Student Print Exchange Exhibition: Q&A

As part of the Student Print Exchange Exhibition curated by Dr Paul Laidler, there will be a printed publication titled #LookingThroughTheEyesOfMachinesAsStudents. Below is my full Q&A.

Jono Sandilands
Pinball

Which course are you studying at UWE and why?
I'm a Graphic Artist making work at the intersection of design, printmaking and screen-based-technology, the relationship between the tangible and digital, and in the process exploring interaction and play.

Currently in final year of studying MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking at UWE Bristol (which is best known for its experimental, forward-thinking approach to printmaking). Along with over 5 years experience working as a graphic designer, my practice revolves print, physical objects and materials around digital technology.

How would you describe your thinking and making process? 
I am interested in how the two worlds of virtual and physical meet, contrast and intertwine with one another - questioning our current use of technology in order to create alternative methods of design and image making.

Example page from forthcoming publication

Please describe how the work submitted for the project responds to one or both of the proposed ruminations by Bruce Sterling, ‘Eruptions of the digital in to the physical & ‘Looking through the eyes of machines as humans’.

"Pinball" is a crossover of traditional printmaking and embedded digital media. The artwork consists of a four colour screenprint with a section removed, revealing a neatly concealed digital screen which loops gameplay footage from a real pinball machine.

The physical pinball machine is making a resurgence despite heavy competition from a world of digital games. The beauty is the physicality of the game, LED lit screenprinted playfield and a heavy steel ball hurtling, bouncing and smashing against plastic targets controlled digitally by complex electronics and mechanisms.

Inspired by this unique crossover of components, I’ve been using 3D software as a drawing tool to explore how a digital object can have a physical presence as a 2D print.

The screen is controlled by a Raspberry Pi, setup to automatically loop the video if it is powered on. It’s seamlessly embedded below the mounted print within a box frame.

The use of live gameplay footage is from an observation into how viewers are changing how they consume content online, our real lives are much more controlled by our virtual lives contained within tiny screens. The gameplay video used is from YouTube and Twitch, where there is a phenomenon of gamers who are recording themselves playing. At first it appears strange that people are watching these rather than playing the games themselves, but the growing live streaming audience enjoy watching skilled and amateur game players in order to learn and be entertained just like any other media.

Please describe how you made the work for the project (use images to illustrate where appropriate) and how this making processes relates to the theme of the brief?

Upon receiving the brief I was keen for my contribution to tie in with my current pinball related project and explorations into the presence of digital objects in the real world, as well as push my work forward.

"Soon to see digital screens that can be made into any physical shape"

Elephant, p189, Issue 23

Conceptually I was interested in physically embedding an element of digital into my print, directly answering the ‘Eruptions of the digital into the physical’ question in the brief.

"The seamless integration between the real and physical is still and unaccomplished goal: we can usually still distinguish artificial elements from real ones with ease. But when digital projections are involved the border between real and fiction becomes less predictable"

Neural, p30, Issue 51

On contemplating and researching how to add this layer of digital into my prints - the initial reaction was to use a tiny screen, or digital projection onto a print to create a digital world within the paper. There was obvious technical barriers, it's to be an edition of 6, the exhibition is overseas and will be setup by exhibition staff at the location. I’d like it to be plug and play, no technical setup.

LCD screen for Raspberry Pi - Amazon link

It is becoming more accessible to purchase small screens for microcontrollers. My basic setup only needs to loop a video file, easy to do using a Raspberry Pi.

Floating box frame (glassless) - from Vellum Art

The first obvious barrier to cross is the built up area on the reverse to house the microcontroller and screen, which I eventually decided could be cleverly disguised in a frame. The electronics need to be powered from mains (so making sure the plug is internationally universal).

Cost was always an issue, and it was something that could have stopped the project going ahead for me. Thankfully I was able to focus on completing a limited edition of two with embedded digital screen for exhibition. The remaining four prints are the non-digital version of the same print.

The pinball machine is recreated in 3D from source imagery found online. This translation is a mix of accurate technical drawing and freestyling camera trickery. As I plan to render a certain viewport I only need to draw what I want the viewer to see. A similar method called 2.5D is commonly used in computer games to trick the viewer into believing 2D sprites are complex 3D objects.

The location of the screen is carefully planned out to fit seamlessly into the print.

The artwork is screenprinted using four colour process, to achieve a retro print style in reference to classic pinball machines.

It became evident that sound was a really important part of the print, and since it was something originally overlooked, was a challenge to integrate due to power restrictions. In the end a very simple solution was found with off the shelf USB powered speakers.


And finally…it has been suggested that digital technologies have brought technical innovations to the field of graphic arts practice, but have also and most importantly, have provoked a ‘mental change’ in the creative process. As a student within the Graphic Arts field do you believe this statement to be true and if so could you offer any insights on what this ‘mental change’ could be?

We’re aware how the internet is feeding into research and ability to generate work. In terms of physically integrating digital technologies, I think we’re just finding our feet. It boils down to the fact there has certainly been a gap in education of technology. Thankfully schools have been introducing programming as part of the curriculum at primary school level. A gradual shift will come with a new generation, but it doesn’t leave us sat around doing nothing.

As artists we are free to explore, question, hack, and experiment how we use technology in our work to pave the way for the future.

In the case of this project, I’ve integrated electronics into a screenprint which is bringing up questions about what we call these types of technology integrated artworks. Are they prints? No? Ok, they must be sculpture, right? For now it can be nothing more than a gimmick, I believe it’s an important one, and a stepping stone to working out the next chapter.

Weekly progress 14 - 18 March

I’m at a crucial point in my MA studies, with only a few months left till the degree show, I’ve taken some time off my part-time graphic design job to focus on my projects.

The plan for my 6 weeks off is to make goals each week and try smash them to move the project on to make it a reality, this post is a journal of what I got up to during week 4.

You can find last weeks progress blog here.

This week my basic goals were:

• Playfield Lasercut
• Playfield Art Development
• State of Play print

Playfield Lasercut

To be honest, this week I had originally hoped to have the playfield cut and printed with the aim to start attaching the mechanical parts and installing to the cabinet. As well as that goal being hugely ambitious, things don't always go to plan. Between the cutting template taking longer than expected to plan and drawn and the large lasercutting machine at uni breaking down last week there are always real world scenarios that I don't tend to plan into my use of time. The good thing is I don't have an immediate deadline or anyone I am answerable to so my time is flexible, the extra week to finish of the digital cutting file has actually been really helpful. 

The final digital cutter playfield design

At the same time the deadline of having the lasercutter booked and paid for means I had a time specific task to work towards this week. The focus was getting the drawings finished and checked. I had to make some very important and tactical layout decisions about the playfield which will effect the final game as well as technical limitations and challenges of some of the parts to consider and design.

To recap my reasoning to lasercut: A pinball playfield is usually CNC routed, with a router you are able to control the depth of a cut, so you can make a small lip at a precise depth into the plywood for plastics to be glued into. A few weeks ago I realised that I wanted to design my own plastic inserts, with a more detailed shape than standard pinball plastic parts (and cheaper!). To do this I needed the intricacy of lasercutting, and unlike the router, lasercutting cannot cut a certain depth into a material (well some probably can but not the machines at uni).

The 'sandwich' method: After some advice I decided to make a sandwich of plywood using two outer sheets (top & bottom) of 3mm and an inner core of 6mm ply. Although I could have used only two sheets, I'm told this sandwiching method will give extra strength to the playfield, which is something I was worried about when glueing together plywood sheets face to face.

So thankfully I had planned out this process and had everything ready to go for cutting within my 1 hour booking. I had three sheets to cut, each has slightly different artwork, to create drilling and carving guide marks as well as ledges to allow glueing the plastic parts into the playfield when complete.

The top sheet cut

From past mistakes in lasercutting and glueing together sheets of material, I knew it would be near impossible to line up the sheets precisely without some guides. I used a registration method using 'plugs' and slightly different sized guide holes cut near the edges of the playfield. (I'll get a better photo of this)

The bottom two layers glueing together, weighed down somewhat!

 I used diluted wood glue to allow quick spreading onto the ply, it was quite a challenge to get the whole sheet covered as the wood quickly absorbed the glue and started getting tacky + dry.

The final top layer in place and glued

Final playfield sandwich, yum!

It's slightly unreal having the physical playfield cut, it's obviously such a crucial part of the final piece, so have put a lot of time into it, although it feels like another big milestone completed, I'm still so far off finishing! 

The next step is to laser my plastic inserts into 3mm acrylic, and glue these in place, before printing the playfield. My estimation for printing the playfield is 14th April, and is my window from now to complete the artwork.

Playfield & Cabinet Artwork

Based on my research, I've been exploring some styles for the playfield print.

Ripple & Twist. Marbling

Brush & Rip. Paper texture

Ripple & Smear. Thick layers, reflection. Impasto

Clearly a work in progress on the artwork. Feel it's important to make more sketch book studies to explore different possible styles. Like I have mentioned before, I would like the print to be simple, in reference to 1970s pinball machines, but also be something which is quite striking and modern in a white wall gallery setting.

3D cabinet art mockup

My original thought for the cabinet artwork is to screenprint directly onto the cabinet. I'm able to hire a screen which is large enough that I can get to my studio to print it, but there is the risk of a misprint and other technical challenges, including washing out screen in an environment that isn't setup for screenprinting. I've had some other thoughts about the cabinet artwork, partly due to the printing challenge, but also aesthetically. I will do some more development on this by the next post.

State of Play Screenprint

Last week I wrote that I had been working with State of Play games (the makers of the wonderful, BAFTA winning, Lumino City game) who got in contact with me relating to my pinball prints, as they are currently working on their new pinball game, INKS. The game is launching at the Now Play This exhibition, part of the London Games festival in April.

In addition to the arcade button wiring I made for the launch of their game, they asked me to make a print, similar to my recent Pinball print which has an embedded digital screen. I had originally expected State of Play to supply artwork but was happy when they asked me to design the cabinet which would feature in the print.

I set about this using Blender with my 3D pinball machine template, UV mapping artwork from assets supplied by State of Play. My concept is the ink has spread and splattered all over the cabinet during playing.

Once this was approved, I was ready to screenprint:

First two colours down

The next steps is to embed the Raspberry Pi and screen into the frame in time for the exhibition in April.

Next week 

Will be a bit quieter for me, due to UWE holidays (so no access to facilities) and family visiting us in Bristol. It will also be nice to have some time away from working solidly on the project, as much as I want to keep plowing through, I always know time away is important. See you in a few weeks!

Displaying digital artworks

London Exhibitions February 2016 Review

I decided to repurpose the post that is a review of exhibitions as one of my aims in visiting these exhibitions was really to observe how digital artworks can be displayed in a gallery.

Excuse the crappy phone snaps, it's not going to do the work justice. I'll try link out to artists websites.

Electronic Superhighway

29 January - 15 May 2016

Whitechapel Gallery
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/electronicsuperhighway/

I really loved this exhibition, I have read that it's a bit of a cop out to organise an exhibition which is retrospective, but this one makes so much sense. You travel backwards in time which I think is really important as you are starting with the familiar slowly going back in time to more unknown technologies which seem almost alien to us now. Even a tower PC is looking dated in one of the rooms. 

But the DVD game made me think, it's delivered like something your grandparents would have now, so interesting to think about the changes in media and what I'm working on now will be redundant in a matter of years,

HD Display
Including the, what I'm going to refer to as "the trailing wire aesthetic".

Snowbunny / Lakes, 2015, Cory Arcangel

 The trailing wire aesthetic tells you it's digital. There is no attempt to conceal the wiring or media player as it is as much part of the work as the screen is. Attempts to conceal could lead in messy trunking

So why hide it in this type of setting. I see this very different for an exhibition where the media is more mixed in this exhibition the expectation is digital.

Lenticular spectacular

Glowing Edges, 2014, Constant Dullaart

 In contemplating an alternative digital artwork, I did ponder lenticular. It's a great way to create movement in a flat substrate without the need for screens/wiring/power.

Dullaart relies on found imagery which in this case has been photoshopped using the mundane filters like if your dad got hold of a copy of photoshop to create digital art from the holiday snaps. The filter is applied as you move past the print.

I'm not overly convinced using it in my own work, and it does remind me of free gifts in a cereal packet. I'm interested in the found imagery route.

The mighty tablet!

Twelve, 2013, Ann Hirsch

The thing about it's use in this particular work slightly jars for me. I used AOL chatrooms as a teenager but our desktop PC was the size of a fridge freezer with a monitor that almost has to take two to lift.

A tablet is however familiar to todays audience. The benefit of the processing power and the ability to lock down the tablet along with the touch screen abilities makes it a simple. it also appears slightly diary like on the teenage girls bedroom desk.

The whole piece makes me feel anxious, which I know is partly the intention. I'm scared to interact with it due to the impending doom of what is happening.

I appreciate the artwork is to be treated like an app, bringing it up to date on modern platforms is a thing of genius, making it a much more accessible piece.

Also to note in this room there is an invigilator who is much more present and there to help and reset screens etc. It poses questions about what the artist expects from the gallery staff when displaying digital work.

Seamless framed plasma screen

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, 1992, Surface Tension

This is the one that I found myself being watched. But I was looking up and down, on the roof, behind me. How am I being tracked? That sense of unease was immediate and I'm not sur eit would have been quite so as effective if the technology wasn't concealed.

For one the camera was well hidden, the second as you first approach this could be a frame backlit print, but as you move across the eye follows you then you have that realization that this is a screen and it's interactive. You start to do the dance around to try and confuse it and trick it. Well I did when no one was looking.

The wall

Internet Dream, 1994 ,Nam June Paik

As we go back further in time the technology also travels back, TFT monitors, reminiscent of tv programmes as a child where they had these stacks. nowadays we miss the big gaps and convex screens to give a real retro feel.

It's a striking piece built into the surroundings based on the sizes of the screens. You can't look for too long or too close. As mum used to say "you'll get square eyes."

It was indeed this artist that coined the term Electronic Superhighway back in 1970s.

There's certainly reference to take from the traditional artworks including pioneer Manfred Mohr and Roy Ascott's change paintings.

 A particularly good trailing wire example

The commissioned works is a web of concected screens and audio

Back Projected

Harun Farocki - Parallels

This was perhaps the most inspiring of the works I watched each fully, transfixed with the techniques used by games designers and the amount of work that goes into creating small non interactive parts of a game, such as clouds.

Common Property
15 January - 21 February 2016
Jerwood Space
http://www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/jerwood-encounters-common-property-2

I continued to the Jerwood space via some lunch. From my understanding the exhibition deals with the issue of IP and found 'property'. i'm interested in this as some of my work is usign repurposed videos taken from youtube. Are there copyright laws, how does it work. 

I mean I'm not finding it out at this exhibition, but it's a real trend to be using found media. Finding media is not like going to a car boot and finding an original photo prints, scanning it etc, but it's perhaps much more open. Many people can find the same image? But who has the right to display it in a gallery? Who is the content creator, who is the artist?

Empty Lot
13 October 2015 – 3 April 2016
Tate Modern
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/hyundai-commission-2015-abraham-cruzvillegas-empty-lot

I had time to drop by the Tate,

Big Bang Data
3 December 2015 — 20 March 2016
Somerset House
http://bigbangdata.somersethouse.org.uk/

 Another freak out moment. The 3D print is generated from DNA taken froma cigarette butt. Scary shit. Nice way to display 3D prints.

Not so nice trailing wires.

I've seen this shared online before. When a particular topic is posted on BBC news website the vending machine will give away a free snack. 

I waited a while but I didn't get any snacks. 

I feel like I need a conclusion to this post, but it's irrelevant, I may just start making a collection of display techniques for digital artwork. 

Ok here's a conclusion: 

• The trailing wire aesthetic is right on trend. It's ok to be visually digital if the context allows. 
• Use digital projection or a framed screen to make a more seamless installation. 

Weekly progress 7 - 11 March

I’m at a crucial point in my MA studies, with only a few months left till the degree show, I’ve taken some time off my part-time graphic design job to focus on my projects.

The plan for my 6 weeks off is to make goals each week and try smash them to move the project on to make it a reality, this post is a journal of what I got up to during week 3.

You can find last weeks progress blog here.

This week my basic goals were:

• Playfield & design + start printing process
• Continuation of powering up the cabinet (and fixing problem from last two weeks)

Playfield Template

I feel like surrounding myself with inspiration when I work on the artwork for the playfield. On one hand I think it needs to be quite simple, with references to 1970s pinball machines, but on the other I really want the art to be striking in a white wall gallery setting. There is a risk of the pinball machine being overwhelming, I do want to make sure it isn't too stimulating.

During the week I've made updates to the playfield digital cutter template, based on the paper test stencil I made last week. It made it easier to spot the mistakes. I may come to a point it can only be so perfect, so will just have to go for it and if anything is majorly wrong, I can make a second version.

Who wants a plywood sandwich?

I have laser cutter time booked and plywood set aside for Thursday next week - it's happening! Having a deadline and time booked helps move things on.

Toaster model prototype

One of the first ideas for my custom rethemed playfield was "Never put your hand in the toaster" - using the current five drop targets and modifying to a model of a toaster with fingers for each target.

Inspired by what I learned on a tech lab workshop last year with Rusty Squid's David Mcgoran, I used cardboard to make a prototype for the toaster model. Using the rough and ready cardboard method lets you quickly improve a design, from my original drawings there are some considerations I overlooked.

The lane behind is blocked.

Firstly the left lane becomes blocked using this full boxed style for the toaster. I would like to have the toaster resting on the playfield itself. Can I move the drop target assembly forward a bit to give more room? Or can I reroute the lane to exit above the toaster? Or make the ball travel through the toaster?

The next is protection to the model toaster - you can see the post with the rubber bumper on in the above post, I need to build something like this into the toaster to avoid it shattering with the force of the ball hitting it.

The other consideration is the height of the toaster and fingers - I do plan to have glass covering the playfield attached to the cabinet, so the fingers cannot come up higher that the top of the cabinet.

Materials? Wood/metal?

Power up

I fixed the transistors on the control board. I wasn't confident enough to jump right in so decided to learn more about the technique I looked up tutorials on YouTube for soldering and desoldering PCB boards. One thing is evident my tools are not really made for the job, by £10 soldering iron is no match to the desoldering tools that are available. However I always think it's amazing what can be done with limited tools, and it works.

First power up using MyPinballs Custom Pinball Controller with a Bally Supersonic playfield, which I will be re-theming. Currently running a slightly modified version of MyPinballs original High Voltage game - so code is not meant to be correct. I don't have all LEDs installed and properly setup yet. All coming soon...

This is huge progress! Milestone in the project. Quite nice just to spend some time playing, noticing how some of the shots work gives me ideas for artwork.

State of Play / Now Play This

I've been speaking with State of Play games (the makers of the wonderful, BAFTA winning, Lumino City game) who got in contact with me relating to my pinball prints, as they are currently working on their new pinball game, INKS. The game is launching at the Now Play This exhibition, part of the London Games festival in April.

As part of the launch State of Play want to have a playable version of my pinball print using their game artwork, and also will have a full size pinball cabinet style arcade for people to play their game.

As their game is optimized for iOS, the ideal scenario is that the game can be displayed on an iPhone or iPad with a separate controller. Unfortunately its become evident that it's not going to be easy to add physical controller, as iOS is just not setup to easily accept inputs, with out too much hacking. The deadline is tight so things need to be quite straightforward.

Of course the other option is to run the game from a laptop of mac mini, but it means the point of the self contained frame is a bit faked and pointless.

However in the process we tried out a few interesting techniques to hack having a controller. One was to use a USB keyboard connected via the USB in an iPad camera connection kit. The thing we overlooked was keeping the iPad powered with this connection attached is not possible. Dan at State of Play also suggested using the volume control buttons on a set of apple headphones - I thought this was a really interesting idea so went about breaking those buttons out to separate controls. Unfortunately the buttons don't 'hold' like you expect in a game, and would take some more hacking to work out how to bypass this.

The other thing I've been helping out with is the controller for their full size game. By hacking a USB keyboard and adding in wires and arcade buttons to create a fully wired physical controller, which can easily be added to their pinball cabinet. See photos below for work complete for State of Play:

The lineup for Now Play This exhibition at Somerset House (1st – 3rd April) has gone up online. The exhibition, part of London Games festival includes some great games, including the launch of INKS the beautiful pinball game by State of Play and the Cardboard Arcade. Along with inspiring talks and workshops over the weekend, I'd really like to get along to it.

Studio Layout

Had a bit of a rearrange of the studio during the week. The new layout gives me a bit more open space by compacting the pinball machines together, but also allows a better position to work alongside the project pinball machine. This will likely all change again when I get the legs for the custom machine.

Weekly progress 29 February - 4 March

I’m at a crucial point in my MA studies, with only a few months left till the degree show, I’ve taken some time off my part-time graphic design job to focus on my projects.

The plan for my 6 weeks off is to make goals each week and try smash them to move the project on to make it a reality, this post is a journal of what I got up to during week 2.

You can find last weeks progress blog here.

This week my basic goals were:

• Playfield & design + start printing process
• Continuation of powering up the cabinet (and fixing problem from last week)
• Finish & hand in print for the exchange project

Monday

Playfield
Main focus today is continuing to translate the playfield to a digital cutter template, for lasercutting my own playfield. On Friday I was measuring and digitally drawing at the same time, but found it frustrating and long winded. So today I started making a note of sizes for larger areas before working digitally, as you'll see in the timelapse video of Mondays progress. 

The slow careful process of measuring the parts on the playfield and mapping them out in Illustrator.

I've made a sample to test my concept for making the inserts which glow up as the game is played. Instead of using predefined and expensive shapes of pinball plastics, I figured I could make any shape I liked by lasercutting. The only thing is when using more complex shapes I need the accuracy of lasercutting over CNC routing. Using CNC I could route out a lip or shelf for the plastics to sit into, however this isn't really possibly with lasers so I've tested this concept of using 2 sheets glued together.

Parts

I put in an order for some extra pinball parts to aid in the electronics and wiring side of things, along with some new buttons and the remaining LED bulbs I need to fully light the playfield.

Talking of LEDs... 

MyPinballs new auxiliary lamp driver

MyPinballs just released an add on board to supplement the pinball control boards I am using. I had been thinking the shooter lane felt very separated to the playfield, the new board will allow me to add in a set of strobing LEDs down the shooter lane. It's a simple board which can either work stand alone or be triggered by software. Have some ideas so look out for testing when it arrives.

Hopefully be an exciting week of postage!

Other excitement
I had a follow up call for an exciting project with State of Play games. I'm not sure how much I can give away just yet, but the project is based around my hand made prints with an embedded screen. I'm prototyping some amendments to the setup to allow cool things to happen.

Tuesday

Exchange Project

The deadline is looming so first thing today is to make sure I'm ready for the Thursday hand in. I need to prepare the second Raspberry Pi by cloning the SD card, quite a dull process. 

To make multiple versions of the same install, I follow this guide, it works best for me. It takes a long time (for 4GB - 20 minutes to backup the original, then 2 and a half hours to clone the new one). Terminal doesn't show progress, my advice is to type Ctrl+T in the terminal when running dd to make sure it is still running. Otherwise just go away to do something else in the meantime.

I had plenty to do in the meantime - fixing everything down into the frames. Hot glue and cable ties!

Hacking a Keyboard

I'm working on a version of my hand made prints with a digital screen embedded, which needs some custom input controls. Of course I could use something like an Arduino, but the setup would be significantly simplified if I could just hack a keyboard. So I'm on the search for old broken keyboards in Bristol! Trying out a wanted ad on freecycle to see if anything comes back.

Keyboard smash

More on keyboard hacking later in the week... maybe Friday.

Wednesday

Lasercutting
Booked some laser cutting time to make a quick paper plan of the playfield cutter template I've been working on. I can lay this over the playfield and make any alterations - since it was all measured by hand there's bound to be a few bits a little off.

Ideally I would strip the top of the playfield to lay it flat against it.

Right away I can see the left slingshot cuts line up. Excellent, but on the other hand I can see a few that don't. That's ok, all I need to do is make a note and alter the files.

peekaboo!

Exchange project
Getting everything prepared for hand in tomorrow, the mounted print gets glued directly into the frame (No More Nails glue) then packaged up.

But before packaging, I realise I probably won't really see these prints for a while, don't really want to take it down off the wall!

Thursday

I signed and numbered the exchange prints, then went to fabrication to speak to Justin in woodwork about the best way to digitally cut the playfield. He suggested to increase strength, to sandwich a thicker core sheet of ply with two thinner sheets. This means I would have the inner core 6mm ply and the outer two 3mm ply to create 12mm in total, close to a traditional playfield. The wood is on order and should arrive next week.

Photography
Using my afternoon to make use of the photography studios at uni. As expected there was some reflection from the screen when using a flash to take a photo of the print - so had to do some creative tilting and balancing. Was a pain to get straight on the copy stand anyway, next time I'll use one of the larger photography studios so I can get more control.

Glare for the camera

Friday

I had a response to my freecycle advert for old broken keyboards, so took a bike ride out to Frenchay to pick them up since it was a sunny day. It was pretty straightforward and fun taking them apart and working out which pins need to be connected to control the correct keys. I took some documentation video of hacking a keyboard before wiring up to some test buttons. The buttons will/may control a pinball computer game at at exhibition in April, hopefully I can share more about that soon.

So this week has been busy again - the main aim of completing the exchange project and handing in went well, feels good to finish a big project.

I got a little further in developing of the playfield, again not as far as I would like, but I'm aiming to start cutting next week if I can. For my powering up the pinball machine goal that continued on from last week, I didn't receive the parts to start fixing the power issue until yesterday, so that is going to have to wait until the start of next week too.