Week 9
Final project proposal
For the final Jim and I decided to keep working on our Midi Meditation project in order to finesse it further and hopefully be able to feature it in the 2017 winter show for people to interact with it more deeply then.
For the next stage we plan to further tweak the code to try having the Arduino send messages to a different software program like Ableton to have more flexibility with the sounds and effects, and to see if we can universalize the code so it works with various programs that are set up for live MIDI application (it's possible Omnisphere was too specific and not really ideal for using for an application like this). We also would like to add some kind of light element that will also echo the heartbeat, pulsing in and out with a fade similar to the pulse graph, which the participant can either focus on or not depending on whether or not they wish to have their eyes closed. It could also be used as an installation element to draw the participant into using the Midi Meditation. Even with eyes closed potentially they will still sense the light which could help with brain entrainment and focus (we will have to experiment with this element and see if it does in fact do that.) There could also possibly be more than one Midi Meditation, so that two people can meditate at the same time, but am not sure about that yet and need to discuss with Jim. I will be taking Intro to Fabrication in tandem with the 2nd part of this semester so I will be focusing on making a more final enclosure in that class with Jim's input-- he also knows about 3D printing so perhaps we will incorporate that if needed.
Also came across this (the "Muse" meditation headband) popping up in my ads on my computer-- of course someone has been reading my blog posts and planting them there! Just kidding. But also not...incidentally, it is actually helpful to see how others are implementing similar ideas.
Update on October 31st, 2017:
Jim noted that we will also be finessing the algorithm for the heart beat detector so that it works on most or ideally all people-- and also a better way to use the sensor, maybe attached in a glove, so that it stays put and also so that it requires next to no effort to use it the "correct" way (there will be only one way).