Prototyping Wearables -- Station 1: MaKey MaKey

Part of my 2-hour workshop "Prototyping New Wearable Experiences with Soft Electronics and Arduinos" at Wearables DevCon 2014 (wearablesdevcon.com).

Transcript

1. TWITTER @PearlChen GOOGLE+ klab.ca/+ P E A R L C H E N M a Ke yM a Ke y P R OT OT Y P I N G W E A R A B L E S — S TAT I O N 1
2. W h a t i s a M a Ke y M a ke y? 3 0 S E C O N D I N T R O • “An invention kit for the 21st century.” • Turns everyday objects into touch pads. Make + Key = MaKey MaKey • Created by Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum at MIT Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten group in 2011. • Aimed at artists, kids, educators, engineers, designers, inventors, makers... everyone. • ~$50 for starter kit (board, clips, USB cable) Image credit: makeymakey.com If you’re looking for technical specs, scroll down to the “Seriously, I Am a Geek, Tell Me All the Krazy Tech Stuff” section of the makeymakey.com homepage.
3. W h a t i s a M a Ke y M a ke y? 2 M I N U T E I N T R O Kickstarter campaign video: http://vimeo.com/60307041
4. Ho w t o u s e a M a Ke y M a ke y? G E T T I N G S TA R T E D, O V E R V I E W 1. Connect a computer to the MaKey MaKey via USB. 2. Connect wires and/or alligator clips to the MaKey MaKey. 3. Touch objects (anything conductive) with the alligator clips. Successful electrical connections are mapped to keyboard commands. 
 e.g. Up/down/left/right arrows, return key, space bar, letters (A, S, D), numbers (1, 2, 3), etc. Image credit: makeymakey.com
5. C o n n e c t c o m p u t e r G E T T I N G S TA R T E D, S T E P 1 1. Plug the MaKey MaKey into your laptop using the Mini-B USB cable. 2. Dismiss any popups for drivers or keyboard setup. 
 The MaKey MaKey doesn’t need any drivers for regular usage. (It does if you want to re- flash firmware on it though.) 3. Open up a text editor 
 (e.g. Notepad, TextEdit) ! Image credit: makeymakey.com/howto.php
6. C o n n e c t a l l i g a t o r c l i p s G E T T I N G S TA R T E D, S T E P 2 1. Connect alligator clip #1 to “Earth”. Image credit: makeymakey.com/howto.php 2. Connect alligator clip #2 to “Space”.
7. To u c h o b j e c t s G E T T I N G S TA R T E D, S T E P 3 4. Use free ends of alligator clip #1 and #2 like discovery probes…
 What will trigger the keyboard? Image credit: makeymakey.com/howto.php Goal: You’re trying to “complete a circuit”. Imagine an electron originating from “Space” on the MaKey MaKey. It needs to get to “Earth” before anything can happen. If there’s a gap or a roadblock, the electron can’t get to “Earth”. The electron will try to travel through anything conductive in it’s quest to get to “Earth”.
8. W h a t w o r k s w i t h i t ? G E T T I N G S TA R T E D, S T E P 3 • non-distilled water • humans and animals • plants and fruit • Play-Doh • wires and alligator clips • copper tape • tin foil • pencil graphite • paper clips Almost anything that contains metal or moisture is conductive: Note: You can chain any of these objects together.
 e.g. Two people hold the open ends of the alligator clips and joust with a metal stick.
9. W h a t d o e s n’ t w o r k ? G E T T I N G S TA R T E D, S T E P 3 • rubber gloves • wool mitts • felt swatches • plastic • wood • paper Sometimes you need a layer of insulation. These don’t conduct electricity: Note: If any of these are damp, the water will conduct electricity.
 So avoid humidity, sweat, and general wet things.
10. R a p i d P ro t o t y p i n g U S I N G T H E M A K E Y M A K E Y F O R : • Quickly augment software that is already written to accept keyboard commands. • Focus on software programming first (visual UX, audio design, networking APIs, etc) instead of hardware. • Involve your entire team with prototyping; no programming knowledge required. • Low cost way to experiment with new physical interactions. • Opens your eyes to look harder at everyday objects and user experiences.
11. We a r a b l e p ro j e c t s R E S O U R C E S Image credit: makeymakey.com
12. Ti l t s h i r t + No t Pa c M a n W E A R A B L E P R O J E C T S Not PacMan Shirt by Dan Epstein Not PacMan by Stab Yourself
 stabyourself.net/notpacman
13. B e a t b a l l s W E A R A B L E P R O J E C T S Beat Balls by Mathieu
 makeymakey.com/guides/balls.php
14. Fo u r-H a n d e d S e q u e n c e r W E A R A B L E P R O J E C T S Wearable Pokey Slappy Makey Four-Handed Sequencer by Brent Dixon
 vimeo.com/81055224
15. E x p l o r i n g f u r t h e r R E S O U R C E S Image credit: makeymakey.com
16. G o w i r e l e s s E X P LO R I N G F U R T H E R MaKey MaKey can be connected to a computer via a Bluetooth adapter. Bluetooth and LiPo Add-On for Makey Makey
 ~$45, sparkfun.com/products/11378
17. G o m o b i l e E X P LO R I N G F U R T H E R • OTG adapter for supported Android devices
 ~Under $10, amazon.com • USB adapter from Apple Camera Connection Kit for iPhone/iPad
 See makeymakey.com/forums/index.php?topic=5743.0 for required firmware tweaks.
 ~$30, store.apple.com Connect MaKey MaKey to phones or tablets!
18. S e n d m o u s e i n p u t E X P LO R I N G F U R T H E R Connect analog sensors to the female headers on the back using male-to-male (or male-to-female) jumper wires. Image credit: learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/makey-makey-quickstart-guide/what-is-the-makey-makey
19. “A r d u i n o m o d e ” E X P LO R I N G F U R T H E R You can flash new firmware when you need to: • update the firmware to the latest (see github.com/sparkfun/MaKeyMaKey) • map a different set of keys (edit settings.h file)
 (Note: works on Mac but may not work on Windows.) • add new functionality* (edit makey_makey.ino Arduino sketch) To do this: • Use the Arduino IDE (arduino.cc) to write the firmware • Follow the “Installing the Arduino Addon” guide
 https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/makey-makey-advanced-guide/installing-the-arduino-addon * Depending on what you’re doing, you might need to cut the trace on the back of the board to disconnect the large pull-up resistors.
20. D o u b l e u p E X P LO R I N G F U R T H E R You can use more than one MaKey MaKey with a single computer. Image credit: kickstarter.com/projects/joylabs/makey-makey-an-invention-kit-for-everyone/posts/262027
21. TWITTER @PearlChen GOOGLE+ klab.ca/+ P E A R L C H E N Q u e s t i o n s ? T H A N K S !