This piece is a fiber optics light which communicates the change of environment to anyone who sees its light, mainly the wearer. The piece acts as an organic part of the wearer’s body: it feels the environment just like the body, but it reflects and visualizes the environment.
Many who saw this piece say it “looks cool”, but it is not until I explain how the light reflects the environment that they understand how it works. So I would say the interaction is quite personal here, it is only through traveling through different environments, days and nights, that one can echo with it.
In this piece of wearable. There’re three sensors: a light sensor which senses the brightness of light of all wavelengths in the spectrum, from IR to Visible; an environment sensor which senses temperature, humidity, and pressure of the environment; a microphone which detects the decibel of sound in the environment.
The actuators are the five bright 4w NeoPixel LEDs transferring their light to the fiber optics.
The interplay between sensing and actuating happens by using the data of the sensors to control different parameters of the LEDs, the light from the LEDs then goes to the fiber optics to weave a color scheme: the brighter the ambient light is the brighter the LEDs are —— to keep the LEDs noticeable; the amount of IR controls the warmth of all colors (more red when higher, vice versa); the temperature, humidity, and pressure controls the Green and Blue of the LEDs (temperature and humidity control two, pressure controls one); when the decibel value hits a threshold, the white LED will shine (they are RGBW LEDs). This set of ever-changing color schemes is very much an indicator of every aspect of the environment.
Also, I had the idea of expandability in the very early stage of this project. I designed it to have a magnetic connector, which is hidden in the circuit box. With appropriate code, it can be connected to basically anything, like other wearables, more sensors, or even MIDI devices. I haven’t designed any module for it but it’s definitely a possibility.
Since this project is an indicator of the environment, it certainly draws attention from others. It’s also designed to be worn in public spaces and on the streets. Socially, the others would have a rough idea of how this light echoes with the environment. However, as its message only fully makes sense with a long-term observation of its changes in different environments, it’s more personal. It requires attention from the wearer to compare its change of color and light to his/her own feelings of the environment.
Future Work/Next Steps
In the time we had for this class, I wasn’t able to fully explore the ergonomics of the soft (fabric, fiber optics) and the hard (circuit, structure) as I’m still not experienced in these fabrication techniques. I also hop that I would be able to think more about the form and aesthetics.
I would continue to simplify the structure and reduce the overall weight of this piece so that it can be something that would be worn in a daily basis. Also, I would like to develop its expandability to act as a tool of expression in more ways.
Just like what I want to do to all my projects, I would incorporate the circuit in a PCB, a flexible one, specifically. So, there won’t be a mix of soft and hard material and there would be a great deal of weight loss.