Sketch Two: Your Touch Powers My Heart

For this project we combined some of our concepts mentioned previously with the intention of moving it forward over the next few weeks. We took to the idea of the hair lights reacting to human touch but integrated it into a shirt, that would later incorporate elements of the defence suit. The longer there is skin contact, the more LED's light up and pulse, starting from the bottom of the shirt and moving upwards.

The way it works is that we've sewn a basic circuit with two wires and a resistor into a glove. When the two ends of the wires come into contact with a conductive material (skin in this case), the LED's in the shirt are activated. We've sewn four sets of LED's into the shirt (20 in total, scattered sporadically for visual asymmetry). When the wearer first comes into contact with skin, the first set lights up and pulses. After a few pulses (which can be adjusted in the Arduino code), the second set of LED's light up, and so forth.

Hard circuit of how four sets of LED's light up sequentially, which was translated onto clothing

Relationship between the glove as a sensor and LED's on shirt as an output.

LED's fully lit up upon human skin contact

We wanted to explore the idea of intimacy - in this case it is more direct because the longer the touch, the more lights pulse and the shirt becomes more attractive. Going forward, we are also incorporating elements of the defence suit to play with the boundaries of defence and intimacy. For example, when the wearer becomes wary the defence suit becomes activated, but when he or she becomes more comfortable with particular human touch the shirt begins to light up. This is only an assumption the that person becomes comfortable only after becoming wary, so we would have to play with the idea. We did, however, work with some possible forms for the defence suit and will be focusing on the movement aspect and overall aesthetics of the wearable piece in the coming weeks.

Exploration of the form for the defence suit (shoulders and back of neck are enlarged)

Sketch Two Concepts

For Sketch Two we came up with three concepts that involve wearable technology. Below is our model, Jacques, proudly displaying all the concepts, as well as a description of the concepts. 

Concept One: Fiber-Optic Hair Lights

The first concept looks at the idea of communication through movement, inspired by how animals communicate through body language and color. It would connect different types of movements and use lit-up fiber optics in the hair as an output. Depending on the speed and patterns of one's movements, certain colors would light up in the hair as an effect of the movement. We also wanted to play with the idea of intimacy. In this case, if the wearer comes into contact with another person, the LED's embedded in the hairpiece would brighten or flare up. 

To realize this idea technically, we would use accelerometers to detect the direction and speed of movement, incorporate RGB LED's and fiber-optics into a hairpiece, and use a glove which would act as a touch sensor for detecting human contact (skin is conductive, so skin contact would complete the switch circuit sewn onto the glove).

Concept Two: Furry Night Friend

This concept takes the form of a furry friend that sits on the shoulder to act as a companion for those who are afraid of the dark. Embedded into a scarf, the creature responds to a dark environment via a light sensor that detects this. The creature would then light up (through LED's) and softly purr (through vibration sensors, which would ideally activate upon human touch), allowing for both the wearer and the creature to be sources of comfort for one another. 

Concept Three: Defence Suit

Inspired by defence mechanisms that animals take when sensing danger (such as embedding themselves into a tree bark of similar color), this concept explores the idea of the personal bubble through the form of a suit that expands as an act of defence. When proximity or loud noises are sensed, the suit would expand from its current shape to perk up and make the wearer look bigger and more intimidating, yet remaining sculptural and elegant. Areas to consider for changing in shape are the shoulders, neck, and elbows, where extra material can be added for an inflated effect. 

Realization of this idea would require motors that move wires underneath the suit to facilitate the change in shape. We would also be looking at sound and proximity sensors to detect loud sounds and proximity. We would also need to consider how the user can control these actions to prevent the suit from accidentally going off against their will. We would most likely create a switch where the user can control exactly when the suit inflates.  

Soft Circuit: Beating Heart

In preparation for our sketch two project we were encouraged to test out soft circuits. Our team designed a circuit that included LED's in the shape of a heart, along with a light sensor. We designed it so that the darker the environment, the faster the heart beats. This could simulate a person who is scared of the dark. Conductive thread was used to complete the circuit. Below are some images and a video of our soft circuit.

Hard-wired Arduino board with basic light sensor circuit, which was later translated into a wearable garment.

Wires connecting from light sensor to 5V, and resistor to ground.

We sewed a parallel circuit, where the negative side is on the inside and positive on the outside. Negative leg of LED is connected to ground, and positive leg to pin 13.

We made a pocket to house the battery and Arduino board, so we would not have to be wired up to a computer. 

The Arduino code has been uploaded onto the board, and is connected to the battery, and is ready to go.