Project 2 In Process
Shape the Internet
INSPIRATION
The computer itself is already a physical-to-digital communication system. The mouse and keyboards are controllers and the screen shows signals it receives. Compared with Arduino-to-P5, I am more interested in P5-to-Arduino communication. I want to make an experiment to introduce invisible concepts into the physical world.
The idea I am excited about is "Shape the Internet". Internet is an everyday "object" that is too abstract to be pictured. It is dynamic and ever-changing, which makes a real-time tangible presence of the Internet compelling and rich in content.
To figure out a way to shape the Internet, I need to explore the questions below.
1. What forms the Internet?
2. What is the material?
3. How do information connected?
4. What decides the dynamics?
5. When I post this blog, what change do I make for the Internet?
6. How is the net made?
As the search result from the Internet shows...
Internet is a brunch of computers connected in a certain pattern. In the network, there are terminals (PCs, mobiles, etc.), communication devices (routers), and wirings. The coverage range of the Internet is variable. Commercial net services usually provide a Wide Area Network (WAN) which is usually connected in Mesh topology as is shown below.
DATA
For a single computer, for example, mine, I can see bytes it receives and sends in real-time with the activity monitor. However, I did not find a way to export the real-time or recorded data and use them in P5. Presenting real-time PC Netflow data and historical global Netflow data in the same system can cause confusion. If importing real-time global Netflow data is not possible, another plan is to build a Netflow model to represent the pattern of global network activities.
CONCEPT
I plan to build a kinetic system to represent global Internet connectivity. Movements of several columns could show the data streams of different states. One of the columns shows the Internet accessed activities of one PC, which merges into the worldwide structure while connecting to the Internet.
DESIGN DETAILS
1. What quality of the Internet am I presenting?
2. Single color or Multi-color?
Multiple colors feel more traceable, while single color reflects the mess and wholesomeness.
LAB - I2C
What does the clock do?
To unify the speed parameter (9600, exchange 9600 bits per second) of different components.
What are the addresses? Why are they needed?
To indicate which component it is talking to because one wire talks to multiple components.
What do while(true) mean?
Just like noLoop() in p5. It asks the program to stop there forever, and not to do the loop after that.