Architec Tradure

Category: design

  • 12JanTaptap, the affectionate scarf

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    TapTap: A Haptic Wearable for Asynchronous Distributed Touch Therapy

    I continued the development on my conceptual idea touching memories and as a team we came up with a final prototype called ‘taptap’.

    TapTap is a wearable haptic system that allows nurturing human touch to be recorded, broadcast and played back for emotional therapy. Haptic input/output modules in a convenient modular scarf provide affectionate touch that can be personalized.

    Movie of Taptap


    This picture shows the second prototype that is a scarf with large pockets with a power supply. The design of the scarf is intended to make it wearable in a number of ways and allow specific TapTap actuators to be mounted wherever the wearer desires. The outside of the scarf is a public color (gray) while the inside and its intimate actuators are a warm color (pink).

    Based on haptic devices, taptap can be re-configured to record and play back the touch that is most meaningful to each user. It is made from felt in two layers: one grey one that faces the public and a pink layer that touches you and contains the haptic modules in specially designed pockets. Taptap can be worn as a regular scarf, and custom touch modules can be placed in powered pockets within to record and play back touch where and when you want it

    Taptap was blogged by Regine Debatty on we-make-money-not-art.com with a nice summary and useful references 🙂

    Taptap is a team and class project for the Tangible Media class final assignment at MIT Media Lab taught by Dr Hiroshi Ishii. I presented with Leo at CHi’06 as an extended Abstract of Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘06), (Montreal, Quebec, Canada. April 22-27, 2006) by Bonanni, L., Lieberman, J., Vaucelle, C., Zuckerman, O. (alphabetical order). Download pdf.

    Taptap was part of the second Seamless fashion show, on February 1, at the Boston Museum of Science.

    On this picture, I wear a second prototype

    A few publications on Taptap and its next steps:
    . A Framework for Haptic Psycho-Therapy Published in the Proceedings of IEEE ICPS Pervasive Health Systems Workshop, Lyon, France, 2006.
    . Affective TouchCasting Published in the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH’06, Boston, USA. Abstract from publisher: ACM Press. Download pdf

  • 20JanThe Breathing Wall

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    The Breathing Wall is a Kinetic Installation that shows a wall reacting to the public space. Made out of architectural objects that work independently or dependently of one another, it deploys and retracts soft fabric

    This picture shows the mechanics and electronics of our Breathing Wall piece.

    On this picture I create shadows on the light sensors to have the Breathing Wall react to my presence.

    During our conceptual phase, we thought of an assembly of cloth cubes that would form partial transparency. When densely packed, they form a privacy cloud or mist enclosure. When they retract they close the view they were enhancing. The idea is to use these kind of elements to define more diffuse borders in architecture. Soft edges resembling the spatial limits one finds in nature and in the landscape.

    Our concept



    Inspiring research

    We would like to think of it on a scale of a huge wall, where the experience an outsider has of the activities going on inside is shifting constantly by the affordances of the changing architectural surface.

    Process of implementation

    First round







    Second round





    I have created this kinetic piece with Ana Aleman. It is our final assignment for the Kinetic Architecture class taught by Dr Kostas Terzidis.

    Review process summary

    For the first assignment of this class I had designed a Memento Box as an attractive passage from door to space. The door leads to your souvenirs and is always slightly opened. A bright light shines in the back of the box clarifying a few objects and pictures around it. However, whenever your hand tries to grab what captures the eye, the door closes onto your hand in front of you and all is dark again. Whenever you go away for a tiny bit, the door opens up and more lights shine into some parts of your souvenirs and you can travel though them from far away …



    Picture of the Memento Box

    For the second assignment of this class I had designed the Ambient Peacock/Chameleon explorer with Philip Vriend as a serie of mobile units connected to a headquarter that display environmental visual on each of their shell. Real time connecting to the headquarter allow the head to ask for specific data gathering and collection of the environment. This project was blogged by Pasta and Vinegar.



    Picture of the ‘air’ mobile unit

    By Cati in kinetic architecture


  • 20JanThe Breathing Wall

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!


    The Breathing Wall is a Kinetic Installation that shows a wall reacting to the public space. Made out of architectural objects that work independently or dependently of one another, it deploys and retracts soft fabric

    This picture shows the mechanics and electronics of our Breathing Wall piece.

    On this picture I create shadows on the light sensors to have the Breathing Wall react to my presence.

    During our conceptual phase, we thought of an assembly of cloth cubes that would form partial transparency. When densely packed, they form a privacy cloud or mist enclosure. When they retract they close the view they were enhancing. The idea is to use these kind of elements to define more diffuse borders in architecture. Soft edges resembling the spatial limits one finds in nature and in the landscape.

    Our concept


    Inspiring research

    We would like to think of it on a scale of a huge wall, where the experience an outsider has of the activities going on inside is shifting constantly by the affordances of the changing architectural surface.

    Process of implementation
    First round



    Second round


    I have created this kinetic piece with Ana Aleman. It is our final assignment for the Kinetic Architecture class taught by Dr Kostas Terzidis.

    Review process summary

    For the first assignment of this class I had designed a Memento Box as an attractive passage from door to space. The door leads to your souvenirs and is always slightly opened. A bright light shines in the back of the box clarifying a few objects and pictures around it. However, whenever your hand tries to grab what captures the eye, the door closes onto your hand in front of you and all is dark again. Whenever you go away for a tiny bit, the door opens up and more lights shine into some parts of your souvenirs and you can travel though them from far away …


    Picture of the Memento Box

    For the second assignment of this class I had designed the Ambient Peacock/Chameleon explorer with Philip Vriend as a serie of mobile units connected to a headquarter that display environmental visual on each of their shell. Real time connecting to the headquarter allow the head to ask for specific data gathering and collection of the environment. This project was blogged by Pasta and Vinegar.


    Picture of the ‘air’ mobile unit

    By Cati in kinetic architecture

  • 23JanThe Texture of Light

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    Description
    The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. By reconstructing reality, giving it a texture, an expressive form, this project deploys the simple use of chemistry, plexiglas, and plastic patterns. The transformation of life feed video comes from the physical plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swap by the public enabling collective expressions. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their ‘moving painting’ and project them back on different city locations.

    Model

    The final model is composed of a set of lenses, an iSight video camera, a rotary knob and a computer. For the purpose of this project I have conceived and implemented a software piece that links the life feed video to a projection screen. This application is controlled by the rotary knob and by pressing more than two seconds the knob, the software records a video clip coming from the life feed video. By pressing on the knob, the software plays back the recorded clip and projects it onto the screen. By turning the knob, the software returns in life feed mode. The video clips are collected onto a server and can be accessed by other computers from different cities. This instantly creates a canvas of multiple transformed city video clips controlled and created by the dwellers in each city.

    Excerpts of life feed video metamorphosis Clic on the picture for a hi-res view

    Small-squares large lense


    Small-circles small lense


    Medium-hexagons large lense


    Large-stars small lense

    Future outlook for Texture of Light
    I envision this project on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panels will be patterns and transparent material specific. For instance, two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of views. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities.

    This is my final project for the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington. Some information about the research and tests involved in this project.

    More about the project
    . Paper about the project (12mb).
    . The Texture of Light on We Make Money Not art.
    . auto vision
    . Publication: The Texture of Light Vaucelle, C. In Art and Design Tools. Published in the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH’06, Boston, USA. Abstract from publisher: ACM Press.
    download pdf

  • 23JanThe Texture of Light

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!

    Description
    The Texture of Light is research on lighting principles and the exploration of life feed video metamorphosis in the public space using reflection of light on transparent materials. The Texture of Light is an attempt to fight the boredom of everyday life. By reconstructing reality, giving it a texture, an expressive form, this project deploys the simple use of chemistry, plexiglas, and plastic patterns. The transformation of life feed video comes from the physical plastic circles that act as different masks of reality. These masks can be moved around and swap by the public enabling collective expressions. This metamorphosis of the public space is presented in real time as a moving painting and is projected on city walls. The public can record video clips of their ‘moving painting’ and project them back on different city locations.

    Model

    The final model is composed of a set of lenses, an iSight video camera, a rotary knob and a computer. For the purpose of this project I have conceived and implemented a software piece that links the life feed video to a projection screen. This application is controlled by the rotary knob and by pressing more than two seconds the knob, the software records a video clip coming from the life feed video. By pressing on the knob, the software plays back the recorded clip and projects it onto the screen. By turning the knob, the software returns in life feed mode. The video clips are collected onto a server and can be accessed by other computers from different cities. This instantly creates a canvas of multiple transformed city video clips controlled and created by the dwellers in each city.

    Excerpts of life feed video metamorphosis Clic on the picture for a hi-res view

    Small-squares large lense


    Small-circles small lense


    Medium-hexagons large lense


    Large-stars small lense

    Future outlook for Texture of Light
    I envision this project on a larger scale such as building-size panels the public could mechanically control using remote devices. Each panels will be patterns and transparent material specific. For instance, two Plexiglas sheets could embed a water fall, or viscous transparent material the user could distribute along his/her selected point of views. The software will allow media distribution among cities so that the outcomes of the public performances could be exposed on the panels of other cities.

    This is my final project for the Smart Materials course taught by Michelle Addington. Some information about the research and tests involved in this project.

    More about the project
    . Paper about the project (12mb).
    . The Texture of Light on We Make Money Not art.
    . auto vision
    . Publication: The Texture of Light Vaucelle, C. In Art and Design Tools. Published in the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH’06, Boston, USA. Abstract from publisher: ACM Press.
    download pdf

  • 10FebTaptap and its next steps

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!

    The Seamless Fashion show has presented Taptap a project I team-developped for the Tangible Interface class at MIT Media Lab. Previously called Touching Memories, it is about the possibility to record memories of touch.
    I cared about recording affectionate touch rather than touch used during physical therapy or learning. Trying to find a potential application for this concept, I remembered the urgency in the need of nurses during war; during such event orphans, especially young babies, need a certain amount of hugs to survive. The scarf was then an attempt to overcome this problem. It could be used as a platform for the nurse to hug many children at once and help them survive. After discussing with Leo about this application, he has found some research on baby monkeys in relationship to an artificial mother. Regarding the design and this application in mind, I wanted the sensory object to be a scarf to easily position the sensors where and when needed. The modularity also offers the potential for the scarf to be independent from the electronic as much as the electronic to differ from the scarf and have a life on its own.We have written a work in progress paper for CHI’06 about Taptap that has just been accepted. We are now discussing with health care department about the next steps of our system.

    In the meantime, Taptap has been exhibited at the Seamless Fashion Show in Boston.

    The following in a slideshow presenting the pictures I took of the fashion show

    .dtop,.dbottom{display:block;background-color:#ffffff /* change the color of the corners here */}
    .dtop b,.dbottom b{display:block;height:1px;overflow:hidden;background:#000}
    .d1{margin:0 5px}.d2{margin:0 3px}.d3{margin:0 2px}.dtop .d4,.dbottom b.d4{margin:0 1px;height:2px}
    –>

    Flash Slideshow

    Photos during rehersal and also more photos during the fashion show.




    Models: Lauren and Joy

    By Cati in computational product design

  • 10FebTaptap and its next steps

    If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive the latest Architectradure’s articles in your reader or via email. Thanks for visiting!

    The Seamless Fashion show has presented Taptap a project I team-developped for the Tangible Interface class at MIT Media Lab. Previously called Touching Memories, it is about the possibility to record memories of touch.
    I cared about recording affectionate touch rather than touch used during physical therapy or learning. Trying to find a potential application for this concept, I remembered the urgency in the need of nurses during war; during such event orphans, especially young babies, need a certain amount of hugs to survive. The scarf was then an attempt to overcome this problem. It could be used as a platform for the nurse to hug many children at once and help them survive. After discussing with Leo about this application, he has found some research on baby monkeys in relationship to an artificial mother. Regarding the design and this application in mind, I wanted the sensory object to be a scarf to easily position the sensors where and when needed. The modularity also offers the potential for the scarf to be independent from the electronic as much as the electronic to differ from the scarf and have a life on its own.We have written a work in progress paper for CHI’06 about Taptap that has just been accepted. We are now discussing with health care department about the next steps of our system.

    In the meantime, Taptap has been exhibited at the Seamless Fashion Show in Boston.

    The following in a slideshow presenting the pictures I took of the fashion show

    .dtop,.dbottom{display:block;background-color:#ffffff /* change the color of the corners here */}
    .dtop b,.dbottom b{display:block;height:1px;overflow:hidden;background:#000}
    .d1{margin:0 5px}.d2{margin:0 3px}.d3{margin:0 2px}.dtop .d4,.dbottom b.d4{margin:0 1px;height:2px}
    –>

    Flash Slideshow

    Photos during rehersal and also more photos during the fashion show.




    Models: Lauren and Joy

    By Cati in computational product design

  • 28MarErnesto Neto : huggable sculptures

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    I love Ernesto Neto’s soft “huggable” sculptures.

    Exhibited in Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, USA in March 2002. Neto’s sculptures and installations are indeed singular in contemporary art,” says curator Viso. “His works, which he describes as a ‘kind of body/space/landscape,’ not only arrest us visually but also make us keenly aware of the spaces inside, around and between our bodies. We become voyagers in sensorial odysseys

    Ernesto Neto (Brazilian, born 1966), “The Ovaloids Meeting” (1998). Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.


  • 29MarHealth care and product design : Sleep & Recovery Enhancer by André Kongevold

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    SRE – Sleep & Recovery Enhancer by André Kongevold

    Today, stress-related sleeping problems are increasingly common. More and more people experience difficulties falling asleep at bedtime. The SRE will guide the user through autogenous exercises to lower the stress-level and reduce time to fall asleep. This in turn will improve sleep quality and minimize daytime effects.

    More info


  • 29MarThe Hug by Sohui Won

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    When you chat with your friend or family, you can feel their touch as well. Just hug “the hug.”

    ” “The Hug” is communicator to feel touch. It has two main functions.

    – Sending / Saving / Receiving messages

    – Sending / Saving / Receiving touches

    Have you wanted to convey your touch to your lover or children? Trough this device, you can transmit your touch with a message to another device that my pal has. When you leave a message, you can hug and touch “The Hug” to transmit your touch. So the movement of your touch can be conveyed to your mate’s device through heat-line and vibration.”

    More detail about the project