WEEK 18: A NEW ALTERNATIVE

Finally, after weeks of losing hope, there's finally been a lot of major progress (couldn't be sooner enough...)! After lots of guidance and alternatives, I was finally able to get the phone to work in the way I've been imagining since the beginning, and I've never felt more excited to continue this project until now.

To begin, last week I had met with Professor Akten to find out exactly what was wrong with my microphone. After a few hours of working with the existing set-up-- unsoldering, soldering, etc.-- we both determined that the microphone chip probably shorted and messed with the intake of information. The actual set up is simple, so it was unfortunate but also relieving to really know it wasn't just me, if that makes sense. We both determined that the best alternative at this point is getting a Bluetooth microphone as a replacement, cutting out any wire needed.

ABOVE: Working at Professor Akten's studio.

The first microphone I bought was Goordik USB-C Wireless Lavalier Microphone (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRLM3JD?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1). The idea was to have it fit within the hole of the microphone, but it was too big. I wanted to still work on the phone, so after I bought two more microphones, I used that as a placeholder to code the rest of the phone.

I began with implementing the hookswitch functionality. With lots of help from ChatGPT, I was able to ensure that the hookswitch was the over-arching abort system, such that the entire mechanism will end once the phone is back on the switch, and the whole mechanism resets back to the beginning.

ABOVE: Hookswitch abort system working.

Secondly, I decided that I really wanted to add personality to the AI, and according to ChatGPT, ElevenLabs was the best option to have voice banks to cater to what I need. I ended up purchasing a subscription to ensure that it doesn't end mid-exhibition as the usage will just stop once my credits are used up.

The next day, I received the two new microphones-- VEZQUA Wireless Lavalier Microphone & BILIWAL 2 Pack Lapel Microphone (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCK4CVWZ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5LLCGZ5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1__). I wanted to finalize the dial mechanism, so again, with the help of ChatGPT, I was able to successfully replace the original interaction, typing in a number on my terminal, with a dial.

I changed a core interaction of the entire project to better suit the purpose of the project, which is to instill social anxiety in the user. Instead of a certain dial to choose a personality, I want it to still prompt the user to choose what emotion they're feeling, such that they expect a certain response, but have the personality being completely randomized, creating an almost-roulette. I was able to successfully randomize it with this line of code:

def wait_for_emotion_selection():
    print("Waiting for a toggle to randomly select an emotion...")
    while GPIO.input(HOOK_PIN) == GPIO.LOW:
        if GPIO.input(DIAL_PIN) == GPIO.LOW:
            print("🌀 Toggle detected!")
            while GPIO.input(DIAL_PIN) == GPIO.LOW:
                time.sleep(0.05)  # debounce
            emotion = random.choice(["happy", "sad", "angry", "scared", "neutral"])
            print("Random emotion selected: {emotion}")
            return emotion
        time.sleep(0.05)
    return None

The two microphones also do not fit, but one of them barely fits in its socket, so I'm planning to just tape the microphone on the cap (since it still seems "closed" when tightly enforced). The core issue is the receiver, which does not fit directly into the USB port on the Raspberry Pi WITHIN the phone. I am planning on buying an adapter that will fold below the Raspberry Pi so it can fit. If not, I will find some other way to fix this.

I also decided not to boot system reset, but leave it running on my laptop throughout the day during the exhibition to keep set-up simple.

For this final presentation, I will be presenting the final working phone, though in pieces. The final steps can only be shown during the exhibition, so here are my tasks:

Tasks Remaining:

• Assemble the phone so that everything fits and is easily portable

• Paint the pillar (this week)

• Buy and install faux plants

I'm seeing the end and I'm looking forward to it!

**Huge thanks to Jonathan Marchese for being my right hand, helping me with a lot of the electronic handling and brainstorming.