The beginning

this blog will serve as a development blog for my project, PersonalSoundtrack. It is open-source, and geared toward being easy enough for pretty much anyone to build. in this blog, i'll keep track of what i'm doing, and how i'm doing it.

i'm using the gumstix platform.




description of project:

"PersonalSoundtrack, a tiny wearable computer, detects your walking or running speed and plays songs from your music library that match your pace. Song speed is adjusted in real-time to match subtle variations in your gait, while larger, deliberate pace changes cause the device to change songs. You simply put it on and begin moving; that's it.

Most computational devices require the user to adapt to the machine. PersonalSoundtrack offers, instead, a symbiotic relationship: both human and machine actively adapt to each other in real-time. The 'interface' is one's natural gait. There is no optimal or pre-defined experience, encouraging meandering, wasting time, and loitering.

In April, at CHI 2006, I published a paper discussing my first prototype."