Here are a couple of images of the sanded plug. Unfortunately there was a few errors in the computer model, so a couple of bumps need to be smoothed out. A bigger issue was the the shape in the front erroneously had been extended too far in the same computer model, making the hole for the speaker too small. This now needs to be corrected manually after the fiberglass has been molded by cutting the edge 2.6cm along the same line. Anyway, I’m optimistic that this will be surmountable and the the finished sculpture will not suffer.


Lacquered for extra detail.

Video of the CNC machine working the conch shape over at HPC in fredrikstad.

Looks good but there are a few errors in the model that needs to be smoothed out. A small bum and a couple of hard edges. Will work these out manually next week with Paal Fediuk, the engineer.

Unfortunately production got very delayed so my planned test viewing of the installation at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo will have to be postponed until October.

Here is a diagram of the conch from a side view. It shows how the driver will be mounted and connected to the plug-hole in the back. A plug connection midway on the cable to will make it easier to mount and dismount the speaker.

The conch is now in production. This is an early styrofoam model that was machined from the CAD model. I’ll post more images soon! Early next week I’ll have the full form carved in it’s proper material.

I’m back in Oslo for the summer and have a tight schedule planned for finishing the conch sculpture. Paal Feduik at High Performance Composites in Fredrikstad will build the actual sculpture using the CAD models Ragnhild Haugum has provided him. Ragnhild has spent a good deal of time trying to trace my polygon model with nurbs curves in AutoCAD for the last few months and have now finally finished her work. And it looks good! First off we’ll do a small prototype model to see if there are any changes we might want to do with the design. Seeing an object in real life can reveal weaknesses in the design that can be hard to spot on a computer screen. I will post images of it as soon as it is finished. Final production is scheduled for July/August, with private viewing and testing session.

Part two of the podcast about the subConch.

I’ve done a small test render to visualize the sculpture in 360. Some error in the HDRI though, but I haven’t figured it out. Anyway, it’s just a simple render so people can see. The CAD model will be finished this week and shipped off to get quotes from modelling workshops.

http://www.subconch.net/more.html

This week the CAD drawing for the conch sculpture will be finished and I can go ahead and find a contractor to produce it. Looking forward to beginning this part of the project. Also, I’m eagerly awaiting the dry sensor version of the headset from Emotiv, which is expected this quarter. I’m pretty sure the new headset will make my gallery installation much less of a hassle for the average audience member.
Also, Emotiv shipped be the DLL I need to make a general release for all Emotiv users of the subConch software application. I’m hoping to get this done in the next couple of weeks.