Instead of doing an independent study on composition, or Research Methods with Dick Buchanan, or an introduction to industrial design fundamentals, I’m taking Making Furniture Interactive with Mark Gross. I’m working with a microcontroller, wires, LEDs, and writing programs with Processing. We’re using Arduino—an open-source electronics prototyping platform—for development.

I decided to take this course because it looked fun, it didn’t involve readings, and it gets me working in the physical world.

Our first project was to program the board with three LEDs and create a lamp. It took a while to get my head around wiring the board and the LEDs, but I figured it out with help from peers. I made the lights fade in and out randomly at random intervals. (I like random stuff.) I then stuck a paper candle holder I created last year over top of my creation (a cheap move, but I’m really pressed for time with Emergence two days away).