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  • Author Author: fraktalize
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tEChnOLOGICAL communion: Creating a primitive stretch sensor

fraktalize

Hi there! I'm back again with a new update of my latest work. I was SoftLab yesterday, which I introduced to you in my previous update. It is a place for learning, collaboration and innovation in the fields of wearable technology and fashion (and whatever you can imagine!). So yesterday I really experienced the collaborative aspect of the space, as I was joined by the wonderful Subhash in my work this Wednesday. He has a lot of experience with electronics, and this helped me a lot! He was eager to help out and his knowledge was much appreciated, as I have only minor knowledge with electronics myself! (A hacker mentality and a life flow helps out though image)

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     Subhash, who assisted me in my work this Wednesday.

 

Since I last wrote I have been thinking a bit about the implementation, and I've come to the conclusion that the easiest way to go about this is to use a USB-MIDI interface. To achieve this, I decided to go with a Teensy rather than a microprocessor dedicated to wearables. I came to this conclusion because I need at least 8 analog inputs according to my first sketch on where to place the stretch sensors. The Flora, which I was planning to use, only has six analog inputs, and thus I chose to go with a Teensy. Teensy has built in MIDI-HID support so it's very very simple and intuitive to create a USB MIDI device with it!

 

I also found out that conductive thread might not be ideal to get consistent data (thanks, Charles!), so I've been conceptualizing about how to intergrate cables into the design of the suit. I think it will turn out really cool, and it feels very connected to the theme of the artwork, so I'm excited about this!

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So, for this stretch sensor I have used a piezoresistive fabric (Thank you SO much, Emma, for making this possible!!!), which changes resistance depending on how stretched out it is. It is basically a stretch sensor in itself, so all we had to do was cut a piece up and hook it to the Teensy, and after some programming and tweaking the program, we got it working pretty decently! We hooked it up to my DAW and tested it out and it worked! It was great fun playing around with, and I can't wait to put it on a suit and try it out for real!

 

Here is a link to the video documentation of todays project! This link contains a better quality video as well, so please watch on MediaGoblin! (Oh, and element14, it would be lovely if you were to implement HTML5 video on your website!)

 

Oh, and here is a bonus: I make a small jam for every video I make, and today I decided to share the background track for the video! Here it is! I try to keep it as unpretentious and non-perfectionist as possible image

 

Lots of love to all of you!

 

 

 

//Nadal

 

 

(P.S.: element14, I still haven't received my kit. Who should I get in touch with regarding this? Thanks in advance!)

 

  • in reply to DAB

    Thanks a lot!

     

    Yes, I actually am creating it as a tool for creating multimedia performances! I love dancing and that is why I wanted a full body suit so I can do audio, visual and physical performances without having to turn any knobs or push buttons image

     

    Been looking into making some kind of data gloves as a future addition to the constellation as well, and adding soft buttons to the suit to allow for truly intuitive and creative expressions on stage. I'm eager to keep on working with this!

  • Nice update.

     

    I can see a lot of potential for both creating music, but also in measuring stretch during certain motions.

     

    That Idea could be very useful for dancers and choreographers who want to integrate music with movement.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to agerber

    Thanks!

     

    I actually didn't make any code yet to produce the sounds - this was merely a test to make a MIDI controller out of a stretch sensor. I hooked the MIDI controller to my DAW just to see if it worked image

     

    I plan on generating the sounds in SuperCollider and making effects in PureData, but I will see what I end up doing! Will share the code when its ready image

     

    And weird that you haven't! I noticed that the ones from Project Nomad hadn't received their kit yet either, and I haven't seen any updates with any parts from the kit. I wonder what is going on...

  • Cool video! Sould be great to see the code you used to get it producing the sounds, when you're ready to share it.

     

    P.S. I also haven't received my kit yet