This is my blog from my first semester at ITP. I have since switched to a Notion blog which you can view here.
Intro to Physical Comp:
Intro to Comp Media:
Week 4 → Midterm idea
I’ve been interested in an idea like this for awhile... I find the process of using a typical lamp horrible - you always have to either grope around blindly or stare right into the lightbulb to find the knob, and most lamps have no dimming control. Touch lamps obviously exist and are better, not perfect.
It’s not the most artistic or exciting direction, but I would love to design my dream lamp that has a tactile/manual method for dimming and a touch on/off switch. I think it would feel satisfying to brighten/dim a lamp by spinning the shade itself. I want the quality of light to feel completely customizable, without having to use those typical uncomfortable spiky switches.
I’m also interested in controlling the color of the light that way, but I’m not sure if that would be biting off more than I could chew.
Some questions:
- I’m picturing a much brighter light than anything we have experiemented with in class. What should I use and/or keep in mind if I want to pursue this direction?
- Would a rotary encoder be the right direction for this?