Well...this was my first attempt at messing around with any kind of electronics and processing, so pretty much everything was new to me. I've always had a basic assumption of what circuitry did as a whole, but never had an idea of how they did what they did. Finding out that the actions of the hardware were dictated by software cleared up some ambiguity. Although all the code is new to me, I was able to find a few similar patterns I've used before in html and actionscript. Although I haven't completely wrapped my head around how all the connections that I made worked, I was able to grasp a clearer understanding of the hardware and their roles, such as resistors. I've always heard the term, but never knew their functions were so self-explanatory.

Lesson 3: Breadboard & LEDs (video documentation)

Going through this process sparked a few thoughts and ideas, especially after reading about how sensors can be used to convert real-world measurements into electrical signals. With my understanding, I've gathered that basically, this stuff is used to tell things what to do and when to do it. For instance, some kind of sound sensor could program certain lights to turn on when a sound reaches a specific pitch, just like a guitar tuner; or by using a depth-of-field camera, a projected image could scale up and down in size corresponding to how far or close an object or person is; or by using a digital thermometer, a design on screen could change in color, scale, and form when cued to specific temperatures.