Waag Society Fablab Amsterdam

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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.

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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.

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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.

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This is an experiment to see how interaction between two dæmons could work. The idea is that pupils can can play with each others dæmons.

This is an important part of the wearable. It increases the fun and play level, and reduces the serious and sad experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-s2VN0JlZ4

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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

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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.

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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.

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On Friday the 10^th of October I conducted a street research of ways that youth wear objects on their body. I walked through as varied parts of Amsterdam possible. Starting with Centrum and then through Jordan, P.C Hooftstraat, de Pijp and ending in de Bijlmer. I tried to to document the most interesting things I saw with my camera.

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On Friday the 26th, I attented the Augmented Reality lab and special at Picnic08. The event was organized by Touching Media.

The view through an Augmented Reality HMD (Head Monted Display)

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On Wednesday the 24th of September we presented the SelfCity project at Picninc08 with great success.