ir.C.D.Kuenen, designer
+31 (0)6 11194253
stoffel@kuenen.org

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Stoffel 02.2003

.Feel the Vibe - visceral channel of interaction

cellipus
wearable interaction product

once you become a b/wearer

first you get a feel for what the subtle signals from cellipus tell you when there are no other people around (biofeedback)

second you get a feel for how the signals behave when you are with other people

third you get a feel for what the subtle signals mean when the cellipi around enable you to feel the signals from cellipi of other b/wearers (social-biofeedback)

finally, your awareness of the psycho-physiological interactions in a social setting has been raised and cellipus becomes redundant

 

cellipus
wearable interaction product

the product designed is the experience elicited, not so much its physical appearance

cellipus is a liminal object:
not part of you
nor part of your environment
but somewhere inbetween

cellipus is not:
a gadget
jewelery
a garment

cellipus is:
parasitic
symbiotic
sensuous

cellipus is a physical hypothesis in the development process 'research through design'

ambient media
and corporal literacy

the product is an ambient medium that builds on and trains our corporal literacy

ambient media reside in the background or perifery of our attention,
we focus on them when they behave out of the ordinary

our body is actively involved in processes of world making rather than a passive decoding machine

corporal literacy describes the abilities of the body to perceive, read and make sense of ourselves in relation to the world around us

 

 

feedback
and emergent behaviour

a channel conveying affect related physiological data between individuals augments the complex system of social dynamics

on an individual level the affect related feedback in its turn will influence a users' affective state

on group level the affective social biofeedback will influence individual affective states, thus influence the group interactions and dynamics

'insight in' group dynamics through 'experience of' affect related social biofeedback

a complex system of relatively simple entities folowing basic rules give rise to stunningly complex emergent behaviour (anthill, beehive, internet ...)

society and design

most products are developed driven by a technology push and aimed at bare functionality

this has given rise to unusable, frustrating and rude products

in my opinion this reflects the dominance of reason in western (capitalist, modernist) society:
non-rational elements of the human psyche and resulting behaviour are deemed inferior to logic and reason

this society also emphasizes the individual as an entity independent from its social environment

current social media

most media we use (e.g. telephone, mail, e-mail, chat, videoconference...) support the exchange of intentional, verbal information,
but have low bandwidth with regard to the subtle sides of human interaction

most current media support 1-on-1 interactions

some recent developments look into amending those shortcomings

however, so far no integral approach was encountered

a human centered, context oriented approach to media development may enrich our experience of social life and help to (re-)discover stimulating aspects of our interactions.

product

cellipus
wearable interaction product

sits against the skin

takes the b/wearers' heartbeat

vibrates with every heartbeat

changes temperature with mood-swings

communicates beats and mood-swings with other b/wearers' cellipi

forms a channel of social biofeedback

concept

human factors

core of group interactions seems to be affective

affective cues from our environment are for a large part autonomously communicated

stimuli from our environment are automatically appraised and evaluated

appraisal mechanisms are to some extent present at birth,
but also we can learn to attach new meanings to stimuli through experience

emotions play an important role in this processing and have an integrated effect on mental and physiological processes

assasment of feelings in ourselves to some extent are a form of internal biofeedback

 

 

.X

X_side

.Y

Y_side

prototype

goal
of building functional prototypes

the design is part of a process of research through design

the product/system designed poses theses and questions, e.g.:
to what extent do people attach meaning to the new stimuli?
what meaning is attached?
what influence does the introduction of the system have on group dynamics?
...

in order to test the theses and iterate in the process of research through design, functioning prototypes were built

 

 

system overview

each product:
samples ECG- ElectroCardioGram

calculates HRV-HeartRateVariability (affect related derivative, based on powerspectral analysis)

communicates this data wirelessly with other products in its vicinity
(each product is a node in an ad-hoc network)

combines heartbeat and maps these to a vibrating device

combines HRV values and maps a function of these to a peltierjunction element, which changes temperature

user-system interface

the visceral communication device has no buttons

the product interacts with its b/wearer autonomously

electrodes detect ECG

the b/wearer experiences two forms of feedback:

vibration, through an electro-mechanical device such as a pager-motor

temperature changes, through a peltier junction element which pumps heat from one face to another when current flows through it

our tactile senses are more sensitive in certain areas

system v.1b

the first set of prototypes was built around the 'pushpin computer' developed by Joshua Lifton at MIT Media Lab

electronics development and programming mainly by Stoffel

microcontroller:
cygnal 22Mhz uC with 2 onboard 10-bit A/D conversion around a 8051 core

wireless communication:
433Mhz, 64kbs radio transceiver from radiometrix

power source:
two standard 9V batteries

feedback:
vibration through Tactillator

temperature change through 1'' peltier element

processing power was too little to perform local processing as well as provide radio communication

thus only individual feedback was established

system v.2b

the second set of prototypes was developed around two pic18F16xx microcontrollers, one for local processing and one for communications

electronics developed by Rob Luxen at ID-StudioLab
programming by AadJan van der Helm at ID-StudioLab

microcontrollers:
picMicro 18F16xxx uC with onboard A/D conversion

power source:
Ultralife UBC44106102 4.2-3Vdc, 3800mAh, polymer rechargeable battery

feedback:
vibration through pager motor
temperature change through 1'' peltier element

development of this system halted at the same stage as system v.1b, seperately communication and local processing work, but not simultaneously

individual user test

system v.2b was used for individual user testing

users wore the prototypes for < 1 hour

users report:

if feedback is stable, the signals move to periphery of attention

people notice a connection between feedback and their arousal

feedback is experienced as very personal, and when it stops (unstability) worry is expressed

cellipus is seen as a being/entity, not a thing, unless it is unstable

group user test

the group user test was performed with four system v.2b prototypes

communication between prototypes was not established

users wore the devices for ~2 hours prior to the group session

some users report:
feedback moves between periphery and focus of attention depending on level of variance in signal

feedback was reported as 'in some way' related to emotion

feedback was reported to seem to be coming from other test subjects (even though no communication was not established!)