TOUCH THE LIGHT
Physical Interaction Exploration
It was a self-initiated project which I start with the motivation of learning more about physical computing, seeing how it would be to create both software and hardware which works together, and exploring what interaction with a machine/device could be beyond pushing buttons, touching screens, or waving to proximity sensors. My initial ambition was to create a responsive fabric material woven out of conductive rubber cord, a flexible material changes resistance when stretched. So everything would be more honest, and we would be interacting with the material itself. But that didn’t happen because I couldn’t get the material to work stable enough. So it ended up being waving to a proximity sensor again, but it was fun trying:D
Evrim Şahin, my beloved physical computing instructor from bachelors, was mentoring and helping me figure out things along the way.
2015 | Self Initiated | 8 weeks on free time
Designboom LED Life, Finalist
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/singlecolor.gif)
Each surface corresponding to one of the red, green and blue channels
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/mixingcolor.gif)
Mixing up and creating different hues for the light
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Untitled-26-uai-258x92.jpg)
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/1_rgbp-1-uai-258x155.jpg)
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2_rgbp-uai-258x155.jpg)
It was a lot of trial and error in the process. Especially with the conductive rubber cord that I was planning to create a woven fabric surface. Although it didn’t work out for this project, it is a cool material check it out here if you are interested. I was also looking for a easy to use/ beginners tool to plan the circuit. Frizting is pretty nice for that.
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/components219-scaled-uai-258x110.jpg)
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cover-uai-258x118.jpg)
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_2359-scaled-uai-258x193.jpg)
Conductive rubber trials
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IMG_2384-scaled-uai-258x172.jpg)
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_0080-e1519750851866-scaled-uai-258x193.jpg)
Starting small with the circuit
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/frit_2_regulator_bb-scaled-uai-258x193.jpg)
Some planning with Fritzing
![](https://www.ahsengulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_2367-scaled-uai-258x193.jpg)
Freshly homemade switch