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Wearable Technology (+ a bit of Open Sourcery)
1. Wearable Technology (+ a bit of open sourcery)
Open Source Hardware Camp, UK, 2012
Rain Ashford - http://rainycatz.wordpress.com
2. Hello, my name is Rain and I create interactive wearables and art, working with
many flavours of microcontrollers & various components…
3. I’m interested in…
Social interaction – formal and
informal events where one is put
on the spot/ excruciating
circumstances: networking, bars,
clubs, meet ups, introductions,
conferences, etc.
Building multi-sensor wearables which
output data on the wearer’s
physiological signs comprised of:
a logging device
sensors – tracking physiological
signs: heart rate, accelerometer,
temperature, etc.
Actuators
Visually reactive
Sonically reactive
Might record sound / feedback
‘Yr In Mah Face’: temperature /mood sensing t-shirt from user
camera
4. Wearable technology is a diverse area,
and can be fashionable, whimsical, fun,
practical, arty, serious, protective,
interactive, sensing, medical, energy
harvesting, communicating,
musical and lots more…
5. A quick tour: In the beginning…
Wearable technology of yore: heavy, messy, angular & clunky
6. Beam me up Scotty…
..sci-fi has a lot to answer for!
7. But we’re moving on from when wearable tech
evoked thoughts of axe grinding cyborgs, serf
robots, toasters and space pirates…
8. Some people have obviously had too much sci-fi…
“Let’s just hope that they all don’t show up at once.“ Anon
..but I digress!
9. Anyways I have tons of questions…
What are we going to use Wearable
Technology for?
How will Open Source work with Wearable
Tech industry?
What about sustainability?
OpenWear / open design?
Interoperability vs proprietry?
Will smartphones / computers end up
integrated into our clothing?
Ethics issues - who owns / has access to
our data?
Privacy & Surveillance
How far will we get towards Cyborg
culture - implants anyone? CuteCircuit M-Dress
..for another time!
10. The growth of hacker culture & communities has inspired a new group of creatives to evolve
and enter the tech industries
11. ..a convergence of readily available electronic components, shared knowledge through
communities and open source approaches to technology has broken barriers to learning &
creativity
12. For me, the availability of sewable electronic & e-textiles has revolutionised the way I and
many other artists & designers work
13. ..plus the styling of some of these components has made them more attractive to work with
15. LilyPad Arduino Microcontroller
• Fabulousness • My wish list
It’s sewable! An industrial version
It’s open source – you can find Make it cheaper
the Eagle files & free code More modules please
libraries online / with IDE Different sizes and shapes of
Good number of digital & board
analogue I/O Choice of microcontrollers
Great vector for encouraging Variable voltages
girls/ boys /adults/ artists
/anyone / to experience More competitors, to increase
electronics innovation (Flora, Seeedstudio)
It’s round (dismisses the idea that Development of washable
electronics are sharp grey and conductive thread
cold)
Enthusiastic & helpful community
16. The miniaturization of technology has changed how people build & use wearable tech &
electronics; they’re no longer comprised of cold, bulky sharp, boxy & ugly components that
you might prefer to remain hidden
19. The availability of sensors in particular that allowed me to bring my ideas to fruition
20. ..plus due to communties & individuals interested in sharing knowledge there’s lots of
information out there to help you make your own!
21. Hacking existing tech & combining sensors has allowed me to
make pieces such as ‘You Make My <3 Flutter’: a proximity
detecting, heart rate sensing ‘techlace’
22. And for looking at social interaction -‘Yr In Mah Face’: temperature /mood sensing t-shirt
- uses Celsius temperature data from a sensor, averages it, then visualises the results via
LEDs.
23. I’m also interested in practical uses - Don’t Break My Heart is a wearable, colour-coded
distance warning system prototype for cyclists to wear on their back
25. Summary: exciting time for e-textiles & wearable tech
Availability of sewable electronics is revolutionising the work of artists &
designers
Hackspaces & online communities are helping demystify electronics & coding
Open Source ethos is sharing & making knowledge more accessible
Small Maker start-ups are changing the face of tech entrepreneurs
Sewable electronics are inspiring a broader demographic to become
interested in electronics & coding
School age students are investigating electronics & code via e-textiles and
wearable tech
26. Wearable tech workshops for 8-16 year olds for Technocamps, an initiative to encourage
school children in Wales to try out various forms of computer & hardware based tech from
robotics, game development, animation to forensics.
27. ..for schools in Aberystwyth, Lampeter & Cardigan,
homeschoolers (mums came too!) & Saturday drop in club.
Sophie & I show our Dragons to the MEP for
Wales, Aberystwyth University & Technocamps
dignitaries came to see what we were up to!
28. A big list of stuff the students learned about…
Intro to wearable tech Functions
E-textiles Variables
Intro to Arduino & LilyPad Numbers: eg Intergers
Video examples by others Delays can be so much fun!
Communicating with computers via USB True / False states
Arduino IDE Conditional s: If / else statements
Compiling Loops
Uploading Formatting is important!
Power & Ground Serial monitor
Ohm’s Law Drawing simple circuits
Resistors Not to be afraid
Sensors Learn from things not working
Actuators Troubleshooting
Analogue vs Digital Experimenting is good
PWM Hacking isn’t bad!
Circuits, inc Parallel & Series circuits You can personalise your work
Short circuits You can work on your own or with friends
Switches Forget about stereotypes
Sewing with conductive thread Coding / Electronics isn’t gender specific
Breadboards Invent stuff!
Crocodile clips Have fun with code & electronics!
29. Ideas and work examples from Wearable Technology half
day workshop & three-day Easter bootcamp.
The students loved how they could personalise and
control electronics very quickly by learning a few
examples of code and following a few rules of
circuitry!
30. Summary: get coding and hardware hacking
into more schools!
School age students enjoy investigating electronics & code via e-textiles and
wearable tech
Wearable tech as a vehicle fascinates school children as it allows them to use
their imagination and come up with fantastic ideas
Young people are very inquisitive and receptive to the principles of open
source
Giving students project examples that they can personalise gets them
interested
Don’t talk too long - show them straight away how to get a response from
code and hardware
Video examples give them ideas!
Make workshops fun – find interesting analogies to describe what they’re
going to do
Don’t make lessons dull and worthy!
Don’t try to make them touch each other in role playing games ;-)
31. Thank you for your attention!
@Rainycat
http://rainycatz.wordpress.com
http://Rain Ashford 2012
Notas del editor
Protosnap LilyPad Arduino board & component kit
Protosnap LilyPad Arduino board & component kit