Concepts presented that related to internet of things and some projects I worked on during graduate school.

1. Tangible Displays of Data
Problem: There is too often the feeling that when finding a
form for the display of data, the result has to fall into the screen/
intangible realm. While this is a totally adequate and appropriate
answer most of the time, solutions that fall into the more physical
and industrial design realm should also be considered. Through-
out my stay at the University of Michigan, I’ve been comparing
and exploring different methods of stepping from the world of
screens into more of‘the internet of things’.
Recent Existing
Examples
Solution: There are many routes towards escaping the pure-
ly screen driven realm of design and stepping into the physical
world, regardless of a users abilities in regards to industrial design
or programming. Arduino has allowed microcontrollers to be-
come an easily alterable system, so that someone with the barest
knowledge of circuitry and programming can start to prototype
smart objects. While these are better moved into a more robust
environment if thought of as commercial products, for the Infor-
mation Science Designer they allow an easy step into dealing with
sensors and electronics.
There are also many smart systems being designed by companies
that are hackable and alterable. Displayed within this boards are a
few such examples, including the HUE LED light-bulbs from Phil-
lips, Red-Park cables which allow for an Arduino connection to
iOS devices, and set iOS applications which allow for the begin-
ning steps if attempting to connect to Arduino’s through wireless
communication.
Michael Senkow is a Masters of Science in Information:
Human Computer Interaction and Architecture Science
Masters student at the University of Michigan. A sampling
of his work is viewable at www.mhsenkow.org
Twitter: @senkowm
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mhsenkow
Michael Senkow
“SPIMES” are manufactured objects who informational sup-
port is so overwhelmingly extensive and rich that they are
regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial sys-
tem. SPIMES begin and end as data. They are designed on
screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked
through space and time throughout their earthly sojourn.
Shaping Things, Bruce Sterling
You can’t eat bits, burn them to stay warm or put them in your gas tank. Ideas
and information are important, but things matter much more. Yet today’s in-
formation technology is so dependent on data originated by people that our
computers know more about ideas than things. If we had computers that knew
everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without
any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly
reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, re-
pairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best. The Internet
of Things has the potential to change the world, just as the Internet did. Maybe
even more so.
Kevin Ashton on ‘The Internet of Things’
Kickstarter Project to create a smart socket,
to turn any dimmable bulb into a controlla-
ble object. - www.sparkdevices.com
Spark Socket
Kickstarter Project for a smart lamp system,
when you turn on the small base stations it
alerts the home object, no matter where. -
www.goodnightlamp.com
Good Night Lamp
Twine was an MIT project, to get the objects
in your life talking to you remotely. It’s a
temperature, vibration and orientation sen-
sor that emails you when its environment
changes. - www.supermechanical.com
Twine
Formerly Pachube, Cosm connects devices
and apps, exchangeing data and ideas with
developers, and bring smart products to
the world. - www.cosm.com

2. Arch 506: Responsive Surfaces
Taught within the School of Architecture, this
course asks the question on how to connect your
physical environment to smart systems. The two
project I developed in this course connected with
twoconcepts;usingthegrowingnumberofsmart
deviceswethrowawaywithinasecondlifeascon-
trol mechanisms AND experimenting with push-
ing data into physical objects.
Project 1 - iPad as Room Control:
This project dealt with controlling simple mechanisms through used iPod Touch
or iPad controls. While the project created was more of a toy, an iPad controlled
musical device, it was meant as a model for a more practical system, say a room
controller.
Design Process
Comparison to Existing Installations
Early in the course there was specific research into existing projects that fell into the
realm of pushing data devices into the architectural realm.
niklasroy - Responsive Window
TouchOSC Connection
Low Fidelity Display Conception
jimcampbell - Scattered LIght
InitialTesting with LED lighting
Experimentation
Before settling on the wired connection between the iPad and Arduino, multiple
experiments were performed, with different wireless and wired connections. The
final project was taken on due to limitations with the schools wireless network.
Final Critiques and Continuation
The final results of the course ended in more of the Architectural Critique form and
part of the projects continued into other courses. The lighting studies moved into
the examples I have on the next board, and the low fidelity prototype inspired work
for SI:582 Interaction Design
Expansion Potential
While the project was simply an arduino being controlled through an iPad, this con-
cept could easily be exanded into housing controls, interfaces for other mechanical
systems, or other physical systems that need an interface. A first gen iPod Touch
can be found on eBay now for less than $30.00, displaying an entire realm of poten-
tial interface options.
Expansion Potential
All too often data ends up purely in the screen environment. This project shows a
potentail stepping stone, moving information nodes into more physical objects.
While lighting is only a small step away from a screen, it shows that you could de-
velop a system that doesn’t fall back on the flat world quite as often.
Videos and Further discussion at http://portfolio.mhsenkow.org/responsivesurf.html
Project 2 - Sensors within Furniture
The second project connected a more physical, ambient object with a data store.
This project created a higher powered, incandescent lamp that detected a user
nearby and set off a organic lighting display.

3. SI 601: Data Manipulation
Michael Senkow is a Masters of Science in Information:
Human Computer Interaction and Architecture Science
Masters student at the University of Michigan. A sampling
of his work is viewable at www.mhsenkow.org
ThecoreoftheDataManipulationcourseislook-
ing into ways to stream data from sites and ap-
plications. As a final project, I worked with Haley
Vingsness, Vijay Swamy, and Nicholas Hung to
produce a simply python concept that connects
with Phillips HUE lightbulbs.
The Core concept was to think of a way to take
weather data and push it into a physical object.
HUE recently put out an API for control of the
bulbs, but at the time this was more of a hack
on the system.
Design Focus
Multiple steps were taken to determine the final
set of data that could be displayed. Weather.com
was the first source, but Yahoo weather became
our go to because of its more segmented set of
weather options.
One of the biggest challenges was simply deter-
miningpatternsfortheweather.Asampleofsome
of the code prouduced is shown below.
Code for the Project is at
https://github.com/mhsenkow/Hue-Weather
Video of the Project is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq6Tn0AiFn4
if display ==“weather”:
while description ==“0”:#tornado
l.bri(250)
l.alert()
for y in range(10):
for dim in range(10):
l.set_state({“bri”: 250-dim*20,”xy”: [0.1, y*0.1]})
time.sleep(0.01)
l.alert()
switch = switch*-1
while description ==“1”:#tropical storm
l.bri(250)
l.alert()
for y in range(10):
for dim in range(10):
l.set_state({“bri”: 250-dim*20,”xy”: [0.3, y*0.1]})
time.sleep(0.01)
l.alert()
switch = switch*-1
while description ==“2”:#hurricane
l.bri(250)
l.alert()
for y in range(10):
for dim in range(10):
l.set_state({“bri”: 250-dim*20,”xy”: [0.5, y*0.1]})
time.sleep(0.01)
l.alert()
switch = switch*-1
Solution Without a Problem:
Part of the joy of this project is simply in its solu-
tion for something that doesn’t have a direct
need. Not all of the concepts created in the In-
ternet of Things Realm really have a problem to
begin with. They’re more of a solution to some-
thing se didn’t even know we needed. By having
this added bit of aesthetic though, you can start
to see solutions to other problems that may not
have been considered.