Here are the final documentation videos for my projects for Major Studio:Computation in the Parsons MFA Design and Technology program. The first two have been posted before in different videos, the third is new. Enjoy!

Speak to Me//Breathe: Documentation from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

BeatBoxxx 1.0: Documentation from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

BeatBoxxx 2.0 Documentation from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

Here is a project using Arduino-generated sound.

Basically I wanted to combine an old school/do it yourself 80’s nerd feeling with the old-school/do it yourself 80’s break dancing/hip hop feel. I also wanted to create something that could be sold as a kit for a very reasonable price and would allow people to create their own custom beat boxes that would be uniquely theirs. I also see opportunity for releasing a line of artist-based boxes, either in somewhat limited quantities or as one-off truly custom units that could be sold for charity.

Beat Boxx is an interactive beat creator and recorder that allows users to lay down digital loops of blips and beeps or perform them live. Through the use of gesture based beat selection, users can choose to either perform live or record a sample and endlessly loop it. Simple and affordable, Beat Boxx is available as both a pre-made ready to go unit and as a user buildable/customizable kit.

Beat Boxxx! from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

Here’s a simple example using IR sensors with some LEDs to show the distance detected.

IR Sensor with LEDs from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

Here is my final prototype for my LED Time Based project. I totally reworked my project after a lot of user testing, and built everything from the ground up. I spent a lot of time doing the woodwork/templates, and the code as well.

Speak to Me/Breathe is a project that shows communication over time by displaying my incoming email messages in Braille format on a large LED driven interface. The project is both an exploration of Braille as a visual 6-bit binary form of communication vs its normal tactile form, as well as a commentary on information security and encryption. Now that everything in the world is connected through the internet, is any of our data completely secure? By displaying my emails in an encrypted form, they are readily available for anyone to read if they put in the effort to learn and use visual braille. For the most part my information is secure because this is entirely too much work for a lot of people, but those who are determined enough will ultimately be able to read my mail despite the encryption.

Speak to Me/Breathe: Part 1 from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

Speak to Me/Breathe: Part 2 from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

Here is a recent example I made for a student-led lecture in computation class. The topics I had to present were RGB LEDs and Switch/Case logic. To demonstrate this, I created an Arduino sketch that takes input from 3 push buttons and counts how many are pressed. Based on this input it changes the RGB LED to either red, blue, or green. I also learned a lot about button input with microcontrollers while creating this simple example. I have previously only worked with switches from a basic electronic standpoint and not as an input. I quickly discovered the need for pull-up or pull-down resistors on each button in order to get clear and accurate readings.

Switch/Case with RGB LEDs from Steve Varga on Vimeo.

First simple experiment programming Arduino directly rather than through Firmata/openFrameworks. Cycling through an array of LEDs in a row.

LED Sequence through Arduino from Steve Varga on Vimeo.