lovegety

lovegety. this was a device designed for japanese youth to help find love… (in a nutshell). the user would input their mood, then if another lovegety of the opposeite sex was in the same area, it would alert the users. i’m listing this as a precedent as a more serious approach to what i did with glowundies (bluntly declare love or not for a member of the opposite sex). i couldn’t find a specific lovegety web site, just several articles about the gadget from 1998…

other personal space projects

Teresa Almeida: Modes for Urban Moods. user inflates the dress when personal space is being invaded. <wmmna>

this is another inflatable dress that deals with personal space. in additon to inflating, it also has spikes on the back. this was created by Diana Eng & Emily Albinski.<wmmna>

I can say that the difference between my personal space project and others that i’m coming across, is that mine will respond based on predetermined factors, as opposed to the user triggering it. although, maybe it’s better that the user trigger it… maybe sometimes you need more space than others? i need to make a prototype that the user triggers though since my proximity sensors are not arriving any time soon, it would seem, and it appears i may have purchased a difficult to use ultrasonic rangefinder..

Bea Camacho: Extensions

when i came across Bea Camacho‘s Extensions via wmmna, these crocheted glove/sleeves, i was instantly drawn to them because of the absurd and exaggerated forms they take. although my pieces are meant to be functional, i too am exaggerating something (awkward interactions as a result of functional wearable items); she is physically exaggerating the idea of isolation and separation by making these extensions which don’t extend the functionality of your arms, they actually keep people away, keep interactions from ocurring, and even make it hard to walk, or move, it would seem. i’m listin this a precedent more for form – but they seem more relevent to my personal space belt (the zap version).

form options: personal space

so does this personal space contraption need to be worn around the waist? what about wristbands each with an ultrasonic rangefinder in them – then, both giving the wearer control by stretching the arms, but also automatically detecting what’s “too close” and triggering the response. but is that problematic because as you move your arms, other objects may come in the way of the rangefinder and activate it intermittantly, in motion from one position to the next, or something? or even perhaps something you are holding?

no matter how i end up doing it, i should remember to add an on off switch.

second base block bra/chastity bra

in thinking about the personal space belt, whatver form it may take – belt, wristbands, etc, so maybe more accurate to say, in thinking about personal space, but also about glowundies adn love which always make me think to some degree about chastity, and also as i’m in the mindset of ZAPPING what with the other project i’m working on (zapupuncture) i’m thinking about another project but i’m not sure how related it is to my thesis as a whole, its not about awkward behavior – or is it?

is it awkward when the boy(or girl) you’ve started seeing wants to go to second base but you’re not ready for him to be feeling you up? you want them to stop and it’s kind of awkward to have to repeatedly push their hands away, right? hmm maybe this *is* awkward. so, what if you didn’t have to do anything, it would just zap them! it would occur over the bra so the wearer of the bra would receive no zap, the material woul proect them, btu the conductive fabric would zap the fondler. it won’t work over clothing so no worries about bumping into people. i am wondering, though, if the bra material is protecting the girl wearing it, if even though the conductive fabric will be over it, will that prevent the shock from ocurring? i will have to test this out.

a little truth

the class liked the idea of the small talk generator having some bits of truth in it. but of the examples i listed (in a previous post in this category) were received as too specific. what exactly i should make the piece *say* remains undecided.

i wasn’t sure if i should make a different version for both males and females, but the everyone else seemed to think i should. there was even a comment made about the two pieces being worn by a guy and a girl and having a “conversation” with each other. having the voice be like some sort of spokesperson/infomercialish tv personality to play up the fakeness came up too, or maybe looking for some sort of computer voice widget.

people started to talk about pulling the string and where you pull it from and i can’t remember why but mike said from your neck, or rather, throat, and i kind of liked that… i might make two casings, one for stomach, and one for the neck and test out both ways and see which is better. wearing it around the neck makes me think of a leash though, and i’m not exactly sure i want to imply that a person is being led, or controlled, by those around them. or maybe they are slightly, their responses anyways. maybe. i’m not sure.

glowundies: show or hide the switches? (hide)

as far as the design of glowundies’ accompanying garment, i didn’t know whether the soft switches i was going to make should be visible – like silver on white material, or if that was too distracting from the main purpose – the crotch – the undies. Again, simple is better seemed to win with the class, and that the gestures were enough. adam said something about, saying that the gestures are “perfectly natural” (exaggerated of course), so people expect and understand them, and seeing a silver patch on the back and shoulder seems uneccessary. also, without seeing these distracting patches, the gesture comes as a “nice surprise” is what i think jonathan said, so you’re not expecting it, but a shiny patch might make one suspicious that there’s a wearable technology a brewin…

gesture + gender

there was positive response to the incorporation of exaggerated appropriate gesture with glowundies. mike or jonathan said something about this making them less of a novelty, which is good.

the gestures i’ve decided upon are gender-specific. i’d also talked about adding a graphic for sexual orientation but didnt know what sort of gesture to associate with that. the class seemed to agree that that would be a hard thing to do, and even if i came up with/found one, it would probably be the sort of gesture that wouldn’t necessarily be specific to the situtaiton where people are expressing romantic interest to one another. what i’m saying is, and what the consensus seemed to be was, it doesn’t make sense to make them orientation specific as well, because there is no universal and separate gesture for “i’m gay and so i’m not interested” vs. “i’m straight so i’m not interested”. besides, i also think that part of what’s important about these projects is just blunt, direct communication, and being so specific, giving a reason to why you are saying “no” seems unnecesary.

so it’s decided, just yes and no. but i might still make one that also just glows all over, just because i think it will look cool.

MAXSonar-EZ1

adam said that the proximity sensor i ordered may not have the range i needed… it was suggested that i get an ultra sonic range finder. i called the the nyu computer store and i was in luck! Five in stock! expensive though. nearly $30… but i bought two. just in case. kept the reciept… what i got is called the MAXSonar-EZ1. Now must talk to becky to figure out how the crap to use it.

also, can i extend the rangefinding with something like conductive fabric? or am i contstrained to that one square inch of the rangefinder?

truth?

i’m wondering whether the small talk generator should just generate small talk. maybe i should also create a version which spouts only the truth. or after discussing with lisa, she suggested that maybe it could spout small talk, but every once in a while, there would be bits of truth.