CRITICAL INTERFACE
Partner: Peter Zhang
2023 | 01/26 - 02/09
Introduction
The interface we were assigned is light.
After some discussion with my partner, the constraint we want to pick is material. Both of us have an architecture background and we wanted to use concrete, a rare material people would think of when talking about phones.
In order to mass produce phones, massive mining is necessary. Rare earth elements like yttrium and europium are crucial to your iPhone's function — they're used in the phone's battery, as well as to help give the display screen color and make the phone vibrate when you get a text, among other uses (source: insider). Our initial idea is to make this project less about interaction but more about sending its audiences a message — how our phones are made.
During the mining process, the rock is drilled and blasted, then moved to the surface by truck, belt conveyor, or elevator. Once at the surface, the material is sent to a mill to separate the ore from the waste rock (source: usgs). The form of the concrete piece will be the form of a piece of rock, ideally. We plan to use the optical fiber to guide the light through concrete, and the optical fiber acts as the shiny minerals in the rock. The light source will be the flashlight of the phone.
The model will be less than 1’ x 1’ x 1’. Further discussion was be made after the class of week 02.
From the research and discussion from week 01, we learned that yttrium is one of the most critical materials we need to make the screen of our phones. Screen, as the direct medium that we receive information from a phone, plays an extremely important role. We see this project as a piece that makes us think of the cycle of a phone — from the mining of yttrium, to the light from the screen, and then finally back to the earth.
Process
We dug from a piece of foam and inserted optical fiber in it, then rockite is poured to create the rock-like piece. The foam on the rockite was later partially melted by acetone to bring it a more natural representation. Two layers of spray paint in metallic gray and matte black were applied respectively, in order to imitate the raw yttrium form mining. The optical fibers gather in the bottom of the piece, where also resides a caved-in space for the phone. The phone, which runs a p5.js sketch, acts as the light source of the piece.
figure 1 - foam digging
figure 2 - rockite and mixing bucket
figure 3 - inserting optical fiber
figure 4 - formwork is ready
Presentation
The optical fibers transfer the light from the bottom of the piece when the phone is placed. Some randomly moving bouncing balls are placed on the p5.js canvas in order to create some dynamic light effects which are being guided by the optical fibers to the surface of the piece.
figure 5 - presentation
figure 6 - detail
figure 7 - detail
figure 8 - detail
video 1
video 2