Dealing with slippage.
WEEK 8
- make light prototype of insecurity object
- finish alienation electronics
SPRING BREAK
- make body mold for anxiety prosthesis, do a large-scale casting
- Finish alienation final prosthesis, try to realize insecurity concept as strong prototype
- write most of thesis paper (introduction, context, descriptions, see where I am)
WEEKS 9 to 12
- Finish anxiety final prosthesis
- reflect on alienation and social anxiety devices, modify as needed
- if time, final insecurity prosthesis
- finish paper
WEEK 13
- thesis paper due
- In class thesis presentation
THESIS WEEK, MAY 5 - 9
- final thesis presentation
I finally found a concept for an insecurity object that I’m pretty happy with. Nicely, it looks like it wil just be an electronic and not a computational object, rounding out the kinds of work that define “emotional prosthesis” for me. I’ve wanted a physical, mechanical interaction, a microcontroller-based interaction, and something that is driven by just basic electronics to define my concept as broadly as possible.
Here’s the sketch:
The bottom idea may or may not be something I want to make for this series or project, but it’s an idea I really like.
Earlier, I posted a pretty optimistic timeline for making three devices as emotional prostheses. Maybe I was unrealistic. Surely, it’s taking me longer than I expected to make the anxiety device, even as I begin planning and thinking about an alienation device. Here are some modifications to the original plan, focusing on producing at least one finished object and developing solid prototypes and sketches for future work. Bold list items are new.
I realized also I haven’t mentioned writing the paper anywhere in my timeline. I think that after week 5, I have given working on materiality enough of a go on its own that I should start to think about how to frame my thoughts more solidly. I’ll be thinking about what I’m working on, and hopefully write a paragraph or two about it daily for a while, to see what kind of threads emerge that I can use towards an argument in the document.
WEEK 3
- silicone materials tests done
- begin mold making for larger scale casting
- make mold for casting hackles
WEEK 4
- refine casts
- think about hackle execution
- finalize the object
WEEK 5
finish the social anxiety object (hopefully name it)- keep working on anxiety device, particularly mechanics prototype in cardboard and molding processes
- ideally have another idea for a prosthetic, begin to think about how alienation should be represented
WEEKS 6 to 9
- finish anxiety prototype
- make body mold for anxiety object, do a large-scale casting, revise, finish
build device/object number 2- prototype electronics for alienation device, build object
- ideate device/object number 3
reflect on social anxiety object
WEEKS 10 to 12
build sketch/prototype device/object number 3- reflect on alienation and social anxiety devices, modify as needed
this is what I’ll be making this week, with respect to mechanics. I wanted to be sure that I had a clear idea of how this system would play out.
I’m thinking about another object to build, this time a prosthetic mediating alienation or removal. I’d like to simultaneously represent alienation between the self and the other, the self and the self, and issues of inside/outside.
I’ve got a few xbee radios ordered and a dongle to control them directly from my laptop, and when parts come in, I should be able to have some electronic sketches of interaction together in pretty short order.
In class today, I was convinced of the need to really plan out the mechanics of this object, to make some baby steps along the way towards the final goal. I hadn’t really thought of what I was oing as taking it too fast, but in retrospect, I was totally wrong. I was prepared to begin work on casting a mold that would be the full size silicone shawl object. That’s a little crazy to do as a testbed for the mechanics I haven’t built yet. with that in mind, i have some diagrams of pulley systems, and sketches of a minimal implementation of a row of hackles down the spine. I figure I can make a prototype this week out of cloth and cardboard.
To the effect of actually building the mechanics, I ordered some parts from McMaster-Carr and USA Hardware. I should have pulleys, screws, risers, tubing, and monofilament arriving soon.
I’ve been thinking a bit about what it is that I’m trying to talk about with the sketches and outlines I have for this thing I’m making. It’s about social anxiety, and the usage scenario is that when this mythical user feels threatened, they wrap a silicone shawl around themselves and built in spines protrude from the back.
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social anxiety
Rather than make this device electronic, I think that what I’m going to do is work entirely mechanically, using monofilament cast into the “handle” region of the object going through a grommet and over the shoulder to control the “hackles.” Muscle fiber doesn’t really move enough to use, and requires very high current levels to activate. Servo motors are large, loud, and expensive. In this case, I think that just making the material nature of the silicone being pulled into and out of place be the point of it would be elegant and effective.
