Cycle 1: Getting Wires Crossed

For my cycle 1, I decided to tackle a basic interactive element I want my cycle 3 to have, a stove. I started my Isadora patch with a top-down view of an electric stove, where I would connect red shapes to slowly fade in and out based on user interaction. I initially tested with a keyboard watcher, but knew I would eventually attach a Makey-Makey to my makeshift stovetop. I used four user actors as the “burners” and used gates to prevent them from being continually turned on and off. Below is a screenshot of one of the burner’s patches.

I also knew going into this process that I want my cycle 3 to be a house-like experience with odd elements thrown in to encourage interaction. I’ve always been interested in the idea of a “normal house but move it slightly to the left.” I’m still deciding if I’m connecting some sort of story to it yet or not, but for the moment I knew something had to happen if the user interacted with the stove a certain way. I made it so a pit would “open up” on the stove top if the user turned all the burners on within 2 seconds. I used the simultaneity actor within Isadora to achieve this.

Here’s a few pictures I took when I first connected the Makey-Makey to the patch. The performance in class was a great experience and I deeply appreciated the feedback others provided. I took note especially that the framing of having physical stove dials helped make the experience more interactive and special, so I hope to include more physical interaction in my next two cycles.