By Afra, Shereena, Saeed and Shaikha
For the seats we surrounded each with an LED strip that by default would blink an orange color and would remain steady when a person was seated. We accomplished this with pressure sensors placed and secured inside the middle portion of the seat. The pressure sensor has two contacts, does not have polarity, and outputs an analog result which when connected to the analog inputs outputs a result from 0 to 1000. Each sensor was connected to the board using a pull down resistor and to the analog pins A0, A1, and A2. Each pressure sensor has a corresponding LED strip; for example, the LED strip connected to D10 corresponded to the A1 pin. Then, when a value greater than 500 is detected it means a person is detected.
For the interactive audio component, we used copper tape applied to the bottom of the dallah and to the surface of two 3D-printed dallah holders. When the dallah is placed onto either holder, the copper-on-copper contact is detected through digital input pins D11 and D12, effectively functioning as a simple conductive switch. One contact plays a traditional story, the other triggers music, with both tracks routed to an external speaker via the I2S interface. Initially, the speaker output was unclear, filled with static and crackling. To resolve this, we converted the MP3 files from stereo to mono and set the sample rate to 32 kHz using Online Audio Converter, which significantly improved playback quality and reliability during interaction.
Inputs:
- People sitting on pressure sensors on either of the three seats
- The placement of the dallah on either the song or music copper plates
Outputs:
- LEDs around the seats stop blinking and glows when seated on
- The “fire pit” glows brighter with more people
- Music or song plays from speaker in the center of the pit depending on where the dallah is placed (song icon/ story icon)
How does the interaction work?
In Iqrabbu we welcome people into a space meant to bring them closer to one another. As curators, we simply set the scene but the gathering begins when visitors join in. When someone takes a seat, the light around them settles into a warm glow, and as more people sit together, the firepit brightens almost like it’s responding to the growing sense of togetherness. Once everyone settles in, they can choose the mood of their shared moment by placing the dallah (coffee pot) on either the music or story plate. With these small, intuitive actions, the group shapes the experience themselves, turning Iqrabbu into a gentle invitation to connect, and enjoy being with one another.
Our GitHub link for code.
https://github.com/ssl9619/CircuitPython
Links to our 2D designs:
Links to our 3D designs:
Pictures of the technical details of our project:
Circuit Schematic:
