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As the users mental activity increases due to computer usage, the screen blurs to make it harder to see and use. By meditating and closing the eyes, alpha waves increase and the screen becomes sharp again. The system creates a frustrating feedback loop that prevents normal computer use.

The documentation video below is a screen recording of me using the program while attempting to create a presentation about Brain Blur.

Foundation of Venice 2011

11×14 inches, map of venice with shattered luxury brand logos embossed into paper. Sidelit photo

Field Abstract 2008

Biomachinery  2008
Photo and digital drawing, Giclee print on Canvas 28″x18″

Radiation 2008

Chasing Circles 2007

Unravelled
In this portrait triptych, a continuous thread winds its way throughout the face. The delicate structure progressively becomes unraveled leaving a series of chaotic, disconnected points.

Imagined Systems is an interactive sound installation creating a virtual space filled with imaginary machines and objects. As visitors passed under spotlights in particular ways, for example in a counter clockwise motion for a large turbine wheel, the virtual devices would respond with appropriate sound. Drawing on everyday sounds collected over the years—a potato hissing in the microwave, unintelligible radio babble from a cab in Queens, an alarm at the airport, oil dripping in the pan of a cooling engine—the sounds are remixed into a scene that cannot be placed, perhaps vaguely reminiscent of Pittsburgh’s industrial past.

The work was created for 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The visitor is presented with a darkened, empty room illuminated by three spots of light on the floor. Hidden 3D cameras fed video to computers running custom computer vision, physics, and sound synthesis programs driving a four-channel speaker system.

Below is a brief sample of the audio from one point during the piece’s lifetime.
Imagined Systems by ukle

2′x2′x.75″ sheet of particleboard, CNC Mill* custom-programmed to make small donuts and fire them at me to keep me awake while reading

*A $200,000+ industrial, computer-automated machine typically used to mass produce everything from furniture to snowboards.

Click to visit the gallery on flickr.

I designed the perfect bare-bones, no-frills computer system that would still enable me to do the essence of my work without unnecessary distractions. Furthermore, it solves one of the most difficult problems those in creative fields have to deal with—knowing when to stop. When the counter hits 999,999 and finally, 0, I know I am done.

Materials: Aluminum gutters, custom electronics and software, pump, plumbing.
Dimensions of the entire system are approximately 16x16x3 feet and variable.

The process of constructing the system involved continually running water to find leaks in the system and then attempting to control them with more gutters. Adding more pieces tended to shift the existing structure creating more problems, however. The result is patch on top of patch, fix on top of fix. Pots, bowls and cups are employed to catch the remaining leaks, and yet, water still escapes and floods the floor.

Kittenate! <– Drag this link to your bookmarks toolbar. Clicking it will replace all the images on the webpage you’re viewing with kittens. (Or you may have to right click and select ‘add bookmark’)

The Daily Puppy just got KITTENATED

Democratizing security one citizen at a time. Built with lasercut hardboard, iPhone 4, and custom html5 app.

I was recently featured on Berlin Reboot FM discussing some of my sound work, the episode is embedded above for listening. The episode’s page is here.

Below is a video clip showing the setup and sound produced.

Sonification of Ants from Luke Loeffler on Vimeo.

The process I’m going to follow will be to expose the sensitized glass, develop it in a basic developer, and then etch in HF acid. The areas of the light sensitive film receiving light should become “hardened” so they adhere to the glass after the development process and during the etching process. The end result should be that dark areas of the exposure are frosted (opaque) and the light areas of the exposure are see-through. I also hope to complete the process on a piece of copper board leaving copper in the light areas and nothing in the dark areas.

Pictures are of the (hopeful) view, and the camera itself, lashed to a railing.

I’m not quite sure how long to let it go. Normally, the film takes 15 minutes to develop under a 100W full-spectrum lamp at 10 inches. I’m guessing with a 1/16″ diameter hole, it could take months.  Fingers crossed, I don’t want to have to repeat this…

Update

I was impatient and peeked at the film as it was progressing. The blue color indicates it has been exposed while the greenish color indicates non-exposure. As you can see, the skyline was recorded–the bright sky causing the blue exposure and the buildings due to their non-reflectivity, left parts unexposed. Unfortunately, there must not have been enough light because developing the film ate away the exposed areas as well. Back to the drawing board.

Organic Processor #1. April 2010. Wood, glass, Porifera, jute, custom electronics, custom software.  9x9x10 inches

Organic Processor #1 is the first in a series of sculptures exploring cognition and the characteristics of empathy in imaginary organisms.  The organism comprises several “neurons” in software, each responding to stimulus in the immediate environment, within itself, and remote information such as messages on twitter.

Sample video of OP #1 deep in thought.  The software is still under development. I’m working on a number of different animated gestures that convey emotion.  As it processes sensory information and browses twitter, it will respond by displaying different moods (happiness, depression, anxiety, calm, etc.)  The video shows a generic animation for “thought” to indicate new information is being processed.

The first clip takes us to the campus of Carnegie Mellon University this winter. While in the arts building I heard a the beautiful and haunting sound of a girl practicing the marimbas.  Contrast the solitary sound with he cacophony of many music practice rooms mixing.  Later in the week, some dispatcher on a radio in a cab ride in Queens was noteworthy for its strangely rhythmic musicality.  As if LaGuardia wasn’t bad enough already, this 20-minute alarm at the airport made me vow to go through JFK next time.

Back home, leaving the garage, I noticed the beautiful clicks and pops of an engine cooling down. While walking to work: pigeons under the bridge. The terrifying creaky stairs at the old warehouse in which my studio is located. It’s just a matter of time before they break.  Next, the sound of relays chattering in a little mechanical feedback noisemaker a made.  Lastly, I will leave you with the sound of the death throes of an exhaust fan in the bathroom of the warehouse. It always manages to screech like some kind of killer primate when you’re least expecting it.

The first system I tried this year was Pulsar’s “PCB Fab in a Box”. It was attractive because they claimed to offer a selection of toner transfer paper, foils, copper clad boards, and laminating machine that worked together flawlessly to quickly produce excellent, repeatable results. Unfortunately, despite carefully following the directions and using an approved printer, I got poor results.

The first image shows that the traces simply would not adhere to the copper board. I was finally able to achieve some success by “tacking down” the paper into place with a regular iron before running it through the laminator, and then running it through a total of 6 times, rather than the recommended 2. The next image shows the toner adhering to the board much better than before. I think the added heat helped. Unfortunately, you cannot stop at this point and etch because toner is very porous and the etching solution will still eat at the copper beneath unless you seal it. Pulsar’s solution for this is their green foil which “seals” the toner. Unfortunately, after applying the foil with the laminator, it didn’t stick everywhere and in some areas, it actually pulled up a few pads and traces from the board. Overall, the resulting board was not useful. Perhaps my little HP laser jet P1006 is the problem, but testing with a large Xerox “mainframe” office printer offered similarly poor results.

Next I returned to the Techniks Press-n-Peel system, which I had used when I first made some PCBs around 2001. It worked reasonably well with only occasional breaks in traces. Unfortunately, a clothing iron was the only solution at the time to apply heat and pressure. However, with a fancy new laminator from the Pulsar kit in my possession, I decided to try the PnP system again with the hope the laminator would bring about consistency. Pulsar claims on their website the laminator is not compatible with the Press-n-Peel system, however this is not true. I got very good results by simply running the board through the laminator until the black artwork could be seen through the blue coating. This turned out to be 5-6 times. The best part is that after peeling the substrate away, no additional work is necessary. The blue coating on the plastic sheet sticks to the toner and accomplishes what Pulsar’s “green foil” does, but in one step. I found the PnP system with the laminator to be excellent for quick, simple, one-sided boards that did not require especially fine resolution. After attempting to create artwork for a TSSOP (a surface mount chip with pins just 0.6mm apart, the artwork was a bit too fuzzy.

The limitations of the Technics system led me to explore photo-based development–the use of photosensitive boards to create the etching mask. I avoided this route for some time as presensitized boards can be costly due to the additional coating. Furthermore, if you only make a one-sided board, an entire side goes to waste. After discovering the MG Chemicals Negative Dry Film Resist, however, I decided to try a photo process. The beauty of the dry resist film is that you only apply it when and where you need it, which allows you to buy any kind of copper clad board you wish–double/single sided, varying thicknesses, etc. The instructions for its application did not work as expected. I kept getting bubbles when I tried to apply the film to the board, and warping after running it through the laminator. With some experimentation, I was able to apply it perfectly every time.

Unwritten directions for applying the dry resist film: First, lay the board on top of the film and cut around it with an exacto knife–no need to leave several centimeters around the edge as the MG directions say. Next (and this is the key), after you peel the soft coating, place a few droplets of water on the copper board before applying the film. The water helps the film to adhere to the board evenly. Center the film, pulling it up and repositioning if necessary. Lastly, squeegee the water out working from the center outwards. I used a small, rectangular piece of nylon with a hard edge to do the trick (you can use the edge of a credit card). Work out all the water and bubbles. Lastly do not use the laminator as recommended (unless you can set the heat very low). I used a clothing iron and put it on the acrylic setting (the lowest it would go). Placing a sheet of printer paper between the iron and the board covered in film, I used moderate pressure for 30-60 seconds. This was adequate to adhere the film to the board. Absolutely no warping or bubbling occurred. You will know you’ve used too much heat if the surface is not even.  The next image shows a laminate applied with too much heat on the iron.

After the film has been applied, the rest of the process is straightforward. Directions are on the MG Chem website. With the photo-based system, I was able to get incredibly high resolution artwork. The following image shows artwork for two TSSOP (0.65mm pitch) chips being developed under a standard broad-spectrum (also sold as “daylight” spectrum) compact florescent (CFL) bulb.

Additional Tips

When making double-sided artwork, include four small vias at the corners of the board’s artwork. Tape each transparency to a piece of glass with the presensitized board sandwiched between. Align the four holes and the artwork should register perfectly.

If you choose to etch with Ferric Chloride, many suggest using a sponge to wipe over the surface of the board. This is to bring fresh etchant into contact with the copper. I would suggest simply wearing latex disposable gloves and gently wiping the surface with your finger–this seems to be a bit more gentle (less chance of ripping off part of the mask), and just as effective.

When using a photo process, always place the side of the transparency with the toner against the board. The acetate sheet is actually a few thousandths of an inch thick and is just enough to allow light to get in from the sides and cause fuzzy lines if the toner mask isn’t directly against the board.

Cleaning the board thoroughly is necessary for the Press-n-Peel system, however scotch brite pads are not necessary as many suggest. I feel they are too abrasive and leave large scratches. I have found dish soap, followed by comet cleaner to be effective. If you don’t use too much water with the comet, leaving it as a moist paste, it will be sufficiently abrasive.

Use a magnifying eye loupe to check the toner prints, masks, and etched boards for problem areas, especially when working with fine-pitch surface mount artwork.