INDN 311: Coded Wool and Bottle d'Glass

Moving the code from the computer to the phone proved to be an easier task than I expected it to be, as I found an app that worked on iOS that was able to compile my processing code, albeit at a quarter of the iPhones potential screen resolution. That aspect was actually extremely frustrating, as I had to go back and edit my code to numb down the screen resolution and all the locations.

For showing how the code works on the phone, I recorded the code functioning on my computer with a particular song, and then ported both the song and the frames from the code into Premiere Pro. This I then exported in a format that would function on the iPhone's screen and operating system. 

The code actually ends up looking a lot more sophisticated than it really is. (Not that I should be telling anyone about that, but oh well!) The white circle that travels around the edges is both an aesthetic element as well as an element that helps to place the bottle on the screen.

And hey presto, it's the glass bottle! I got this little guy back from the glass blower today, and it's really quite a beautiful piece. I must admit, it's a bit chunkier than I might have liked, but there's not really a whole lot I can do about that. I designed it thinner, but it being thick like this isn't the end of the world. I carved up the cork once I got the bottle back, making a little stopper that fit nicely.

As you can see, the glass bottle has some very interesting refractive qualities, and these transmit in an interesting way to the surrounding area. The transmission to the roof is very vague and ambient, which is the way I wanted it to be. There are also really interesting little refractive points that shatter off the glass onto the table surrounding the phone and wool.

One of my concerns is that the glass blower wasn't able to achieve the lensing in the bottom of the bottle that I designed. Apparently that would have made the glass too thick to shape and manipulate. The result is that the lens in the bottom is less concave than I would have liked it to be, meaning that the effect it has on the emitted light won't be as strong.