Waag Society Fablab Amsterdam

Image: 

For a project at the V2_lab we had to develop a transparent touchpad in textile. For this we needed to create circuit boards that are thin, small, easy to mount on a textile substrate and more or less flexible. To create such a circuit board we started to experiment with cutting copper foil on the CAMM-1 at Protospace fablab.

Image: 

We had a very interesting day talking to pupils and teachers about the wearable. The feedback was very valuable.

The boys found the clip very cool, but too attention creating for wearing on the street. They would rather have a wearable that resembles normal headphones. This a quick sketch to illustrate the possibilities.

Image: 

This is working protype was made to test and communicate:

• How it feels to document your social struggles with a camera.
• How it feels to interact with an AR character.
• How it feels to wear the wearable

The blue light indicates that the camera is recording.

Image: 

We have created a custom hart rate reader to be a part of the wearable prototype. It is meant meant to be clipped onto the lower part of your ear while you wear the head band. Unfortunately an ear lobe is not thick enough to get a stable reading, so this one only works on your finger tip.

Image: 

A prototype for how a working the wearble can be worn on the body

Ways of wearing

From first test of principle to refined prototype

Image: 

After noticing the large amount of youth wearing scarf's, I thought it would be nice to experiment with an Augmented Reality version. I embroidered an AR tag onto a long piece of cotton fabric with our new embroidery machine. I then sewed the fabric to a scarf and stuffed it with soft padding. The feel is great and it functions super with AR.

Image: 

.

The Earables concept is the first idea to come out of the street research. The thought is that the threshold for using a SelfCity wearable will be much lower if it fits within a familiar archetype, but still functions as a beautiful identity statement
Big shiny earrings is one of the most common accessories I observed in the street research. An Earable is a wearable incorporated into a big shiny earring.

Image: 

This is a sketch for an Augmented Reality wearable. It is an armband with an integrated camera and display.

It is an expensive solution, because of the camera, display and graphic processing technology. But it gives a lot of design freedom, and the final product it guaranteed to work for every user.

Image: 

A quick sketch of how the dæmon can be transfered between the game and the pupils phones.

Image: 

This is a quick test of the possibilities of using haptic feedback as a transfer between SelfCity and the pupils everyday lives.