Mousey by Joe McKay, 2015
Famously, the word “augmented” in Stanford's “Augmentation Research Center” was referring to changing and adapting human behavior to sync with machines, not the other way around. And in a way, it worked. Forty seven years later we reach for the mouse, our agent in the virtual machine space, without [literally] a second thought. I know where my mouse is like I know where my left foot is, even though both may be out of my line of sight.
But perhaps the mouse no longer wants to be touched? Would it prefer to glide playfully, just out of the hand's grasp? Maybe it longs to be a cat toy*, crossing back, if not all they way to real mouse, and least into another mouse analogue?
“Mousey” is a mouse that responds to the light. If the light gets darker on the left, it scoots right, and visa versa. It has graduated from traditional pedestrian mouse roles, and prefers not to encumber itself with the operating system, so Mousey will not replace your current favorite interface device. Mousey runs on the power from a USB port, and will also work with a phone charger.
Instructions:
Plug mousey in and after a moment it's ready to go! Put your hand to the left and right of Mousey and watch it drift away.
The right button on Mousey will turn it on and off. If Mousey is running after you press it, give it a second to finish its current run cycle and it will stop responding. Press it again to turn it on.
When Mousey stops it re-calibrates to its surroundings, however, you can ask mousey to do this again by pressing the left button.
Underneath Mousey is a whole with a small potentiometer (dial). With a screwdriver you can turn this dial (gently) to change Mousey's sensitivity to light. Turn it clockwise to make Mousey more sensitive, anti-clockwise to make it less.
Materials:
Dell computer mouse
Arduino Micro
Servo
Potentiometer
Photo cells
*Mousey is art, not a cat toy.