Project 1: Creative Data Tracking

Wearables | Spring 2021

Wanda Nyairo, M.S. Integrated Digital Media

Feeling light/color

For my first project I wanted to think about ways to visualize the world around me that were more exploratory. Since we are in winter, I’m always thinking about light (specifically sunlight), whether I’m getting enough of it, and how it affects my energy and mood. Light has such an important effect on our bodies and I want to bring attention to that. This led me to thinking about synesthesia and how the experience of color can be multi-sensory — some people hear sounds and can see/visualize color. That’s how I landed on my idea to create a wearable that tracks the light in the environment and uses that data to determine the strength of a vibration that you feel. So that you’re not only seeing that you are in a more lit or more dim environment, but you’re actually feeling it too in sensations.

To decide where I wanted the vibrations to be felt I started reading up on reflexology and how certain pressure points in the body are correlated to specific bodily functions or things like stress, anxiety, and energy. That’s how I ended up deciding on a bracelet because I wanted to make use of the point on the back side of the arm, three fingers below the wrist. Reflexologists believe applying pressure to this part of the hand can give a rush of energy. So if you’re out in the sun and it’s shining really brightly you won’t only get some energy from that, you’ll also get some from these vibrations which are determined by the intensity of the light. And if it’s nighttime and you’re in a dark room, then the vibrations will be much lower and maybe have a calming effect to prepare you for sleep. One thing I want to think about is whether I also want to include LEDs in this wearable to make use of the RGB color values that the Arduino color/light sensor produces. Right now, I’m just thinking of adding up the RGB values from the color/light sensor and using that to determine the intensity of the vibrations but perhaps a visual component could be interesting to explore.

Bill of materials: Arduino Sense BLE (has built-in color/light sensors), vibration motor, power source/battery, jumper cables, fabric, thread, needle, maybe LEDs.

Here is a link to the presentation I made to show my process:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13i6izWLmXOqmiFQc2IRAoAExD2HFmSG0u0Ip9jU6Jbw/edit?usp=sharing