New Textiles 2012

My final project explores the idea of creating live physical and tangible animation that can be programmed and interactive. Robots do that in a way but they are massive, loud, and very technical in their look and feel. I am using paper and Ni-chrome wire that give a quite, unexpected and biological like motion and movement. Paper was selected for this project because it’s flexibility and springiness (especially thick paper like the one I am using) that is great for working with the Flexinol.
My focus in this project was on design. Usually the electronics of objects are hidden and messy, here the paths of the circuit board are being used as a decorative element that support the shape and concept of the objects. The electronic components and the Lilipad are also designed as “part of the story” and integrate in the overall look of the objects. The objects are minimal and simple in order to emphasis the motion and interactivity experience.

I cut the outline of the shape on the laser cutter, in addition the I used the laser cutter to mark where the electronic traces should be. The copper tape was cut using the vinyl cutter.
The project is made out of 100lb. (270gr) Brisol paper, 0.006in Flexinal wire, and copper tape.
The project consists of three objects: a turtle, a snail and an interactive sheet.

Turtle
Turtles are slow it fits with the slow actuation of the Ni-Chrome wire. Here, the wire are actuation the legs but also creating the 3D shapes from the flat piece of paper

Interactive Snail
The snail has one capacitor sensor and one Ni-Chrome wire. When it’s antenna is touched it bend a little bit, something that reminds interaction with a real snail.

Interactive sheet
The sheet of paper has 4 Ni-Chrome wires and 4 capacitor sensors. When you put your hand over one of it’s four corners, the corner rises in a surprising way. Here the control is done from another small sheet of paper to keep the simple look of a blank sheet of paper.

Here is a link to the presentation:
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