Tom Armitage » Blog

It’s autumn. What’s been going on since I last wrote?

Teaching at UAL-CCI

I wrapped up a term of teaching a single module at UAL’s Creative Computing Institute.

Sound and Image Processing is a module about using code to generate and manipulate images, video, and sound. The explanation I use in the first week is: we’re not learning how to operate Photoshop, we’re learning how to write Photoshop.

The course worked its way up the ladder of abstraction, starting with the representation of a single coloured pixel, through to how images are just arrays of pixels (and video, similarly, just a sequence of those arrays). We covered manipulating those arrays simply – with greyscale filtering – and then more procedural methods such as greyscale dithering and convolution filters. We could then apply this approach to sound, too, starting by building a sound wave, sample-by-sample, and then looking at higher-level manipulations of that sound wave to make instruments and effects. Finally, having already looked at raster graphics, we looked at maniuplating vector-graphics in real time to produce animation, particle systems, and behaviour, culminating in implenenting Craig Reynolds’ Boids and creature-like simulation.

This was quite demanding: it was my first time teaching this material, which meant that before I could teach it to anybody else, I had to teach it to myself in enough depth to be confident tackling questions beyond the core material, and to be able to explain and clarify those basics. Perhaps that’s a lack of confidence showing – a kind of perfectionism as a way of hedging against coming up blank – but as the term went on, I relaxed into it, and found a good balance between preparation, delivery, and the collaborative process of teaching and learning.

And, of course, it was almost all taught entirely remotely. The students did admirably given that awkward restriction – some of them may only have been coding for a single term prior – and they delivered a great range of work in their portfolios. I’ve said yes to teaching the course again next year; whilst I greatly enjoy my commercial work, teaching aligns strongly with my values, and it’s a rewarding way to spend a small amount of time each week.

Ilkley

The Ilkley revision B ‘brain’ board, with a Teensy 3.6 attached.

Ilkley has continued to run on for the spring and summer. Last I wrote, I’d just received the first Ilkley prototype board. Six months later, there have now been several more prototypes – three versions of the ‘brain’ board, and two of the upper control board. The second brain revision is the one we’re sticking with for now – the third was a misfire, and really, a reach beyond the needs of the project. By contrast, the control board was fine first time; the second version of was primarily about fitting the components in an enclosure better.

The firmware has been more stable, largely being fine out of the gate. The ongoing work was primarily about finesse, rather than wholesale replacement, so I’m pleased with that.

As I write, I’ve just packaged up five prototypes to send to Matt in New York, which wraps up the end of this phase of my work on the project. The device works end-to-end, and is ready to be played with by test users. I look forward to hearing about his results.

Wrekin

In the summer I began a new piece of work that we’ll call Wrekin, working with a very early-stage startup on building a functioning “experience prototype” to validate their product idea with real users.

This was very much a prototype in the mould described in Props and Prototypes. Some of the prototype had to be 100% working, as we wanted to evaluate certain ideas in a real implementation, to see if the technology was up to scratch, and if users liked it. One other key idea was, though core to the product, largely proven: a ‘known known’. Wwe could get away – for now – with a “stunt double” version of the idea. And then a few more pieces of the prototype were, whilst functioning, only for the experience test; they’d be thrown away in due course.

Over the course of a couple of 2-3 week phases, I built out a feasibility study, that then turned into a deployed prototype, and shipped that to the client for them to test. It’s been a fun project – some interesting boundaries of what you can do with realtime video and WebRTC – and I’ve continued to work with the client on planning future technology strategy, and, if all comes to plan, turning the experience prototype into an end-to-end one that demonstrates all pieces of the puzzle.

It’s also been a project where work on features and design concepts has directly informed future strategy. Not just thinking about what’s possible, or what is desirable, but also understanding the value of build-versus-buy for certain functionality, and for starting to explore the “what-ifs” – the unknown unknowns – that emerged as we work.

I’m continuing to advise the Wrekin team, and may be working with them a little more in the coming months.

Lowfell

Finally, Lowfell. this is another hardware project: a commission for a custom MIDI controller for an LA-based media composer, who works in film, games, and TV.

The controller itself has few features. A few people I’ve shown it to were a little underwhelmed! But the brief for the project was never about complexity.

What client wanted, really, was an axe – a “daily driver”. Something sturdy, beautiful, and not drowning in features: that just did what they need it. They were going to be looking at this thing every day, for eight or more hours a day. They didn’t need RGB lights or tons of features they weren’t going to use; just the things they did want, in an elegant and suitably-sized unit. It’s the same reason we spend a lot on a chair, or a monitor, or an expensive keyboard (or on good tools, or good shoes): you use them a lot, and it’s worth investing.

Also, they didn’t want just one: they wanted one for each setup in their studio space, making it easy to move between workstations and to keep going.

The project began slowly. We did lots of conversation just exploring the idea, and I sent some paper mockups as PDFs over email to give the client a feel for what the size of the unit would be. Once we were happy with the unit, I built a first version, with fully working electronics, and a prototype enclosure that used PCB substrate – coated fiberglass – for the panels, with the sides of the case produced on my 3D printer.

This was enough for us to evaluate functionality and features. I made sure it was trivial to update the firmware on the unit, so I could send over fixes as necessary. (In this case, because we’re using the UF2 bootloader, updating the firmware just requires holding a button on as the controller is connected; this mounts a disk on your computer desktop, to which a new firmware file can be dragged).

Whilst the client evaluated the project, I started work on final casings: using higher-quality printed nylon for the sides, and moving to bead-blasted anodized aluminium for the upper and lower panels. The result is weighty, minimal, and beautiful, and I’m looking forward to sharing more when the project is complete.

Wrekin was my main focus this summer. Ilkley and Lowfell wrapped around it quite well: the rhythm of hardware is bursty, with prototypes and design work alternating with the weeks of waiting for fabrication to come back to me with the things I can’t make myself.

What there’s not been a lot of, of course, is writing. It has fallen out of my process a little. Not deliberately; perhaps just as a byproduct of The Times, coupled with several products that were either challenging to share news on in progress, or in the case of ones with NDAs, impossible.

But: a decent six months. Up next is, I hope, shipping a final version of Lowfell, some more software development for Wrekin, and a potential small new web-based media project on the horizon. I’m on the lookout for future projects, though, and always enjoy catching up or meeting new people, so if you think you’ve got a project suited to the skills or processes I write about here, do drop me a line.