julian tiso mathews
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Critical Objects

Blue Light

A disobedient electronic for the MTA

Background

On October 25th 2019, a group of NYPD officers claimed witnesses spotted 19-year-old Adrien Napier carrying a gun outside near the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. After a brief chase, the officers spotted Napier sitting on a subway train at Jay Street Metrotech (the closest train stop to ITP's campus). After a hostile arrest that involved over 10 police officers pointing guns at the teenager, no weapon was found. However, Napier was still arrested for fare evasion. This incident has spurred months of anti-MTA, anti-NYPD protests, demonstrations and even vandalism rooted in anger with the targeting and mass incarceration of minority youths. People are demanding criminal justice reform.

Description

Pippa and I, both born and raised in the city of New York wanted to find a way to leverage technology and data to help those who fear the NYPD. What we came up with us a community-participation tool that would help alert individuals when police officers are present in subway stations. In order to do this, we want to repurpose the iconic light globes outside of subway stations. When the lights are colored NYPD blue, people can be alerted and know that cops are in the subway station. The globes leverage twitter’s API to allow users to color the lights using specific hashtags (i.e. #NYPDmetrotech or #NYPDcanalstreet).
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Github Code: https://github.com/juliantisomathews/Blue-Light/tree/master

The Disobedience

Tracking police officers and their locations is a contentious topic that is debatably legal. GPS application Waze does it but there are very few APIs that do it. Also, repurposing city property.

Pandemic Roulette

On March 25th 2020, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot claimed that 50 percent of people in NYC will likely contract the Covid-19 (coronavirus). This is a roulette game that tells you if you have COVID-19.

Github Code: https://github.com/juliantisomathews/Pandemic-Roulette/tree/master

Background

Project Constraints:
- Choose a topic, a device and a mood
- Make an interactive Critical Object based on your selections.
- The technology should be conspicuous (I should not be able to see your arduino boards, wires, motors, etc…)
- Document your progress, prototypes, discoveries, and final piece.

Description

On March 25th 2020, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot claimed that 50 percent of people in NYC will likely contract the Covid-19 (coronavirus).

The media has a tendency to present as much of the scientific community's quantified information as possible, rather than qualitative descriptions or hypotheticals, to make the information as digestible as possible for the general public. But furthermore, by sharing proportions, ratios, integers and more specifically, percentages; there's an implication that there's an arbitrary randomness to the spread of the disease. One could take away from this article that the chances of contracting the disease is many ways up to luck ... or is a gamble ... kind of like the way a casino game is. Say roulette.

Technical Description:

This project uses a hall effect sensor, that detects the presence of a magnetic field, as an input and an oled display screen that displays text as an output. By attaching a magnet to a fidget spinner, the hall effect sensor and detect every time the the fidget spinner has made a full rotation and change the text on the display.

The Affirmation Cup

A cup that lets you know that it’s okay to not be okay. It's no secret that technology and social media have been a catalyst for mental health issues. Playing on the themes of introversion, introspection, and reclusiveness, The Affirmation Cup tells you a positive fortune when you're done with your drink.

Github Code: https://github.com/juliantisomathews/Affirmation-Cup/tree/master

Background

Assignment: in groups of 2 design, make and document a Device of Object that is critical a bout a topic related to technology. (data mining, digital ethics, privacy, digital colonialism, mass surveillance, etc ...)

Constraints: The projects must utilize a randomly assigned Attribute, Device and Mood.

Topic & Restraints

Our chosen topic: The dark psychology of social media
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The randomly assigned constrains:
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Attribute: Edible
Device: Metaphor
Mood: Optimism

Object Description

It's no secret that technology and social media have been a catalyst for mental health issues. Given the project constraints, Sid and I decided to design a cup that lets you know that it's okay to not be okay. Playing on the themes of introversion, introspection, and reclusiveness, The Affirmation Cup tells you a positive fortune when you're done with your drink.

Technical Description

This project utilizes a photo resistor, a component that decreases resistance with respect to receiving luminosity, as an input value and an OLED display, which displays text as an output. In other words, when the user finishes the drink, the photo resistor will detect the light as an input and project the text on the display. The object also uses a 3D printed holder component.

The Oxygen Divide (proof of concept)

An interactive statement piece about the correlation between socio-economics and access to healthcare, and more specifically, healthcare during the COVID-19 crisis.

Github Code: https://github.com/juliantisomathews/Affirmation-Cup/tree/master

Topic

Design, make and document a Device or Object that is critical about a topic related to Body politics.

Description

This objective of this piece was to create an interactive statement piece about the correlation between socio-economics and access to healthcare, and more specifically, healthcare during the COVID-19 crisis. The idea was to create a realistic model of human lungs that is operated by an air blowing mechanism, which is triggered by coin slot. Only certain coins will make the mechanism work. Coin size and diameter is correlated to a geographies income-per-capita.

Restricitions

COVID-19