TV's Story - Interactive Art by Tuang

See detail at Tuang Studio

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Hey! This is my first instructables.com post ever ! :} And I've never explained how I created my work before as they all have many steps to do also the details to explain. For this post, I would like to talk only about the hardware inside my most well-know artworks right now, TV's Story, as the artwork has many parts to make and put together, using different skills.

I will talk about the interactive board which is inside the couch in which most of people always asking me. It is actually a super simply wood board with lots of holes to attach a switches. I use Micro-switch to interact with the program. It doesn't matter what micro-switch and what size either because it depends on your design of interaction. But I use a medium size micro-switch....and I can't remember the name code, sorry.

For the program I code from Adobe Flash, Action Script 3.

I will try my best to tell you what I have done briefly.

Thank for reading! :D

The easiest thing you can do to make an interaction from the hardware to the program is making a switch. I think it is easier than making a sensor in my opinion like when you make a switch turning on-off the light.

So what I use here is a USB keyboard circuit. the problem is you going to have some skill of welding the solder because it has super tiny thin spaces for you to place the each wires. I recommend you to watch this >video< so you can get the idea and we can move on.

This is how most of the console game Indy creators use.!

I suggested you to make a table of code and the numbers of which wires contact with the others can create which alphabet. You can find a AS code with the internet website. Google it.

Now we gonna make a board of switches and connection circuit. This is the hardest part for the hardware. (For the software, of cause, it is the programming part.)

1 choose the wood board that can fit with your couch and thick enough to cave along to place the wires in the

channel.

**** But remember if you gonna bring your couch to the leather cover shop that you have to cut all the cover things out so the real structure of your couch is may smaller than it look, I suggest you to do that before placing any wires and cut the wood board.

2.Make a holes that fit your Microswitches. Cave the line for placing the wires so they could have a place inside the board and you don't have to worry about the chaos of them.

At this point, you have to make a space of how many buttons you want to connect to the program and where are they on the couch.

***Note: In the photo, it was my first experiment so the Keyboard-ship was attached to the board but, for the better I suggest you to make an individual box of it separate from the board in case you have to fix it or what to change the code of buttons. When you make a separate box, you can use the 'connector' to hold all your wires and let it out of the board for the appropriate length for connecting to the box and hide it somewhere else.

you need to have the specific connector you can by from the IT shop.

the connector will have port to transfer monitor signal of the computer to AV channel.

Now, put some sponge sheets inside before cover the couch to test the buttons and the weight they could handle. Also connect everything to the program to see if it works.

I bring the couch and the board to the leather cover shop and explain what I do. They agree to make it happen. :} (which is so amazing they agree to do! they are so kind of. ) The problem now is that you have to find someone who agree to do this for you or you have to learn how to make it yourself. :(

The big part of making a 'main' hardware is finished, Hooray!