Meeting 2016 03 14

Participants

• Sofian Audry (Concordia, Computation Arts)
• Erin Gee (Concordia, Communication)
• Thomas Ouellet Fredericks (UQAM, Communication)
• Martin Marier (UdM, Music)
• Patrick St-Denis (UdM, Music)

Standard / API

• High-level layers are interesting yet they create dependencies for users
• Might be losing precision : eg. heart-rate peak needs to be detected using interrupt
• You need to find the right spot between too abstract and too specific: abstract data while staying open
• OSC is a good example of a successfull approach because it is very open and easy to understand: it allows you to go in the direction you want
• It's not just about signal processing: event detection is important (eg. Python GPIO for RaspberryPi)
• Many students in Patrick & Martin class come with some knowledge of dataflow (Pd) and their challenge is to move into "real" programming (Arduino). Hence the dataflow gives an environment for beginners.
• Arduino is either used as (1) an embedded device where we do everything or (2) a bridge to the physical world (so always connected to a computer)

Some ideas of function we might want:

• low-pass filter (moving average)
• normalization
• peak detection
• Schmidt (bonk?)

Protocol

• On laptop-based systems there are two standards that are used in media art: MIDI and OSC
• However on Arduino there is no equivalent: there are a bunch of protocols (it is messy)
• This is a challenge that we could address: a standard communication protocol for embedded devices
• Solutions
  • Martin & Patrick: SLIP
  • TOF: ASCII ("4-10")
  • Erin: simple ASCII
  • Sofian: Courier OSC-inspired protocol, switchable ASCII/binary
• Sofian's solution seemed the way to go because it allows for the two cases: efficiency/speed vs readability
• TOF mentioned however that MIDI might be an interesting venue rather than creating a "new" protocol because it it already a standard and it is interoperable with any MIDI system