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Movable Parts Presents a Lecture on Media & Social Interactivity at UCLA

MP Talk @ UCLA 131204

 

View slides from our presentation at UCLA

Movable Party + DanceLAvia on October 6th!

DanceLAvia

 

The L.A. Bike Trains & The Bodacious Bike Babes
proudly present:

/ danceLAvia /
It’s like cicLAvia, but you dance in the street for 6 hours straight.
9AM – 3PM
@ Broadway & Temple
Downtown LA

We have Pedal-Powered Speakers (big ones!). We’ll need volunteers to help power up the generator with good ol’ fashioned fuel – your legs! Thanks to our buddies at Movable Parts! www.movableparts.org

We are taking over the intersection for the whole day! The intersection is the beginning of the mandatory dismount zone, which people do not like to do. Hence – DanceLAvia was born – Dismount and Dance!!!

Once upon a time, CicLAvia Wilshire edition (June2013) DanceLAvia was born. Sequins sparkle shorts debuted to much acclaim. Dancers of all ages, shapes and sizes joined our streetside shimmy. So we’ve decided to do it again.

Come down on Sunday and shake it with two great organizations. AND if you’re feeling supremely bodacious, we encourage you to come and volunteer with us for an hour or two, we could definitely use the help. AND if you’d like, you can even play DJ for 30-60 minutes – prepare a playlist on your smart phone!

Things you may or may not see at the BBB+LA Bike Train intersection:
Jammypacks; Sequins; Kittens; Short shorts; James Jameson; Rainbows; Foam fingers; Neon; Puppy Chow; Mandatory Dismounting; Babes; Foxtrot; Milkshakes; Whistles; Glitter; Birds

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/433296510124703/

Interactive Design Update: A Sequencer in Max/MSP

Steve redesigned the interactive component of the Movable Party machine. This time, Steve made the the Max interface function like a sequencer. The rider can use the hub motor sensor (RPM) to advance through a sequence of preset patterns while varying the BPM and and pitch. Enjoy.

Joe on LA River & issues of transportation + transportation

Listen to Joe talk about the LA River in light of issues of transportation & gentrification in Los Angeles —  part of our #movableparty and forum on LA Riverfront at the River Bike + Walk organized by the LA Riverfront Collaborative, and documented by KCET Departures.

Original link: http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/community/storyshare/envisioning-a-riverfront-district-josef-taylor.html

 

Video + Audio: We successfully powered Movable Party 1.0 at CicLAvia!

We had a great time launching our interactive bike-powered generator system at CicLAvia last weekend! We had a stream of participants — friends and passersby — peddling to generate enough electrical energy to power the PA system for 3 straight hours. Thanks for all your labor! The video below captures a bit of the human-powered generator and the interactive sensing bike-as-musical-instrument system in action.

Also, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Sara Harris on KPFK Pacifica Radio 90.7FM. Listen to a short radio story on Movable Party featured by Hear in the City on KPFK, the segment on us begins at 24:00. You can hear me talking about the project while (almost getting out of breath and) pedaling on a hub motor bike.

[audio:http://movableparts.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/kpfk_130422_excerpt_MovablePartyCicLAvia.mp3]

If you’re curious about the interactive media system, here’s a video of the system that captures some of the ideas of sound synthesis that we hope to develop for a later iteration of the project. Write us if you have some ideas for us!

We will present our system again this Saturday at the NELA River Bike + Walk Spectacular in Marsh Park. Come join the Movable Party!

A Sneak Preview of Our System

We connected all three hub motor bikes that we’ve built and pedal-tested the setup to power a PA system. Yes, indeed, our efforts have prevailed. We supplied enough electricity to power a PA system (Gigrac 600). Hurray!!!

We’re ready for our campus launch on Founder’s Day on April 20th, and our community launch at CicLAvia on Sunday April 21st. Event details.

#MovableParty 1.1 @ NELA River Bike + Walk Spectacular

We will be performing with our system a community ride event — River Bike + Walk Spectacular — next week. We plan to use our newly built interactive. We will power a couple of DJ sets using our newly built interactive bike-powered DJ system.

NELA Bike + Walk Spectacular

The Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative invites you to the

River Bike & Walk Spectacular

When: Saturday, April 27th, 4-10pm.

Location: Marsh Park, 2960 Marsh Street, Los Angeles, CA 90039

4pm: Bike & Walk: Explore the river and its neighborhoods via the L.A. River Greenway Trail, and participate in a live mapping project.

6pm: Community Fair at Marsh Park: Enjoy art and educational activities, bike-powered music, and learn more about the NELA RC and other community organizations.

8pm: Bike-in Movie: Enjoy a free outdoor screening of Beetlejuice in the park. Bring blankets!

Brought to you by the NELA RC in collaboration with Multicultural Communities for Mobility, LACBC, and Movable Parts.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/627773783904734/

 

Join us at #MovableParty 1.0 @ CicLAvia + Oxy’s Founder’s Day

Movable Party @ CicLAvia, April 2013

 
Join us to celebrate the vibrancy of streets in Los Angeles at MOVABLE PARTY — a bicycle-powered dance party. We will implement our bicycle-powered generator custom designed and built by members of Movable Parts, with the help of students of Occidental College.

Place: MacArthur Park, downtown Los Angeles [corner of Alvarado and 7th]
Time: 11:30am – 2:30pm, Sunday April 21, 2013

This Movable Party will feature the following DJs:

J.Vu (Hungry Beat): indie pop, northern soul
[https://www.facebook.com/hungrybeat]

The Attic Bat: global bass music
[http://www.derricomusic.com/]

Music by KOXY
[http://koxyradio.com/]

Xandão: global bass
[https://twitter.com/narcoiris]

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/134295840089202/135351943316925/

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We will also be launching our interactive bike-powered DJ system at Occidental College’s Founder’s Day on Saturday April 20th.

Place: next to the Solar Array
Time: 5-6pm, Saturday April 20th

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Movable Party is made possible by ASOC Renewable Energy and Sustainability Funds, Center for Digital Learning + Research at Occidental College, Flying Pigeon, Bike Oven, and the Knowhow Shop.

Video from Workshop #1: Hub Motor + Bike Generator

In this workshop, Josef Taylor, structural engineer of Buro Happold, LLC, took us through the steps of using a hub motor on a bicycle to generate power, while explaining the laws of physics related to electricity. We compared the resultant voltage generated while using various levels of resistance in the circuit.

Video from Workshop #2: Arduino and Sensor Fun!

Movable Party 1.0 // Workshop 2: Sensors, Arduino, & Interactive Media

#MovableParty Workshop 2 was about the design of an interactive system. We placed sensors of various types on the handlebars of one of the bikes with a hub motor. Our workshop leader Steven Kemper mapped the pressure sensor data through Max MSP to demonstrate different effects (parameters of low-pass filter) on a song. The Hall Effect sensor was used to set the tempo of the audio playback. Jack Moreau is our DJ on the handlebars for this round! This workshop took place at Occidental College’s Brown LearnLab. Participants included students from Occidental College and members of The Bike Oven.