{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Anuradha Reddy","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com","description":"Anuradha Reddy","pubDate":"Sat, 26 Oct 2024 14:05:25 +0000","generator":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com","language":"en","item":[{"title":"Page28 Exhibition","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Page28-Exhibition","pubDate":"Sat, 26 Oct 2024 14:05:25 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Page28-Exhibition","description":"Welcome to my PAGE28 Exhibition - ALGOCRAFT\n\n\nHere you\u2019ll find exihibit information corresponding to its assigned number. \n\n\t[1] Internet of TowelsWhat if you could hide secret messages in a towel? The Internet of Towels is my exploration into data recognition using fiber arts. In plain view, the towel looks like any other knitted fabric with an unrecognisable pattern. When it is tilted to 45 degrees, it reveals a QR code detectable to any smartphone. \nI made the towel by combining two patterning techniques namely lenticular images and QR codes, resulting in an absurdly new kind of computational object. \n\n\t\nTry scanning the towel!\nCotton yarn (red, white, black), Crochet hook 4mm. Pattern created in Microsoft Excel and custom QR code extension programmed in CSDT Yarn Arts Library\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e \n\n \nTutorial\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\nResearch paper\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\n\n\n[2] Kolam as Algorithmic Pattern (Printer + Zine)Kolam is a South-Indian folk art form. These are hand-drawn patterns made on a grid of dots (pulli) and are passed down through generations of Tamil women. In this project, I combined computational (graph algorithms) and human-made (N-line drawing) approaches to drawing Kolams. You too can draw Kolams using the algorithm I programmed into the little printer. Press the button on the Kolam printer to receive a template and then follow the instructions in the zine laid out next to the printer. It\u2019s like solving a puzzle, enjoy! Want to try something harder? Click here kolam.day\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e \n\tProgrammed in p5.js\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e and ported to Arduino (C++).Hardware - Arduino Uno, Thermal printer, and 3D printed casing. Zine by me.Research paper\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\n\n\n\n\n[3] Islamic Geometry based Moon-Period CalendarI made a period and moon phase tracking monthly calendar based on Islamic geometry patterns. This data viz project was born out of anger, post the Roe vs. Wade legislation (June 2022, USA), where people who menstruate were advised to back up, delete, and hide their period data from apps, doctors, and even their partners. I could no longer let this patriarchal control over periods dictate how I visualise and perceive my body\u2019s rhythms. After all, menstrual rhythms are as mundane and beautiful as observing the moon as it cycles through its phases. To drive home this beautiful analogy, I worked with Islamic geometry\u2019s cyclical and geometric elements to speculate on my body's rhythms and the moon\u2019s cycles through making and coding. \n\tIn collaboration with Arturo from Solder Party\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\nPrinted circuit board, RGB LEDs, Capacitors, RP2040 Stamp Microcontroller with RP2024 Stamp Round Carrier board. Programmed in CircuitPython (Mu)\n\nTutorial\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\nMagazine article\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\n\n[4] CyberDeckChairThis device is a solar-powered contraption with two modes - cyberdeck and deckchair. In cyberdeck mode, use the device as a Pomodoro timer to aid your work productivity. When you are tired of working, activate the deckchair mode and recharge under the sun, both you and the device. The project is designed as a practical reminder to take regular breaks. To set the Pomodoro 25 minute timer, press the left button A (left blue buckle strap). The LED grid display indicates the passage of time in 5 minute intervals. To reset the timer, press the right button B (right blue buckle).     \n\n\tTry using the pomodoro timer!Cotton yarn, Crochet hook 3mm. BBC Micro:Bit, DF Robot Micro Solar Power Manager, 3.7V LiPo 250mAh battery, 1-3V solar panel. Programmed in Microsoft MakeCodeFun fact: This project was endorsed by Cory Doctorow, the science fiction and cyberpunk author and journalist.\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t[5] Ferozkoh Jaali in Code + RhythmThis coding project animates the mathematical drawing construction process of an Islamic architectural motif named \u2018Ferozkoh Jaali\u2019\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e -- a six-fold tiling pattern. The code is synchronized to an Urdu hip-hop soundtrack \u2018Rozi\u2019\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e about female empowerment performed by the Pakistani artist Eva B. \n\t\nBest experienced with audio soundtrack\n\nProgrammed in p5.js \ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\nIslamic Geometry beginner course\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e \n\n\n\n\n\t[6] Binary Love Story in HitomezashiThis white crop top tells a romantic story between One and Zero in a binary stitch pattern. \n\nOn a dotted canvas, One tiptoed to Zero and said \u201cI want to make patterns with you.\u201d Zero gasped and cried out, \u201cYou complete me!\u201d\nThe story is a 88-character micro-fiction written to fit the grid. The technique I used is called Hitomezashi, a variation of the Japanese Sashiko stitches, which can be translated into ones and zeroes. \n\t\nCan you decode the pattern?\nUpcycled white crop top, screen printed dot grid, neon green embroidery DMC floss (E990).\n\n\n[7] CryptoCrochet-KeyMake a smart home security system with DIY crocheted keys! The inspiration for this project is a 8 ply yarn called Crypto\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e. Using similar yarn, I crocheted a set of plush keys and then taught a computer to recognize the keys using Machine Learning techniques. The key to successful key encryption (pun intended) is variegated or multicolored yarn. With every stitch, you are encrypting a code that is impossible to duplicate. The project is created to be inclusive and empowering for those of us skilled in other ways than traditional programmers and to demonstrate how our skills contribute to data technologies.\n\n\tCotton variegated yarn, Crochet hook 4mm. Machine Learning model created in Teachable Machine\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0eand application programmed in p5.js\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e \n\nTutorial\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\nResearch paper\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\n \nMedia coverage\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\n\n[8] B00B-Factor Authentication in Banjara EmbroideryCan folk embroidery help establish digital consent? Inspired by an tribal craft called Banjara Embroidery\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e, this project involves a bra with NFC tags embroidered around the nipple areas. Two tags, one for each b00b, permit two-factor authentication. The right tag leads to a password-protected website, and the left reveals the password to it. If a person wishes to unlock the website, they need to first establish consent with the bra\u2019s wearer. In getting close to wearer\u2019s body, the b00b-factor authentication bra materialises the discomfort of seeking intimacy and trust with remote others you barely know. \n\tGo ahead, unlock the website by interacting with the bra!Red cotton bra, Embroidery DMC (yellow, green), NFC tags\n\nMagazine article\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\nResearch paper\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0eMedia coverage (DE)\ue04e\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e\n"},{"title":"Moon + period calendar","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Moon-period-calendar","pubDate":"Sat, 12 Nov 2022 12:27:59 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Moon-period-calendar","description":"Islamic geometry based period tracking + moon phase calendar \ud83c\udf12\ud83e\ude78\nShocked by the recent overturning of the Roe v. Wade legislation in the USA (June 24, 2022), people who menstruate around the world were advised in a hurry to back up, delete, and hide their period data from apps, doctors, and even their partners. And just like that, we travelled back a hundred years, developing profound fears of patriarchal state control over female bodies. Menstrual rhythms, which are as mundane and beautiful as observing the moon as it cycles through its phases, have once again become a thing to be suppressed, to go unmarked, and not to exist unless it serves a reproductive purpose. I could no longer let the stifling narratives -- about periods, fertility, access, choice and its surrounding analytical and predictive data practices -- define how I visualise and perceive my body\u2019s rhythms. So, I decided to make a moon phase and period tracking data viz. monthly calendar based on Islamic geometry patterns. Playing with Islamic geometry\u2019s cyclical and geometric elements has made it a joy to speculate on my body's rhythms and the moon\u2019s cycles through making and coding. \nThe printed circuit board is made by the founder of Solder Party, @arturo182, and it uses the 2040 Stamp Round Carrier board with CircuitPython to program the LEDs in delectable twilight colours (330019 - period, 190033 - moon). Each circular unit of 10 LEDs is programmed as a single unit. There are 30 units in total (6x5 grid) for 30 days in a month (lunar months always alternate between 29-30 days). \n   \n\nSeeing my period days overlap with the moon phases on a visual display matrix gives me a sense for when my next cycle will arrive.  A code snippet for a single month\u2019s tracking looks like this: show_firstquarter(2, 0x190033)show_fullmoon(9, 0x190033)period(14, 0x330019)show_thirdquarter(15, 0x190033)period(16, 0x330019)period(17, 0x330019)period(18, 0x330019)show_newmoon(24, 0x0F000F)In the image above, my period coincides with the third quarter of the moon, so I predict my future cycle happening a row above it, approximating to the next full moon. In this way, I use my self-knowledge to reprogram the calendar and prepare for the following months\u2019 cycles. Accuracy is not crucial as I\u2019m the only person programming and using the device in the privacy of my home. \n\n\nThe Islamic pattern on the circuit board is based on a ten-pointed star grid (one LED for each star) made with a purple solder mask, white silkscreen, and gold for decorative illumination. \n\nThe 10-pointed star pattern is from a book I found in my late grandfather\u2019s dusty old library when I last visited my parents in India. The book is called \u201cIslamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople\u201d by Eva Wilson (Dover Publications).\n\n\n\nSome disclaimers I designed this device for myself but I understand that different bodies have unique needs and that it may not work for everyone. At the same time, there are tradeoffs between privacy and safety. On the one hand, the device is stand-alone and private, meaning that you can use it in the comfort of your home without requiring an Internet connection. On the other hand, the overt visual display means that other home inhabitants can see where you are in your cycle. Some may not feel safe displaying their cycle to family members or housemates.  I finally want to clarify that by making this project, I'm not pursuing any pseudo theory that syncs moon phases with menstrual cycles. It's simply interesting to put the cycles next to each other and marvel at them individually and together!"},{"title":"Kolam Antenna Workshop","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Kolam-Antenna-Workshop","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Apr 2024 18:25:35 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Kolam-Antenna-Workshop","description":"Kolam Antenna Workshop\nWorkshop for the Open Hardware Summit 2023, New York CityOrganizers: Christin Lundgren & Anu Reddy\nKolam is a folk heritage craft from South India, generating intricate, winding, symmetrical, and geometric patterns. In this workshop, we use these patterns to build-a-long Kolam antennas using copper wire through wire-wrapping. All participants took home a Kolam wire-wrapped antenna that they can use for WiFi\/Bluetooth applications.We began the workshop with an introduction to Kolam as a heritage artistic practice and describe its relevance to craftwork and computation. Christin then described how a monopole antenna works.\n\nFollowing a brief demonstration of wire-wrapping, participants made their own antennas. We provided copper wire and 3D-printed jigs for wire-wrapping the antennas, as well as connectors to add to the antennas. We then incorporated a BlueMacro microcontroller to test the antenna by controlling an RGB LED using the Adafruit Bluefruit Connect App. Participants download the app to test their antenna. Finally, we open-sourced the BlueMacro RGB LED code and made it available to the participants if they wished to modify and use it on their own devices later.\n\n\n \n\n\n\n"},{"title":"B00B-Factor Authentication in Banjara Embroidery - teaser","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/B00B-Factor-Authentication-in-Banjara-Embroidery-teaser","pubDate":"Sun, 12 Jun 2022 09:22:30 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/B00B-Factor-Authentication-in-Banjara-Embroidery-teaser","description":"B00B-Factor Authentication in Banjara Embroidery \ud83e\uddf5\n\nB00b-factor Authentication (suggested pronounciation \u2018bee-zero-zero-bee\u2019 or \u2018bewb\u2019) is a project about intimacy and trust. It incorporates a bra with NFC (near-field communication)\ue149\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e technology embroidered around the nipple area. Two NFC tags, one for each b00b, permit two-factor authentication. The right tag leads to this password-protected project weblink, and the left one provides the password to that link. Suppose a person wishes to activate the message behind the bra. In that case, they will need to actively participate in conveying trust and intimacy with the bra\u2019s wearer. In getting close to the maker-wearer\u2019s body, the b00b-factor authentication bra materialises the discomfort of seeking intimacy and trust with others you barely know.The project combines two ongoing research practices of mine\u200a\u2014\u200aopen hardware and heritage crafts. In my most recent talk titled \u2018Knotty (Naughty) Hardware\u2019\ue149\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e at the Open Hardware Summit 2022, I ended it with a Call to Action for bringing the Open Hardware community closer to heritage craft communities as a move toward generative justice\ue149\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e. In this project, I introduce a heritage craft called \u2018Banjara Embroidery\u2019, prominent in my hometown Hyderabad (Telangana) and many other parts of India. This style of embroidery is a women-led craft by the Banjara community, well-known for their extraordinary skills in creating vibrant and joyful embellishments on worn garments and apparel. These embellishments frequently include mirrors, coins, pom-poms, and cowrie shells stitched directly onto the fabric (red or indigo cloth). This project focuses on reappropriating mirrorwork by including different kinds of Open Hardware on fabric, like resistors, LEDs, RFID\/NFCs, antennas.\n\nHere\u2019s how it works!\n\n\nTo continue reading and to learn more about the project\u2019s historical context, approach, and making process, click here \ue149\ufe0e\ufe0e\ufe0e (right NFC). The password is \u2018banjara\u2019 (left NFC). \n \n"},{"title":"Ferozkoh Jaali","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Ferozkoh-Jaali","pubDate":"Mon, 18 Jul 2022 16:23:17 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Ferozkoh-Jaali","description":"Ferozkoh Jaali in code + rhythm\nSong credit: Rozi by Eva B (soundtrack from Ms. Marvel)\nMade in p5.js\n \nIF AUDIO IS NOT WORKING, TRY THIS: - Allow cookies - Click <\/> in the bar below and press play\n"},{"title":"Internet of Towels - Knotty Articulations","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Internet-of-Towels-Knotty-Articulations","pubDate":"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:44:43 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Internet-of-Towels-Knotty-Articulations","description":"Internet of Towels \ud83e\uddf6 - Knotty Articulations\nI created the Internet of Towels as part of my exploration into data technologies using only fiber arts and crafts (see, for example, my CryptoCrochet-Key project). In plain view, the towel looks just like any other knitted fabric with an abstract pattern on it, but when tilted to 45 degrees (see bottom image), it reveals a QR code that is detectable to any smartphone camera or QR code scanning app.\nThe process behind it is the application of computational thinking to making and crafting. My aim was to devise something new and valuable through the creativity emerging from remixing materials, patterns, and abstractions with ideas, objects, and systems (Gaskins, 2021). This project combines two patterns or techniques namely lenticular images and QR codes, resulting in an absurdly new kind of computational object \u2014 the Internet of Towels. \n\nHere is the link to a tutorial for making the Internet of Towels.\n\n\n\n"},{"title":"Secure Your Home IoT with the CryptoCrochet-Key ","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Secure-Your-Home-IoT-with-the-CryptoCrochet-Key","pubDate":"Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:10:32 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Secure-Your-Home-IoT-with-the-CryptoCrochet-Key","description":"Secure Your Home IoT with the CryptoCrochet-Key \ud83e\uddf6\ud83d\udd10\n\nThe CryptoCrochet-Key is part \u2018hack\u2019 and part \u2018pedagogical device\u2019 that defamiliarizes existing computational practices (learning code) from an intersectional feminist lens. Using a handy yarn named \u2018Crypto\u2019, I encrypt a physical key through crochet and then teach a computer to recognize the crocheted key using Machine Learning. This project is created to be inclusive and empowering for those skilled in other ways than traditional programmers and to show how their skills can contribute to a critical discussion of data-driven technologies\u2014i.e. by putting the tech to radically different uses.\nHere you will find a link to the 3 part tutorial to the CryptoCrochet-Key. It begins with instructions for making the key and then moves to the Machine Learning part of the project. The final part shows how to run the CryptoCrochet-Key Machine Learning model securely on a Raspberry Pi 4.\n\nThe image below is a screenshot from the hacker news platform hackster.io which originally covered this project. \n\n"},{"title":"Crafting with Crochet As Open Source Hardware (OSHW)","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Crafting-with-Crochet-As-Open-Source-Hardware-OSHW","pubDate":"Sun, 14 Mar 2021 18:51:52 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Crafting-with-Crochet-As-Open-Source-Hardware-OSHW","description":"Crafting with Crochet As Open Source Hardware \ud83e\uddf6 Hackspace Magazine Issue#40\nI published a tutorial piece in Hackspace magazine (part of RaspberryPi Foundation) to get into the hacker mindset of my research while experimenting with the boundaries of what counts as Open Source Hardware using crochet.A Resistor Cushion is a pin\/needle cushion but for colour-coded resistors. The cushion has been certified as Open Source Hardware (OSHW) under the CERN Open Hardware License (CERN-OHL-1.2) and the documentation is licensed under the Creative Commons Attributions (CC-BY-4.0) license. The published tutorial can be accessed via this PDF.\n\n Issue#40 Cover:\n\nFront Image of the tutorial:\n The complete magazine issue can be accessed here."},{"title":"Kambi Kolam as Algorithmic Pattern","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Kambi-Kolam-as-Algorithmic-Pattern","pubDate":"Sun, 17 Mar 2024 14:31:43 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Kambi-Kolam-as-Algorithmic-Pattern","description":"Kambi Kolam as Algorithmic Pattern\nI was invited to give a guest talk at the Algorithmic Pattern Salon\ue095\ufe0e as an upcoming research resident at the non-profit organisation ThenTryThis\ue095\ufe0e. In this talk, I make an attempt to combine computational and human-centered approaches to Kambi Kolams using the N-line drawing method and a depth-first search graph algorithm.\nYou can read the text here\ue095\ufe0e.\n\n\n\n"},{"title":"Algocraft: Remixing Craft, Culture and Computation","link":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Algocraft-Remixing-Craft-Culture-and-Computation","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Apr 2024 18:05:23 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/anuradhareddy.com\/Algocraft-Remixing-Craft-Culture-and-Computation","description":"Algocraft: Remixing Craft, Culture, and ComputationI was invited to give a talk for Brilliant Labs\ue095\ufe0e, an Atlantic-Canadian based charity working with young people and community leaders to integrate creativity, innovation, and contemporary technologies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. \nMy talk on \u2018AlgoCraft\u2019 or Algorithmic Craft showcases projects where I bring craft, culture, and computation together in fun and inventive ways. With the help of key concepts like patterns, grammars, and symmetries, I describe my creative process of translating between heritage craft and computing languages.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}]}}