Pulse is an analog device capable of displaying information obtained online. Pulse is meant to be hung on a wall in your living room or kitchen, where it will constantly keep you up to date on whatever information feed you connect it to. By tilting Pulse you are able to switch between 3 different information feeds of your choice, all of which are easily programmed by pairing the device with its online platform.

The design brief of this RISD project was to use electronic prototyping tools to develop and build interesting interactive objects based on user centered research. We set out by prototyping ambiguous devices in a very ‘quick and dirty’ way and then handed them over to users while documenting how they interacted with them and the uses they found for them. This lead us to an idea of creating a device with a very simple functionality that would be both original and fun to interact with.

We focused on the cognitive process of pattern recognition and how it relates to information processing. A clock is a good example for an object that makes use of this processing method to enhance the interaction experience. When we look at a clock our brain processes the pattern based on memorized patterns to help us reach a solution more intuitively. We decided to challenge ourselves with bringing this intuitive, instant information processing into the realm of more complex information.

Once we focused our attention on the idea of information simplification we began researching different ways of information visualization. Since one of the easiest and most widespread methods of boiling down information is by using mathematics we thought it appropriate to generate some kind of chart that will help the user more intuitively interpret the information at hand. We found the simplest way of visualizing most kinds of day to day information is done with a graph. It was important for us to create an object that not only abstracts complex information, but also does so in a poetic manner. From here we decided to confine ourselves to creating a purely analog device with a very natural interface. And so the idea of mechanical arms attached at the ends with elastic cord was born. We wanted to keep the visualization at an abstract level and therefore left out any kind of scale, instead relying on the idea that an event will only be meaningful if it is anchored to another event in the form of reference.
We began by programming the code to allow six servo motors to run off of Google Weather’s API. The next stage was to put together the hardware and design a housing unit which would convey the message of the object – we went with a very simple and pure design, opting for no mechanical parts other than the mechanical arms and brightly colored cord serving as our graph. As a result Pulse has no buttons, no lights and makes no sounds. The only interaction the user has with it is reading the information it displays and tilting it by 90 degrees to the left or right in order to change the information feed. This movement is controlled by a tilt sensor built into the circuitboard.
The outer shell of Pulse is made of 2 pieces of 1mm sheet aluminum cut to shape and bent creating the top cover and the base onto which the circuit board, the servo motors and the cable retractor is secured.

In an ever accelerating world Pulse takes another approach to data processing. The shear amount of information available to us on the web, coupled with an ever increasing amount of electronic gadgets demanding our attention, make navigating to relevant information a formidable goal. With an overload of social media platforms, the online generation is being bombarded by information that is irrelevant to their daily needs. Facebook and twitter feeds consume our focus, when in reality, the majority of the data we are being fed does not affect us. Pulse filters out the blur, leaving the user with a clear, pure visual representation of the information they seek.