Nikolai Kozak

About
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Multidisciplinary artist and wooden boatbuilder, 
interested in memory and interfaces.

Former partner at 
Bede-Fazekas & Kozak in Budapest, Hungary

Currently attending ITP @ NYU.

Pneumatic Controller

Latex, screen, plexiglass, pressure sensors + arduino, p5.js
w/Nasif Rincon Romaite

This pneumatic controller was my final project for the Physical Computation class at NYU-ITP. The project was displayed at the 2024 ITP Winter Show. 

The controller is a combination of a latex balloon and an embedded screen - changes in pressure of the balloon drive changes in the visuals being displayed on-screen. The visuals are totally arbitrary - we experimented with displaying color, satelite imagery, and ultimately settled on zooming through a field of text. Text seemed to prompt the most desire to actually apply pressure to the material and attempt to “read” the otherwise blurry words.
The physicality of the object is fundamental: the latex creates a natural “blur” effect (we were, at the time, being inundated by Olafur Eliasson’s “digital blur”, and quite liked being able to create a natural alternative). Pressing on the latex reduces the distance to the embedded screen - as the latex gets closer to the screen, the blur is reduced (and the content on the screen reacts to the increase in pressure).

We discovered that an altimeter breakout board provided us with incredibly accurate and noise-less measurements of pressure changes for a lower cost than what traditional “pressure” sensors would cost. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the build was the gasket that created an airtight seal around the latex - finding the right foam and manufacturing the gasket out of acrylic proved to be an extremely challenging fabrication problem.