Haptic Shoe For The Blind

Outdoor navigation is the major hurdle that a visually impaired person must go through on a day to day basis.


Anirudh Sharma aged 24 is a young researcher at Hewlett-Packard Labs in Bangalore, who showed sensitivity towards the needs of the visually impaired, and he worked over several nights to design a shoe for the blind.


Arduino LilyPad is the main circuit board, which is kept at the back mid-sole region of the shoe. The mini-vibrational actuators are placed on all sides for the directional haptic feedback so that an approaching turn triggers the vibration. The system comprises of a mechanism that condenses complex geographical navigational information and lets the user feel the directional and proximity information through vibrations. 


The vibrators and proximity sensor put in one shoe of the pair enables the user to walk without any physical aid. All that the user requires is a Le Chal shoe and a mobile phone with global positioning system (GPS). Once the user sets a destination on the phone before starting the journey, the Bluetooth communication between the shoe and phone does the rest. 


The phone fetches turn-by-turn Google maps data in the background and keeps updating the user with haptic feedback about the direction the user needs to turn to. As soon as the user starts his or her journey, the GPS transmitter within the cellphone gets real-time location using Google Maps. The built-in compass in the GPS module calculates the direction user is walking in. When the turning point is approached a mild vibrational feedback activated in the shoe informs the user the direction he or she needs to turn to. The strength of the vibration depends upon the overall proximity from the destination, that is, vibration is weak in the beginning and is incrementally stronger at the end of the navigation task. The built-in proximity sensor of the shoe can detect up to 10 feet, informing the user of the surroundings and allowing him or her to make decisions and plan the next move.

It is unlike any other existing aids that are available in the market for visually impaired people, this haptic shoe is simple and unobtrusive in design, uses low-cost readily available components, and provides tactile feedback. 

This new cutting edge interactive clothing, is impressive, and i think it will become a popular item of clothing that a visually impaired person will have.

Concept 3

The chairs located in the waiting room all represent the teeth in a persons mouth, there is pressure sensors on the cushion, when the person sits down a funny tooth animated drawing appears on the television screen, also on the chair is a keypad where the person enters his/her name the animated tooth now has the persons name, and on either chair arm there are heart rate monitors (like found on the running machine in the gym). The faster the persons heartrate the animated tooth on the television will begin to decay, so the person is required to try and control there heartrate and calm it down to a normal pace, once this is achieved the animated tooth on the television looks at its best, the aim is to keep the tooth at its best once this is reached a timer starts and records the length of time you can keep your heart rate relaxed. Your time goes onto a score board and at the end of every month, the person with the best time get a free clean from the dental hygienist, or if they prefer a nice electric toothbrush. This is aiming to distract the person with a possible reward, and is fun in an engaging sort of way. Also, watching other people in the waiting room trying to do it would be entertaining as well, so even if a person doesnt want to do it, they can get pleasure out of people who are.

Concept 2

DoodleMe – Inside of the waiting room, the walls would be covered with interactive white boards, and pens. The person waiting to see the dentist has the option to doodle on the boards, draw amazing artwork, play naughts and crosses with someone else waiting or even hangman. Often when people are worried about something or nervous, it helps to just doodle. Also, playing a doodle game with someone like hangman, creates social interaction and it can be quite amusing if someone draws a naughty or funny picture, giggles may occur. 

Concept 1

Inside of the waiting room, located on the wall would be a large interactive wordsearch on the wall, with 2 large pens attached to it (to prevent them from going missing), also a second interacive board showing the words that must be found. People in the waiting room can have a go at looking for the words, this would help to distract from worries and nerves and would be something subtly fun to do, and stimulating as well. One the wordsearch is complete a new fresh one would then show up. It is proven that wordsearches calm people, make them feel relaxed, so although this is not something hilariously fun, it is a nice stimulating experience.

Nerves?

http://www.jobs.co.za/job-seekers/career-advice/article/27/calming-your-job-interview-nerves

Anxiety
Nervousness
Fear

Jobseekers are all afraid of being rejected by a potential employer.

We all want to succeed. And we all yearn for acceptance.

Nerves can be displayed in various forms:

• Sweaty Palms
• Heart Palpitations
• Dry Mouth
• Some have panic attacks

Happy Job Interview Thoughts

We all desire for job interview acceptance. 

The fear of rejection can make a person sabotage their chances of employment before they have even entered the interview room.

'Stinking Thinking' leads to further stress, feeling of inadequacy and poor job interview confidence.

The power of positive thought - think positive about the interview and holding these encouraging 'happy' thoughts with you as approaching interview = will help to lessen the intensity of anxiety.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Beat_Those_Nerves.html

http://www.yourjobinterview.com/Beat_Job_Interview_Nerves.html

The next computer touchscreen - skinput

The latest in futuristic computing, is skinput, this would mean that we would not have to carry a computer around with us, but, instead, roll up our sleeve and there it is our new touchscreen computer.

Researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University are developing a device that will project a touchscreen onto the human body, the hand or forearm mostly.

Chris Harrison is one of the lead researchers, making his living turning everyday objects into touch screens. Currently available platforms allow users to project screens onto tables and other flat surfaces.

Harrison points out that you can never find a table when you need one the most, so he is investigating using something which we always have on us..... THE BODY! 

Skinput uses a armband that projects a touchscreen onto the forearm and hand. Large tabs or push buttons flicker across your flesh. This system will work on acoustics, so this means when you tap your forearm, acoustic signals are produced as your flesh ripples and your bones vibrate. Each strike makes a distinct acoustic impression, owing to the bone density, the size and mass of your arm and the dampening effect of the muscle tissue. Skinput's software 'listens' to each tap, and then assigns it to a location on the screen. 

95 per cent accuracy using five key points on the arm and hand can be achieved, according to the confident researchers. For people who struggle, one-handed with a smart phone, it sounds like a pretty decent rate. According to Harrison, one of the advantages of this system is its intuitiveness. Everyone, he points out, can touch their thumb to their wrist or snap their fingers without looking down.

Developers are not yet suggesting that skinput will replace a full keyboard – their most ambitious trial yet involves 10 strike points on the arm – but they do see it as a near-term replacement for iPods and smart phones that use dial pads and scrolling menus.

This is a cutting edge technology, and i think in the next five years we will all begin to see such interfaces emerge into society.

Results for How people feel waiting in a Dentist?

On Friday 16th March i spent 1 hour in a dentist waiting room, my sister had an appointment and i went with her and i handed out a sheet with this question on it......

Give 3 words that sum up how you are feeling now whilst waiting for the dentist..... And why (optional).....

Person 1) Relaxed, Slightly Nervous

(i know i have to be here, i am not waisting my time and i don't have the feeling that i have to be somewhere else) ---- This person gave only 2 words

Person 2) Worried, Anxious, Tired

(how many fillings am i going to have to get this time?)

Person 3) Nervous, Scared, Worried

(Round two of my root canal this is going to hurt!)

Person 4 - my sister) Worried, Annoyed, Anxious

(How much is this going to cost me? And why are my teeth so weak? i have never been a big sweet eater and rarely drink fizzy drinks, can't wait til this is over with!)

Person 5) Fine -- this is all the person said

Person 6) Terrified, Scared, Upset

So in the space of time i was there, there was only 6 people so these are the results from them.

I am quite happy with the results i got as a lot of the words, reflect how i feel in the same environment so i can completely empathize with these people.

The feelings which i have chosen to work with are;

• Nervous
• Worried

as i think that they are common amongst a lot of people waiting in a dentistry.

What we must have done!!!......

• presentation - clear idea on issue + initial sketches of idea
• design criteria - i am going to be creating something that creates this what sort of experience ur going to facilitate for the user
• what sort of artifact
• sketches for the proposed artifact
• no requirement to implement this project but must understand these technologies - engage in practical experiments 
• week 12 - submit fun theory - 5 good quality images/visualizations of your project + a video/animation piece on my project (mock up using props)
• week 13 - presentation for avant garde

Results for How people feel whilst waiting in an office waiting room for a job interview?

On Monday 12th March i had an interview for a job, recently quite a few of my peers have also had job interviews, i want to find out how other people feel when waiting in a office waiting room so i got some people to answer this....

Give 3 words that sum up how you are feeling whilst in an office waiting room, waiting for an interview..... And why (optional).....




Person 1 - ME) Nervous, Excited, Blank


(I am nervous that i will look stupid and go blank and forget everything that i want to talk about and things i know. But i am quite excited as i would love this job and i know i would be good at it.)




Person 2) Anxious, Sick, Unready 


(I have done nothing to prepare for this interview, so i will definitely not get the job!)




Person 3) Nervous


(Wonder what they are going to ask me?)




Person 4) Tense, Nervous, Butterflies




Person 5) Positive, Anxious, 


(Feel quite good about this, i have done a good bit of research on the position and i know the vibe i want to give off, i am looking forward for it to be over though)




Person 6) Sick, Nervous, Worried


(Do i look ok? I feel sick)




Person 7) Calm, Focused, Small bit Nervous


(I am ready for this interview, and i know my stuff, hope it goes well)




Person 8) Terrified, Scared, Sick


(I am definitely going to look stupid and they will probably laugh at me, i am F****D!)




Person 9) Nervous, Worried, 




I want to help peoples nerves before an interview, and make them feel calm and collected, instead of jittery and scared.

Funky Forest

Theodore Watson worked with Emily Gobeille and created this interactive installation which was shown at the 2007 Cinekid festival in the Netherlands.

'Funky Forest' is an ecosystem that children can interact with and create trees with their body and then divert the water flowing from the waterfall to the trees to keep them alive. The health of the trees contributes to the overall health of the forest and also the various types of creatures that inhibit it.

The ultimate goal of this immersive, interactive ecosystem was to create an open system that would allow children to play and see how their actions affect the ecosystem. This goal was achieved the children loved it! Especially when they realized that the creatures would fly away when they got too close and they spent hours trying to trap them. 

Children to learn by doing is they best way to learn, putting them in control of the ecosystem teaches them an important lesson which would hopefully stick with them for life. This project is also very fun for the children to take part in which also aids the learning process.

This is a radical method to teach, which is very clever and i think more of these kind of projects should be done.

The Fun Theory Project Brief Update

• Issue - address the issue
• Take a creative/design approach (encourage a change in behavior)
• Dont solve but address
• Set up an experience i want the user to have
• Doesn't have a water tight problem
• Original issue may not be solved but if you have a different point then that is fine too
• Dont have to approach an enormous issue/problem
• You can take elements of the issue and then work of them
• Break down the experience of a office waiting room into experiences

Types of FUN?

The question is what is Fun?......

1. Amusement
2. Clowning
3. Delightful
4. Enchanting
5. Engaging
6. Enjoyment
7. Entertaining
8. Gay
9. Glee
10. Happy
11. Interesting
12. Joking
13. Laughing
14. Merry
15. Playful
16. Pleasant
17. Pleasing
18. Pleasure
19. Recreation
20. Relaxation
21. Silly
22. Sport
23. Witty

Waiting Rooms

So there are lots of different types of waiting rooms;

• Doctors (people could be getting told bad news so i am going to stay away from this waiting room as it is hard to judge the variety of feelings which are in a doctors)
• Dentists (i am going to look further into this type of waiting room)
• Office - Waiting for a job interview (i am going to look further into this type of waiting room also)
• Train Station
• Bus Station

So the 2 types of waiting rooms that i will be doing further research on are, Dentist and Office - waiting for job interview. I will look into how people feel in these spaces, also what they stereotypically look like and finally into how i could make these rooms FUN!

LED Galaxy Dress

The worlds largest wearable LED display!


This Avant Garde item of clothing was made in 2009 by CuteCircuit, is the center piece of the "Fast Forward: Inventing the Future" exhibit at the museum of science and industry in Chicago.

The Galaxy dress is embroidered with 24000 full color LEDs, and it is the largest wearable display in the world.

It uses the smallest full-color LEDs, the circuits are extra-thin, flexible, and hand embroidered on a layer of silk in a way that gives it stretch, this is so that the LED fabric can move like normal fabric with lightness. 

It works using a number of iPOD batteries so that the wearer can walk around and they last about 30 minutes. It does not overheat and consumes small amounts of electricity. The Galaxy dress is light, apart from the 40 layer pleated sill organza crinoline that makes the skirt wide. When the lights are turned off the dress still looks amazing as the areas without LEDs are decorated with over 4000 swarovski crystals.

In my opinion this is beautiful item of e-coutoure, mesmerizing to watch (to say at the least!), and incredibly impressive as well. I don't think the average person in the public will be wearing this in the future, but, i would love to see someone like Lady Ga Ga wear it now even. Extremely expensive to buy, i would love to one day visit the Museum to see it in Chicago.