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Project-03 Audio Visualization

Week01_CONTEXT

In the "Audio Visualization" project, the method is IoT, which is "things" or objects embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies. It also includes data visualization by transferring the data to graphic visuals.

Impetus

When I listen to music, I wonder what it looks like in graphic animation. Besides that, I also notice that people can not hear the sound in some circumstances. However, it is an emergency for them to see a sound. So I want to transfer the sound to visualization to remind people.

General Concept

The general concept is to use High Sensitivity Sound Microphone Sensor to detect whether there is sound or not. If there is sound, it will transfer the related date to code and show it in p5.js animation.

Goals

This project aims to find a suitable sensor to help me detect sound. I also need to figure out how to connect the sensor on the breadboard and check if it can send the data by clicking on Particle.io. The essential goal is to match the sounds with the visual graphic on the screen.

StoryBord

Situation_1
When the parents are working in their room, it is hard for them to notice that their baby is crying; the audio visualization can be a perfect way to solve this issue.
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Situation_2
When a person is deaf, they can't notice any sound. It will be boring when they watch the movies that they can only see the pictures and subtitles. The audio visualization will make their experience much more exciting and enjoyable.


Week02_Translate Ideation into code

Connecting to Particle.io:
The operating principle of a Sound Microphone Sensor is very similar to a button. When it detects the sound, the power will be on, and it will print 0. This data will transfer to the animation. The particle system will visually look when it detects 0 from the sensor.
See the code
Transfer to code:
First, I use the code to get a date from Particle.io or my sensor:
serial.on('data', gotData);

If the sensor detects the voice, it will send the 0 to the particle system. The system will randomly generate 50 small particles, gradually die or disappear.
See the code
Particle System:
The first part is to initialize the position of x and y. It is randomized by windowWidth and Height. If it detects the 0 from the sensor, it will create 50 tiny particles and add more.
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However, the particle system will make a decision. If the particles hit the critical point, they will die or disappear.
See the code

Week03_Prototyping process

There are examples on a tutorial that teaches me how to connect the Sound Microphone Sensor with my Photon board, so the connecting process is successful. However, my sensor can not detect the sound until I realize that I need to use a small screwdriver to turn the rotary switch to see the voice. When it detects the sound, the green led light will flash, so I have to voice when I adjust it.

Final Project

Future development

Project 3 is a quick and straightforward experiment on audio visualization. In the future, I will make it looks more dynamic and exciting. It should detect the voice frequency, which will create the visualization in different shapes. This idea can be implemented into the music app to listen to the music while seeing the visual. However, it will help people notice the voice around them, which can also be a sound sensing lamp.