11 03, 2025

The Fun Theory: A social experiment and a Case Study in Interaction Design and User Engagement

By |2025-03-11T13:31:59+02:00March 11th, 2025|arduino, Interaction Design|0 Comments

In 2009, Volkswagen launched "The Fun Theory", an initiative demonstrating how interaction design can drive behavioural change by making everyday activities enjoyable. The campaign, which aimed to promote Volkswagen's BlueMotion Technologies, aligned with principles of human-computer interaction (HCI) and gamification, showcasing how interactive technologies and design interventions can enhance user engagement and encourage positive habits. Interaction Design and the Fun Theory Interaction design (IxD) focuses on crafting experiences that facilitate meaningful interactions between users and systems. By leveraging playful, engaging, and intuitive interfaces, interaction designers aim to influence human behaviour in a positive way. The Fun Theory campaign served as an experiment in persuasive design, proving that fun and interactivity can nudge people toward healthier, safer, and more sustainable behaviours. The campaign used sensor-based interfaces, auditory and visual feedback, and gamification to transform mundane actions into interactive experiences. Each experiment demonstrated how user engagement with interactive technologies can reinforce positive [...]

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21 05, 2019

How to install an ESP32 board in Arduino IDE

By |2019-05-21T23:20:12+02:00May 21st, 2019|arduino, esp32, espressif|0 Comments

To program the ESP32 using the Arduino IDE we need to install the appropriate libraries. This is a tutorial for installing the ESP32 board in the Arduino IDE for Windows. To start with you need to delete any previous installation using the old method that uses git. 1. Delete the previous custom installation of the espressif drivers and tools If this is your first time installing the ESP32 on Arduino IDE you can ignore this section and jump to part 2. If you’ve followed the older installation procedure and you’ve manually installed the ESP32 add-on with Git GUI, you need to remove the espressif folder from your Arduino IDE.  To find your espressif folder and Arduino IDE location (installation path), open your Arduino IDE and go to File > Preferences: Note: I use the portable version of Arduino IDE and therefore my path is pointing to a relative location of the sketchbook. No full path in [...]

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14 05, 2018

Use an ESP32 board to send DHT to MQTT and then deep sleep

By |2020-04-15T20:26:00+02:00May 14th, 2018|arduino, esp32, espressif|5 Comments

Here is an example of how I post humidity and temperature values that I collect from a DHT11 sensor. I use an ESP32 (Lolin32) board and I post values to a MQTT open source message broker (Eclipse Mosquitto) that I run alongside openhab on a Rpi3. Finally, I deep sleep the board to save energy. I use the following libraries:  Arduino library for DHT11/DHT22 by Adafruit [>>] Arduino Client for MQTT (PubSubClient) by Nick O'Leary [>>] Arduino core for ESP32 WiFi chip [>>] To install CP210x Driver v10.1.1 for Lolin32 ESP32 there installation issue with Windows 10, build 1803. Check this post: [>>] /* Project ESP32, DHT, MQTT and Deepsleep */ #include <WiFi.h> #include <PubSubClient.h> #include "DHT.h" // Library for DHT sensors #define wifi_ssid "My_APs_ssid" //wifi ssid #define wifi_password "my_password" //wifi password #define mqtt_server "mqtt_broker_IP" // server name or IP #define mqtt_user "username" // username #define mqtt_password "password" // password #define temperature_topic [...]

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8 05, 2018

Lolin32 ESP32 installation issue with Windows 10, build 1803

By |2018-05-10T17:13:58+02:00May 8th, 2018|arduino, electronics, esp32, espressif|1 Comment

Today, I tried installing windows drivers for a Lolin32 after the Windows 10 build 1803 update. It appears that there is a problem with the CP210x Driver v10.1.1. When I tried to install the driver that I downloaded from the Silicon Labs official site Windows that states "A service installation section in this INF is invalid." Indeed, INF requirements on new windows build changed once again and therefore many old win drivers will not be compatible. Workaround I found a workaround to force install the driver by changing inf file attributes. I followed these steps: I downloaded the official driver from Silicon Labs, CP210x USB to UART Bridge VCP Drivers  I extracted the files and edited the INF file as follows: Line 118 change from a to b:  ServiceBinary  = %13%\silabser.sys ServiceBinary = %12%\silabser.sys Line 160 change from a to b: Silabser_CopyFiles_FileListSection = 13 ; Driver package's Driver Store directory (%WINDIR%\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository ) [...]

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23 04, 2012

Drawdio: A Pencil that Lets You Draw Music

By |2016-01-12T21:08:57+02:00April 23rd, 2012|arduino, electronics, Interaction Design, technology|0 Comments

What is Drawdio? Imagine you could draw musical instruments on normal paper with any pencil (cheap circuit thumb-tacked on) and then play them with your finger. The Drawdio circuit-craft lets you MacGuyver your everyday objects into musical instruments: paintbrushes, macaroni, trees, grandpa, even the kitchen sink... http://youtu.be/PV_w38ldZaE

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