Physical computing involves interactive systems that can sense and respond to the world around them. While this definition is broad enough to encompass systems such as smart automotive traffic
control systems or factory
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
processes, it is not commonly used to describe them. In a broader sense, physical computing is a creative framework for understanding human beings' relationship to the
digital world. In practical use, the term most often describes handmade art, design or
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
hobby projects that use
sensors and
microcontrollers to translate analog input to a
software system, and/or control
electro-mechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...
devices such as
motor
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...
s,
servo
Servo may refer to:
Mechanisms
* Servomechanism, or servo, a device used to provide control of a desired operation through the use of feedback
** AI servo, an autofocus mode
** Electrohydraulic servo valve, an electrically operated valve that c ...
s,
lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...
or other hardware.
Physical computing intersects the range of activities often referred to in academia and industry as electrical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, computer science, and especially
embedded development.
Examples
Physical computing is used in a wide variety of domains and applications.
Education
The advantage of physicality in education and playfulness has been reflected in diverse informal learning environments. The
Exploratorium, a pioneer in
inquiry based learning, developed some of the earliest interactive exhibitry involving computers, and continues to include more and more examples of physical computing and
tangible interfaces as associated technologies progress.
Art
In the art world, projects that implement physical computing include the work of
Scott Snibbe
Scott Snibbe (born 1969 in New York City) is an interactive media artist, entrepreneur, and meditation instructor who is currently the host of A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment meditation podcast. He has collaborated with other artists and musici ...
,
Daniel Rozin,
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer,
Jonah Brucker-Cohen, and
Camille Utterback.
Product design
Physical computing practices also exist in the product and interaction design sphere, where hand-built
embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' ...
s are sometimes used to rapidly prototype new digital product concepts in a cost-efficient way. Firms such as
IDEO
IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, enviro ...
and
Teague are known to approach
product design in this way.
Commercial applications
Commercial implementations range from consumer devices such as the Sony
Eyetoy
The EyeToy is a color webcam for use with the PlayStation 2. Supported games use computer vision and gesture recognition to process images taken by the EyeToy. This allows players to interact with the games using motion, color detection, and a ...
or games such as
Dance Dance Revolution
(''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance ...
to more esoteric and pragmatic uses including
machine vision
Machine vision (MV) is the technology and methods used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis for such applications as automatic inspection, process control, and robot guidance, usually in industry. Machine vision refers to ...
utilized in the automation of quality inspection along a factory
assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in se ...
.
Exergaming
Fitness game, exergame, and gamercise (portmanteaus of "exercise" and "game") are terms used for video games that are also a form of exercise. Fitness games rely on technology that tracks body movement or reaction. The genre has been used to chall ...
, such as Nintendo's ''
Wii Fit
is an exergaming video game designed by Nintendo's Hiroshi Matsunaga for the Wii home video game console, featuring a variety of yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance mini-games for use with the Wii Balance Board peripheral. Matsunag ...
,'' can be considered a form of physical computing. Other implementations of physical computing include
voice recognition, which senses and interprets sound waves via microphones or other soundwave sensing devices, and
computer vision, which applies algorithms to a rich stream of
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
data typically sensed by some form of camera.
Haptic interfaces are also an example of physical computing, though in this case the computer is ''generating'' the physical stimulus as opposed to ''sensing'' it. Both
motion capture and
gesture recognition are fields that rely on computer vision to work their magic.
Scientific applications
Physical computing can also describe the fabrication and use of custom sensors or collectors for scientific experiments, though the term is rarely used to describe them as such. An example of physical computing modeling is the ''
Illustris project'', which attempts to precisely simulate the
evolution of the universe from the
Big Bang to the present day,
13.8 billion years later.
Methods
Prototyping plays an important role in Physical computing. Tools like the
Wiring
Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of cabling and associated devices such as switches, distribution boards, sockets, and light fittings in a structure.
Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and installation. Allowable ...
,
Arduino
Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed under ...
and
Fritzing as well as
I-CubeX
I-CubeX comprises a system of sensors, actuators and interfaces that are configured by a personal computer. Using MIDI,
Bluetooth or the Universal Serial Bus (USB) as the basis for all communication, the complexity is managed behind a variety of so ...
help designers and artists to quickly prototype their interactive concepts.
Further reading
*
References
External links
Arduino a highly popular open source physical computing platform
Raspberry Pi complete computer with GPIO's to interact with the world, huge community, many tutorials available. Many Linux distros available as well as Windows IoT and OS-less unikernel RTL's such as Ultibo Core.
[{{cite web , title=Ultibo Core , url=https://ultibo.org/ , website=Ultibo.org]
BeagleBone a complete Linux computer with GPIO's, but a little less flexible
FoxBoard (and others) yet another Linux computer with GPIO, but with little information
*Arieh Robotics Project Junior]. A
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
based Physical Computing PC built using
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio (Microsoft RDS, MRDS) is a discontinued Windows-based environment for robot control and simulation that was aimed at academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers and handled a wide variety of robot hardware. I ...
.
BluePD BlueSense a physical computing platform by Blue Melon. This platform is visually programmable using the popular (open source) Pure Data system.
features images and video of Daniel Rozin's interactive installations and sculptures.
Dwengo a
PIC microcontroller
PIC (usually pronounced as ''"pick"'') is a family of microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650"PICmicro Family Tree", PIC16F Seminar Presentation originally developed by General Instrument's Microelectronics ...
based computing platform that comes with a
Breadboard for easy prototyping.
EmbeddedLab A research lab situated within the Department of Computer Aided Architecture Design a
ETH Zürich.
Fritzing- from prototype to product: a software, which supports designers and artists to take the step from physical prototyping to actual product.
another popular choice that allows building physical systems with PCs and traditional languages (C, Basic, Java, etc.) or standalone using a point and click development tool.
Physical ComputingInteractive Telecommunications Program New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
Physical Computingby Dan O'Sullivan
Physical Computing Tom Igoe's collection of resources, examples, and lecture notes for the physical computing courses at ITP.
Physical Computing A path into electronics using an approach of “learning by making”, introducing electronic prototyping in a playful, non-technical way. (Yaniv Steiner, IDII)
Theremino an open source modular system for interfacing transducers (sensors and actuators) via USB to PC, notebooks, netbooks, tablets and cellphones.
Applications of computer vision
User interfaces
Design
Digital art
Virtual reality
Computer systems