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Lilly Desktop Fairy Companion

Developed from my interest in using contemporary puppets for performance and in human beings' relationship to the digital world, Lilly is a handmade art and design DIY project that uses a capacitative touch sensor to translate analog input and control a piezo buzzer.  She is your desktop fairy companion made for creative people who grow tired of staring at their computer screens. She sits on your desk in her teacup while you work and when you touch her plays a song. 


produced by: Jana Velinova

Concept:

Contemporary puppets are used in choreography and performance by dancers widely today and there are many different ways to go about creating them. As my first electronics project, I programmed a piezo buzzer to play a tune while attached to a fairy inside a teacup. The fairy came about from a trip to Ireland where I discovered a common folkloric and now a contemporary hobby of making small fairy-like dolls. Later in London, I found a doll making kit which can be bought for less than £5's. I'd made the cup in Japan where pottery is a common hobby perhaps stemming from the ancient art of Haniwa originating in the 3rd century. My interest in synchronizing folk culture elements with contemporary art and technology influenced the design of this project.

Electronics:

Arduino Uno, Piezo Buzzer, Gravity: Digital Capacitive Touch Sensor

Code: 

 https://movementie.tumblr.com/post/168824526735/code-for-lilly-fairy

 

Inspiration:

Hotel Moderne https://www.hotelmodern.nl/

Kiss & Cry Sydney Festival 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IYW0sILXjA

References:

I used the capacitative sensing library as a start but finally modified a code I found on how to use the tone() function for Arduino adding a button and the tune for Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. 

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/toneMelody

https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/CapacitiveSensor?from=Main.CapSense