in halls, my dad does them a lot better than mine. And also, on the subject of halls, there's a big difference: nice, lovely steamy foods are always welcome at home, whilst in halls, there's always the danger that it will trip the over-sensitive (but since been fixed) Gent 34000 series fire sounder/detectors that sound like some rather depressing two tones from a poorly-written sone and then have the wardens chase you for the money just for (unintentionally) setting them off, subsequently appealing and having that appeal fail, whilst the fridge there always smells like something's gone off (despite nothing actually going off, we stick to the best-before dates!), but at home, thanks to a bit of technology, it smells just like a brand new fridge. Also, there's tonnes of cookware at home, whilst back at halls, I have to stick to what I've got, but at the same time I can experiment with what I've got since we don't have a Lakeland Limited in Plymouth, save for a TJ's a TK Maxx too!

At least the yuletide is flowing nicely, whilst I yearn for the future ahead and of course, maintaining a successful first year at university. I do miss the friends I've met over the last 4 months, but of course there's always the interwebs, unlike 20 years ago it's letters-and-post or the telephonic devices, and also it's only going to be 3 weeks until I return to Plymouth, returning with me a completed essay, a plan for an animatic, a JavaScript game and what else I need to do as well over the holidays.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Website news: elnormo91.co.uk will be down due to an infection caused by unknown XSS attack

Due to a XSS attack that has been committed, my website will be down until the problem has been fixed and re-indexed by Google. On some browsers, you would have seen an alert that looked like this:

"Warning: Visiting this site may harm your computer

The website you are visiting appears to contain malware.
Malware is malicious software that may harm your computer or otherwise operate without your consent. Your computer can be infected just by browsing to a site with malware, without any further action on your part."

I have also been working on a new version of this website, which mentioned why there wasn't any more activity since it was first hosted (apart from a few adjustments to fix bugs). This new version will be the actual website once this problem has been fixed. Apologies for the inconvenience caused, I just don't know how someone managed to hack my website without me even knowing.

*XSS = Cross-Site Scripting (more information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-site_scripting)

EDIT: The website is now back up and running, and with a new version!

IDAT 101: Reflection and Evaluation of Installation

In my opinion, this term's project was an excellent example showing my example of planning and exploring many areas that I have never been introduced to before, even before university. This has also helped me prepare for when in case I do eventually do produce an actual installation, and possibly even when it comes to the placement year. The challenges this has brought to me and also my team-mates tested how we can (in theory) produce an amazing, immersive and fun installation in such small space (and the fact that the space can get even smaller at peak times, particularly on Fridays and weekends), whilst at the same time we can capitalise on the popularity of technology and the clubbing culture.

The idea of using sequencers, ambient lighting and addressable sensors (which in turn developed from the idea of using Processing and cameras to randomly generate content on a screen) in the installation caught my imagination the most, and that was when we then decided to incorporate these ideas into the project, and also do more research on these areas.

The success of our installation depends on many factors, most of which will involve complying with:

• The requirements of the client, 
• The demographic of the general public that is expected to interact with the installation, 
• And also the, limitations of space, technology and mostly important, safety.

For instance, the requirements of safety have been met by ganging cables with the correct tape and junction boxes, and by ballasting loose equipment onto the floor so then it will become difficult to knock them out of alignment, which would have otherwise compromised our installation. On the other hand, the requirements of the client and the demographic has been met by planning out our installation and using technologies that will mesmerise our audience, and also we decided to capitalise on the idea that the audience can create the music that they want to dance to, as well as allowing the rest of the audience to participate at the same time by dancing with the music, which in turn creates a computer-generated image behind the DJ booth and influences the lighting. Space requirements were also met, by planning the equipment around the given environment, and also bearing in mind the limited dimensions of certain nightclubs.

However, I also felt that there could be room for improvement, especially in terms of team work. After a while thinking about what our installation should be based on, and our environmental and contextual studies, we then went our separate ways to work on individual parts of the project, and then afterwards, we did not have many meet-ups apart from in regular Thursday sessions. We could have been a bit more pro-active in terms of group work and also we could have looked further into working examples. I also felt that a bit more research prior to the project could have been done, but when we went off to do the blogging, I then did more research about the technologies that are to be used inside the installation, mostly focusing on a particular core technology that was researched as part of an assignment for IDAT106. And if it were possible, in resources and time, we could have practically put the installation idea into actual practice.

But nonetheless, I think that our project has been successful, and with the help of team-mates, our ideas have come full circle and were fully thought out very well from the start. Also, we have met all the requirements that our installation demanded, which is an added bonus considering that had we not met them, our installation would not have been fit for purpose, and last-minute adjustments would have been required, which would in turn delay our installation, as well as perceived anticipation by both the client and the audience. The final result turned out very well, and in the future, I could even incorporate these ideas into something that could even equal a huge profit, both to myself and the hypothetical company. Overall, I have enjoyed working on the project and putting all those ideas into the final result, which then resulted in something very interesting and at the same time, captivating to the audience, the client and the developer.

IDAT 101: Alouette, déployer la piste de danse (Deployment of the dance floor project and worst-case scenarios)

When deploying the equipment for the installation, there has to be consideration as to what the environment contains, and how the equipment is to be installed. Because in our instance, our environment is going to be very busy, especially at the peak times (typically around 22:00-02:00), which is why the equipment has to be placed in a way that will not compromise the connections of our sensors, and power cables. Also, the equipment must last at least 5 hours because in case of failures, the installation has to then be rectified, which can cause problems, especially when the equipment is in mid-usage.

In the diagram below, the floor sensors are placed underneath the dance floor using tripods with the cables being fed to a small trap door that leads to the laptop computer and controllers. The example dance floor is also placed carefully near to the emergency exit, in case of emergencies:

The plan of action for the dance floor is as follows:

• Perform research on the environment, context, requirements (according to needs, demands and instinct based on specification from the client, the customer and other needs in terms of environment that the installation is to be placed at, and health-and-safety matters that can arise owing to wires, placement of sensors, cameras and other miscellaneous equipment required for the installation) and possible outcome.
• Obtain the necessary cables and main equipment.
• Plan out setup, where the equipment is to be placed and the times in which the installation session is to start.
• Code/set up Processing (for the cameras and LCD display behind DJ booth and Arduino (for floor sensors), then set up and test controllers for sound and video.
• Set up Ableton Live and MIDI for sequencers, program in samples.
• Pre-assemble floor sensors and then store, ready for transportation
• Have at least 3 days notice before performance to test setup and at least a month before performance to iron out bugs and other faults.
• Before departure to venue, ensure equipment is secure and packed in a way that the equipment will not get damaged en-route.
• Ideally, arrive before the club even opens (with direction from management) and do pre-run tests to ensure that last-minute problems are ironed-out and eliminated.

However, there can be other issues in addition to the aforementioned generic failure. These are also listed as follows:

• Software bugs and sudden errors in operating system can result in non-operation of equipment.
• Missing essential cables and/or tape to cover cables to prevent hazards.
• Samples can be corrupted, resulting in sound problems or unusual anomalies in samples.
• Sensors can be influenced wrongly by many environmental factors, such as a magnetic field interference, spilt drinks (which can also cause damage to equipment if not placed properly) and being near toilets with turbojet hand dryers.
• Settings in the sequencers and the software can be forgotten, thus requiring a manual setup, which can delay the intended start time.
• And also, transportation factors, including traffic, security of equipment and accidents.

IDAT 101: Contextual and Environmental study

To study what we will be expecting in the installation, we branched off to various nightclubs and sizeable bars in and around the city of Plymouth to check out the size, dimensions, suitability and also to measure what sort of audience we are going to target our installation at. Presuming that the sort of crowd will be young (at least of legal drinking age and above, but particularly also, students), we then had an idea about what we will be dealing with in terms of popularity, as well as what sort of requirements we will have to meet.

Because many young people, especially students, will be into latest, immersive and intriguing technologies, our dance floor installation will be without a doubt suitable for the audience. The space in which we are to place the installation at will be very crowded, but nonetheless it will also suit our specification very well, because not only is our installation designed to be fun and immersive, it is also designed to be influenced by the crowd, so basically, it makes them the 'DJ' because the installation is controlled by the crowd themselves, especially when it comes to making beats, basslines, rhythm and sound with special visual effects thrown in at the same time. At the same time, we took various photos (albeit on a low-quality built-in phone camera, but still captures the idea as many will probably have benign phone cameras, although many are anyways switching to better models and some even bring proper compact digital cameras with them) whilst I did a sound sample in a bar to highlight how busy our environment will be (link will be at the bottom).

However, the nightclub environment isn't without space issues. Because the environment will obviously be busy, placement of equipment and wiring will have to be carefully thought out before any implementation can occur, as well as researching the venue. But this should not really be the issue, especially in a large-scale nightclub, because this is what we are targeting this installation at, but we also have to address health-and-safety concerns at the same time, as per law and instinct.

In this example of a generic nightclub, this floor plan gives an impression of how our installation will be laid out in this environment. Although it really depends on how the nightclub dance floor is laid out, and also the size of the room as well, this is a typical representation of a generic nightclub environment that will accommodate all the needs and requirements of the specification. In this floor plan, the motion detectors are placed underneath the floor, with the addressable sensors and cameras placed strategically in order to provide a better triangulation of the dance floor in order to optimise the ambient lighting and randomly-generated images, which builds up the atmosphere of the environment, in addition to inputs generated by the sequencers, which are used by the general public to create his/her/their own music to dance to.

Link to group research: https://tulip.plymouth.ac.uk/Module/IDAT101/Wiki/FunkyTown.aspx

Link to sound recording: http://bit.ly/idat101recording 

IDAT 101: Specification and requirements for our nightclub installation

For our installation, the specification and requirements for our installation is as follows:


Specification:

• KAOSS PAD and/or a Tenori-on sequencer
• Ambient lighting technology with DMX512 control
• Weight sensors for lighting/effects, to be placed under floor if environment permits, otherwise substitute addressable sensors, strategically placed by each side of the installation, or mount on ceiling rack
• Addressable sensors to supplement weight sensors
• A laptop computer (preferably a MacBook Pro, although a Windows laptop can also be used) with suitable software
• Sound interface/mixer to link laptop to speaker system/sequencers
• Suitable wiring for equipment
• An ideal nightclub environment, rightly sized to accommodate large amounts of people in case the installation becomes very popular

Requirements:

Mounting/protection of equipment:

• Mount cameras and projector on lighting equipment railings and/or ceiling
• Embed floor sensors underneath dance floor if possible, otherwise anchor them on the floor and place them in inconspicuous locations
• Place KAOSS Pad, Tenori-on and/or iPad on mounts by DJ booth, laptop to face away from public in order to ensure that the software is not interrupted during installation
• Also, place lighting control equipment towards the laptop, away from the public interfaces
• Cable protection
• Rubber cable tidying strips to be used for cables used in floor sensors
• Cable tidies for equipment leading to central interfaces controlled by laptop and/or lighting interfaces

Contingency plan in case of faults/problem/emergencies:

•  Toolkit to repair equipment
• Duct tape, soldering iron and solder
• Spare cables
• Redundant equipment (multiples of the same equipment)
• Spare ambient lighting floor tiles
• Spare bulbs/LEDS
• Another laptop in case of software fault
•  Fire extinguisher
•  Check presence of CO2 fire extinguisher in premises, failing that, provide one with equipment
•  Location of emergency exits
•  Check nearest location of emergency exit
• Check for obstructions

Transportation:

• If taking own car/van, check route for traffic delays/roadworks/accidents
• If taking public transport, check timetables and live information for delays/strikes

Source of specification and requirements: from own document and group postings on the internal IDAT101 Wiki