New blog address (www.guylevans.co.uk/blog)

This blog has now moved to www.guylevans.co.uk/blog (wordpress.org) April 3rd 2010

To subscribe to my new blog click here (RSS FEED)

Thank you

Soundmap Test

I’ve been making progress with my  Soundmap (using Google Map API). I’ve got a test version hosted on my webspace, each map must be hosted on your webspace (my API key is linked to my ‘hosted page‘).

Here is a quick test showing a marker linked to a field recording, www.guylevans.co.uk/map

It still needs a lot of work, but eventually i hope to embed a quicktime player in the marker ‘link’.

Also, I’m currently moving my wordpress.com blog to ‘wordpress.org’.

Still needs a lot of work, need to update layout, plugins etc…. but i am looking forward to testing out more widgets!!  Will update soon.

Once again here is the link to my website ‘intro’ page, i will keep this on the root domain until the rest of my site goes live….     www.guylevans.co.uk

Soundmapping

Just found a very great website regarding sound-mapping using Google Maps API.

Check out http://www.soundseeker.org/.

“Sound-seeker is a part of the NYSoundmap project of The New York Society for Acoustic Ecology (NYSAE), a New York metropolitan chapter of the American Society for Acoustic Ecology, an organization dedicated to exploring the role of sound in natural habitats and human societies, and promoting public dialog concerning the identification, preservation, and restoration of natural and cultural sound environments”. (http://www.soundseeker.org/)
Also found this great list of API’s (twitter, google maps etc.) Huge resource, definitely worth checking out.

http://www.programmableweb.com

And a list of API Mashups –LINK

Here are a few examples

http://www.liveplasma.com/

http://wheelof.com/stars/

Tweet Atlas

http://audiomap.tuneglue.net/

http://www.treetheater.org/nysoundwalk/and http://www.audiobus.org/

Web Design (Update)

I’ve been making some progress with my website, trying to figure out XML code to embed SWF and HTML into my Flash site, and its coming on ok. I’ve also been adding bits of content to my webspace testing things out.

I’ve put a Flash intro on my main page www.guylevans.co.uk , just until my main site is ready to go live.

I’m hoping to embed a google map on my site, and using markers, hope to build a (sound) map of my environment, mapping some of the locations of my Field Recordings.

I’ve added the map to one of my pages using my Google Map (API code),  although the site is not yet live.I’m just slowly figuring out how to add markers etc.. more XML code to figure out. Will update again soon!

Earth Hour (8:30 – 9:30pm)

Quick post regarding Earth Hour 2010 (Saturday 27th March 2010).

Might be worth looking at this feed from Pachube, showing the National Grid UK energy usage:

http://www.pachube.com/feeds/1228

I will post a screenshots after the event, it will be interesting to see the results.

(Update shown below)

Pachube input feed (working)

Below is a screenshot showing my working ‘Pachube input feed’, displaying data from an infra-red sensor (detecting movement) and also a light sensitive resistor (detecting light changes).

I connected the sensors to my arduino, then uploaded the standard-firmata library to the arduino, then ran processing to update the values to pachube every 10 seconds.

Below is a screenshot of the working feed. (click the image for larger view)

AR Business Card (by James Alliban)

I just read an interesting article on the Guardian website, exploring augmented reality. (LINK)

Below is a video by James Alliban, showing his ‘augmented reality’ business card.

_____________________________________________________________________________

And another similar example below, designed by: http://www.visualcard.me/

Arduinome: An Arduino-Based Monome Clone

I’ve spent ‘quite a few hours’ this weekend, looking into the possibility of building an arduinome (monome clone) LINK. (similar to the one shown in the video above)

There’s a huge amount of resources available, forums, part lists etc, and it’s pretty much open source. I’ve been weighing up the pros and cons, and it seems do-able (depending on my budgeting skills). You can either buy all the parts needed (http://flipmu.com/work/arduinome/hardware/) or you can download the PCB board designs to make the arduino shield (eagle files) and send them to a PCB manufacturer, although after reading on many forums, its best to ‘group buy‘ the parts, by finding others who are interested in buying them.

I’ve seen the original monome priced at +$1000 on ebay, so it makes sense to build your own for approximately £180 (or cheaper).

Anyway, here are a few of the links i’ve found regarding building one from scratch:

http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=tech:kits:kit_assembly
http://starfiretech.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/my-arduinome-128-is-finished/
http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=howto
http://flipmu.com/work/arduinome/
http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=dev:max:mlr-tutorial
http://jkriss.github.com/monomic/#examples
http://post.monome.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=6373&page=1#Item_0

For a cheaper alternative to the monome, Bliptronic has created a similar device, (looks pretty cool).

Working Pachube output feed (external/global)

As mentioned previously, i’ve managed to input data from various Pachube feeds (www.pachube.com) so my arduino can use the data to light an L.E.D, play a sound etc.

It took me a little while to figure out how to get it all set up, as the example ‘sketch’ i was using was configured for an arduino  bluetooth shield, and so the baud rate was incorrect. I changed the baudrate to the correct settings for my arduino and it was then, that i had my ‘Eureka moment!!’

Since then, i’ve been looking into understanding processing a bit more, its amazing software, (is there anything it ‘cant’ do?).

I’ve also been looking at various Max/Msp patches, which use the serial input from the Arduino. (Maxuino for instance), and have used the pachube feeds to change the frequency of a synth, so if someone turns a light on in San Francisco (for example), the synth connected to my Arduino will respond accordingly. (link to pachube feed, scroll down to feed 2 ‘ambient light’)

Anyway…below is a screenshot of my Aruino receiving data from an external feed. Notice the value on my Arduino (shown in the Processing window) corresponds to the value of the live feed (both circled in red)

(Click image below for a larger view)

Trunk Turntable (designed by David Ellis)

‘Trunk Turntable’ (Designed by David Ellis).

For further info click here (LINK)