Crafting Material Interfaces

By Daekwon Park

This project is an investigation of materiality and embedded conductivity. The base material is SkinRite10 which is a silicon rubber product that is translucent and highly elastic. The embedded conductivity is achieved with 3V coin battery, wire wrapping wire, and LEDs. 2 prototypes were developed during the process: first, a simple elastic button which lights up when pressure is applied and second, a 3 dimensional puzzle that only lights up when it is configured correctly.

This is a video of configuring the puzzle pieces together to create the lighting effect. A better conductivity is achieved when pressure is applied and the circuit is only completed when the pieces are assembled correctly.

Mold geometry and laser cut templates

Mold fabrication: The mold is created using a combination of Plexiglas (1/32″ thick) and chip board (1/32″ thick). The geometry is based on a box with an undulating surface on top which is sliced up with curved surfaces. The undulating surface is unrolled and grooves were created for easy deformation as well as to give texture to the top surface.

Casting: The casting material is SkinRite10 which is a silicon rubber product that is translucent and elastic when fully cured. The product uses tin as catalyst and can be cured in room-temperature within 24 hours.
Circuit: 9 coin batteries and 9 standard red LEDs are soldered/ taped together in a series array. In order to complete the circuit, all the connections (total 12) need to be in contact with each other.

Elastic Button: When pressure is applied, the battery and LED that is embedded in the material is connected and the LED lights up.

Elastic Puzzle: When the puzzle pieces are assembled, the series array of batteries and LEDs are completed and the puzzle lights up.

Further development in the method of embedding the electrical components into the casting material will improve the final product. The current design of the Elastic Button doesn’t allow the battery to be replaced unless you physically cut it out. However, for the Elastic Puzzle, it is possible to replace the battery but since it is not embedded before the cast was cured, the assembly is not clean and water tight (compared to the Elastic Button). Possible areas of implementations are electronic products that require soft materiality for safety and/or waterproofing.