Project Description

The inspiration for this project arose from a discussion about virtual reality in one of my classes, and the book The Nature Fix by Florence Williams. Despite many the technological advances in the past few years, our attempts at creating representations of nature (from photos and film to 3D virtual reality experiences) fail at creating the same kind of awe, joy, contentment, and chemical changes in the brain that authentic experiences of being outside can create.

Therefore, I designed the Virtual Nature Box to be a satire on this idea of virtual nature experiences, playing on the fact that despite the newest technology and effects, virtual nature can’t really compare to the real thing: just being outside. Moreover, when people do recreate in the outdoors, they are often doing so in pursuit of a nature experience that fits their exact needs, whether for social media, comfort, or convenience. My project parodies this idea by facilitating a nature experience that is customizable to the max and tailored specifically to the desires of the user.

Check out some visuals I created to illustrate the overall design and functionality of the Virtual Nature Box below.

The Process

The Virtual Nature Box is run by an Arduino Uno microcontroller and uses Neopixels, LEDs, an integrated speaker, the SparkFun MP3 Player Shield and a repurposed computer fan to create light, sound and wind effects. This was my second physical computing project (the first being Blinko) and I definitely felt more prepared this time around, with a better understanding of fabrication and circuit-building.

After drawing up a few schematics to determine how I would route the power and signals to all of my components, I built out the actual circuit to get everything working. Next, I developed the plans for laser cutting and painted the layers of the mountain scene. Then, all that was left to do was to put everything together, install all of the components in my enclosure, and finish the hinge for the utility hatch in the back. To see a more detailed writeup of my process making this project, click here.