Exploring wearable technology & electronic art using microcontrollers, sensors & e-textiles

Rain Ashford | http://rainycatz.wordpress

I create interactive wearables and art, working with many flavours of microcontrollers & various components…

I’m also part of a fantastic community of hardware & code hackers, artists and makers spread across the world

My work intersects several areas I’ve studied and enjoy: art, coding and electronics

Twinkle Starduino 2009

I’m fascinated by the juxtaposition of self tracking combined with social interaction and visibility of emotions, self-awareness and physical states via the use of sensors and actuators

..plus observing how audiences interact with my work & I’ve become a lot more interested in how people react to electronics in social situations

Sci-Fi has been a massive inspiration, but does all wearable technology have to look like… ?

NOPE!

..but I do like to challenge the notion that electronics has to be cold, sharp, boxy, grey & dull – by incorporating them into the overall design of my work

This is the LilyPad Arduino

..it’s a microcontroller & suite of modules designed for wearables & e-textiles that can be sewn directly to fabric with conductive thread. It use it for most of my wearable & e-textile based artworks

LilyPad ArduinoMicrocontroller

Wearables Sound Artworks Games All Interactive

Conductive Thread E-Textiles C (ish) Programming Sensors Actuators Repurposing

Electronics Conductive items

LilyPad Arduino Microcontroller

Fabulousness

It’s sewable! It’s open source – you can

find the Eagle files & code libraries online

Good number of digital & analogue I/O

Great vector for encouraging girls/ boys /adults/ artists /anyone / to experience electronics

It’s round (dismisses the idea that electronics are sharp grey and cold)

Enthusiastic & helpful community

Could be improved!

It’s not cheap! More modules please Different sizes and shapes of

board Different microcontrollers An industrial version with

possibility of using different voltages

More competitors, to increase innovation

Different types of I/O

For a glimpse of what you can do with LilyPad Arduino & e-textiles I’d like to show you some examples of my wearable, interactive & sound artworks!

Twinkle Tartiflette: words, image and sound into an interactive experience, brought to life by touching the words with a stylus

I <3 0X0: an interactive artwork, game, musical fancy and experiment in conductive Velcro

I wanted to create something interactive and playful and after some pondering I decided on a musical game of noughts & crosses!

‘Yr In Mah Face’: temperature /mood sensing t-shirt - uses Celsius temperature data from a sensor, averages it, then visualises the results via LEDs.

‘You Make My <3 Flutter’: proximity detecting, heart rate sensing ‘techlace’

Don’t Break My Heart is a wearable, colour-coded distance warning system prototype for cyclists to wear on their back

Thank you for your attention!

@Rainycat http://rainycatz.wordpress.com

http://Rain Ashford 2012