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Expanding Human Sensing: Work in Progress | 2007 - Present Mixed media | Wearable Sense Enhancement | Concept Images The idea for my graduate thesis topic was inspired by the idea that our brains are the fastest, most capable computers, and at the same time very adaptable. Through the power of the display screen we now have access to information about so many things, including dynamic real-time information about the world around us. Nearly all of this information requires at least partial engagement of our visual sense to receive the data, which can lead to bandwidth 'saturation' of our visual senses. I read a WIRED magazine article about a belt that tells the wearer which way is North by vibrating one of thirteen miniature motors mounted around the waist. After wearing the belt for 3 years, the study found that the wearer still knew at all times (even in unfamiliar places) absolute direction. From here, I posited that there must be other types of interpretable sensory extensions that can show us new things about our environment. My work for the first quarter of this year has been to explore areas of sensory expansion. My work going forward will require choosing a specific area in which to iterate and develop a concise point of view. My primary project was to create a wearable device that translates the informatino from two ultrasonic range sensors to proportional intensity vibration motors worn on the skin. Could this help motorcyclists? The blind? The deaf? People from the future?
Body Sense is an idea for a suit that continuously measures the relative location and rate of our limbs. Imagine a shirt that knows precisely the angle of your jonits, and the speed of your arms as they propel a golf club. With this kind of information widely available, consumers can buy Tiger Woods' golf swing online, and download it to their Body Sense shirt. With vibrating and force actuators that tell the use when their joints aren't bent enough, or moving quickly enough, we could pay to learn a professionals muscle memory. What would a motion/grace/coordination comodity system be like?
Another area that grew out of this investigation is the idea of exposing dynamic information about our surroundings. We can map in real-time human excitement levels through the use of an external, color-changing and blinking light that corresponds to the wearer's pulse rate. The image in the middle is a simulation of what a club might look like with people wearing these glowing, pulse-patches. There might be pockets of energy and different colors. With this information, clubs and bars could update a website with the intensity level such that users could pick their evening's activities depending on the kind of experience they want to have.
© 2008 Simon Weiss |
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