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Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794 Gloria, Brendan, Hugh The Nechrometer

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Page 1: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

Digital Critical Toy ProjectENGL 794Gloria, Brendan, Hugh

The Nechrometer

Page 2: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

• The Nechrometer is a fitness package based on a hacked Nike+iPod kit.

• Its purpose will be to help persuade people to live more active lifestyles.

• Its primary motivational factor is not to track fitness progress, but rather to remind people of the eventual time of their natural deaths.

• Fear of death, rather than the desire to be healthy, is the ultimate call to action, and this simple method of reminding people of their mortality will drive people to increase their lifespan and put off the inevitable for as long as possible.

Page 3: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

The Nechrometer will rely on two systems:

1. Users will install a program on a home computer that calculates their future natural time of death.

This program takes into account various lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, average daily diet, and exercise habits as well as the user’s current age and gender, to calculate an estimated date of expiry.

This time is then uploaded to the Nechrometer via serial connection.

Page 4: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

2. Users will wear a Nechrometer (hacked version of the Nike+iPod sports kit) that will monitor activity levels.

The iPod will convert these levels and display a large countdown timer which counts down to the user’s estimated death date.

More time will be added to the clock if the user lives an active lifestyle

Time will be taken away if the user is inactive

Page 5: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

The Nike+iPod kit consists of three components:

• an iPod,

• a wireless receiver that plugs into the iPod

• a piezoelectric accelerometer/transmitter that’s mounted on the shoe.

• the device features the following:

•Pace monitor (minutes/km) •Calories burned/Hour •Distance travelled• (Blood pressure/ Heart rate monitor in future iterations)

Page 6: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

The Nechrometer will display a countdown timer, but will also offer occasional feedback based on performance fluctuations (compared to statistical data influencing length of life).

• accessible via the iPod’s “Extras” Menu

• top numbers define the number of Years, Months, and Days remaining, while the bottom numbers will describe the number of Hours, Days and Seconds remaining

• the numbers displayed will fluctuate depending on various factors that the user would input to initialize the program, and depending on the amount of real time activity/exercise the user engages in

Page 7: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

Technical info

• The iPod transmitter was designed to activate a piezoelectric sensor to monitor the shock of your foot hitting the ground with each step (a kind of pressure sensor).

• This transmission is picked up by the iPod receiver

• The transmitter broadcasts raw data in the form of pace, calories burned, and distance travelled

• University of Washington students intercepted this serial connection between this transmitter and receiver, and designed a device that allows them to track the wireless communications employed by this Nike+iPod kit.

Page 8: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

The Receiver Hack

• This is the USB to serial Nike+iPod adapter.

• This device allows you to connect an iPod receiver to your computer over USB.

• The user can then 'listen' for transmitter data using a Visual Basic program, or by connecting the adapter to an Arduino board or other microcontroller

Page 9: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

Assembling our Nechrometer

• Connected the TX and RX (transmit and receive) pins on the iPod serial adapter to the matching pins on the Arduino board. Also connect the 3.3 V and Ground pins on the adapter to their respective equivalents on the Arduino.

• Connected the Nike+ receiver to the serial end of the adapter.

• Installed Nike+ on iPod

• Put Nike+ transmitter in shoe

Page 10: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

Viewing Raw Data

• On the computer, run the Nike+ Serial Hack software (as administrator, if you are using Windows Vista).

• As of right now, we can only view raw data and upload it to the computer, but in the future, we should be able to analyze the workout performance data to generate appropriate feedback comments regarding your estimated date of expiry.

• If the proprietary software used by Nike+ is hacked, you may even be able to modify existing audio messages and layout of data on the iPod itself.

Page 11: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

The Arduino Version

• Built a simplified version of the Nechrometer

• Basic input/output framework

• Feedback transmitted via electrical disruptions from exposed wire (no sensors)

• Data received and interpreted with modified Arduino code based on a simple counter

Page 12: Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794

Questions

1.What are the foreseeable pros and cons of being constantly reminded of your mortality?

2.Do you agree that the awareness of mortality is not innate in humans – rather it is a result of our techno-social development?

3. Would you wear the Nechrometer?