Month: February 2023

Reflection

Fashion is not only an expression of your own personality but also can be an expression of your ideal self. In the film, transgender people hold balls and turn themselves into stars, supermodels, white people, and real women. The standard of beauty or fashion varies from person to person but the mainstream is a relatively fixed notion. As a niche group like gay and transgender, they are pursuing beauty and identity while also pursuing the white, heterosexual mainstream. The high-end luxury goods are such a symbol, their target customers are the mainstream people, and their high prices also make their products become a symbol of wealth. Maybe that’s the reason why some individuals shown in the documentary live in poverty, sew their own ‘designer’ clothes, or resort to shoplifting: they seek fashion, but also pursue higher social classes. The ability to buy and wear fashionable luxury items allows them to escape from the reality of being a niche group banished by their families and become the mainstream of attention. At the same time, the existence of the houses community allows them to be understood and tolerated, and to accept their gay identity more openly. But they are still conflicted, they have a hard time wearing their favorite clothes and facing the public openly, and they have a long way to go in spreading vogue dancing to the world.

Mask

The surface decoration of our mask is inspired by the scales of the pangolin. We wanted to express the current situation where people tend to hide their true selves and protect themselves with armor. The yellow part on the left side of the mask symbolizes the Broca area, which is damaged when people can understand the language but cannot express it properly. We highlight this area in the hope of reaching a metaphor: people are so ashamed to show themselves as if they do not have the ability to do so. The various shapes of clay bubbles on the top of the head are different parts of people’s true selves, such as narcissism, acrimony, and other emotions. They are all real, and they show up underneath the mask.

We cut and extended the existing mask to fit the head shape, allowing it to cover part of the top of the head, allowing us to mark the Broca area (at least in close proximity)

Initially the mood bubble we were hoping to complete with nano-glue, but we followed the tutorial after many attempts or failed to blow a successful bubble. As the materials ran out we had to give up. The current expression of the mood bubble is a bit ugly, perhaps it would be better to replace it with a small balloon or a clear plastic ball later.

In this week’s class, we cooperate to make a wireless circuit using sensors and actuators. Our group is responsible for the XBEE A.

First, we program the XBEE and choose 2D1 as our pan id. And then we program the lilypad A and use the code AnalogReadSerial to make sure the circuit is connected in the right way.

After that, we connect lilypad A with the XBEE A. Different from the instruction, we use the computer as the battery. We need to connect the positive and negative poles of the lilypad to the positive and negative poles of the XBEE first, and then connect the XBEE to the computer. One of the connectors fell out during this process and caused problems in the next steps, but we found it later and connected it. 

We use this code to test if the communication works well.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial mySerial(10, 11); // RX, TX

// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup() {
  // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second in your serial port:
  mySerial.begin(9600);
}

// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop() {
  // read the input on analog pin 0:
  int sensorValue = analogRead(A5);
  // print out the value you read in your serial port:
  mySerial.println(sensorValue);
  delay(100);        // delay in between reads for stability
}

After that, we send the signal to XBEE B and use this code on XBEE B (since only it receives the signal) to let the circle change with the sensor.

import processing.serial.*;
int NUM_OF_VALUES_FROM_XBEE = 1;   /** YOU MUST CHANGE THIS ACCORDING TO YOUR PROJECT **/
int sensorValues[];      /** this array stores values from the Lilypad1 **/
String myString = null;
Serial myPort;
void setup() {
  setupSerial();
}
void setupSerial() {
  printArray(Serial.list());
  myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[ 3 ], 9600);
  // WARNING!
  // You will definitely get an error here.
  // Change the PORT_INDEX to 0 and try running it again.
  // And then, check the list of the ports,
  // find the port "/dev/cu.usbmodem----" or "/dev/tty.usbmodem----" 
  // and replace PORT_INDEX above with the index number of the port.

  myPort.clear();
  // Throw out the first reading,
  // in case we started reading in the middle of a string from the sender.
  myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 );  // 10 = '\n'  Linefeed in ASCII
  myString = null;

  sensorValues = new int[NUM_OF_VALUES_FROM_XBEE];
}
void draw() {
  getSerialData();
   printArray(sensorValues);
   
  circle(width/2, height/2, sensorValues[0]);
  // use the values like this!
  // sensorValues[0] 

  // add your code

  //
}
void getSerialData() {
  while (myPort.available() > 0) {
    myString = myPort.readStringUntil( 10 ); // 10 = '\n'  Linefeed in ASCII
    if (myString != null) {
      String[] serialInArray = split(trim(myString), ",");
      if (serialInArray.length == NUM_OF_VALUES_FROM_XBEE) {
        for (int i=0; i<serialInArray.length; i++) {
          sensorValues[i] = int(serialInArray[i]);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

I think this circuit can be used for a wearable device and it will become more feasible if we replace the sensors with humidity, temperature, and light sensors. For example, if a top is made from multiple pieces of fabric and each piece of fabric contains a complete circuit like this. Suppose we use light sensors on every piece of fabric so that when people walk into a dark place their tops will glow, and when they enter a bright place the clothes will not change.

In this week’s class, Younian and I used the Veloster to make a sensor and use the Lilipad to control the circuit.

We followed the instruction of the linear potentiometer and made our own. Then we built the circuit and read the sensor value. In the beginning, the value was quite small and we found that we forgot to change the port of the sensor. We fixed it and then it worked.

Then we added the buzzer to the circuit. The connection of the cable was not very stable and we tried many times to build a connection. At last, we found that not only the cable but also the lilypad and the buzzer were all broken. So we changed all of them and we succeeded. 

   Code

//exercise 2 - Interactive Fashion-buzzer
int speakerPin = 9; //0 if you are using ATtiny
int sensorPin = A2; // Analog pin 3 if you are using ATtiny
int sensorValue = 0;
int minValue = 200; //adjuts this accordingly

void setup() {
  pinMode(speakerPin, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600); //Serial Comm doesn't work with ATtiny
}

void loop() {
  sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
  if (sensorValue > minValue) {
    makeNoise(speakerPin, sensorValue * 3, 100);
  }
  Serial.println(sensorValue);  //Serial Comm doesn't work with ATtiny
}

void makeNoise(unsigned char pin, int frequencyInHertz, long timeInMilliseconds) {
  int x;
  long delayAmount = (long)(1000000 / frequencyInHertz);
  long loopTime = (long)((timeInMilliseconds * 1000) / (delayAmount * 2));
  for (x = 0; x < loopTime; x++)
  {
    digitalWrite(pin, HIGH);
    delayMicroseconds(delayAmount);
    digitalWrite(pin, LOW);
    delayMicroseconds(delayAmount);
  }
}

After that, we change the buzzer to Led and change the range of sensor value to make the control effect become visible.

Code

int LEDPin = 9; //0 if you are using ATtiny
int sensorPin = A2; // Analog pin 3 if you are using ATtiny
int sensorValue = 0;
int brightness;

void setup() {
  pinMode(LEDPin, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600); //Serial Comm doesn't work with ATtiny
}

void loop(){
  sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
  if (sensorValue<300){
    sensorValue=300;
  }else{
    sensorValue = sensorValue;
  }
  brightness = map(sensorValue, 100, 400, 0 ,255);
  Serial.print(brightness);
  analogWrite(LEDPin, brightness);
}

Wearable Device — 0214

This wearable device is inspired by the daily life experience that people are hard to understand others’ expressions when they are wearing masks. There is a saying that the eyes are the window of the heart. However, when we look into the eyes of others, even with the help of eyebrows, our ability to understand the words and expressions of others is diminished.

So we choose the face mask as the main part of the device to show how a person’s mask may alter others’ views of communicating. In addition, we covered the speaker’s eyes with a piece of white plastic. It conveys a sense of vagueness about what the speaker is actually attempting to say. It is inspired by the daily life experience that wearing glasses and the mask at the same time, the air you exhale will blur your vision. To prove that it is the human species and not another, we added two pieces that resembled eyebrows. We cut a hole in the face mask at the device’s bottom. The plastic strip sticks out from the position of the mouth, and when the wearer speaks, the plastic strip shakes and makes noises, which shows that due to the lack of expression and mask cover when wearing a mask, people’s words become broken and it is difficult for those listening to them to understand what they are saying. At the same time, in order to make the work look as nice as possible with limited materials, we painted the splices, hoping to have a comic effect.

This week I make a soft circuit that contains a DIY switch, one LED and a power source. First I tried to connect the circuit, replacing the ordinary switch with a button.

And then I replaced the wire with conductive string and started sewing my circuit. I don’t know anything about needlework, so I started from scratch. 

When I sewed everything components on the cloth, the situation was still normal. But when I finished sewing the conductive thread and closed the switch, the led light did not come on. I thought that was because I had a mess of conductive threads, so I re-sewed the circuit, but it didn’t work. I later found out that the abnormality in the circuit was due to the conductive fabric being too large causing it to touch the wires. So I started over and recreated my assignment from scratch. By this time I was much more skilled at sewing.

Reading Reflection

• What is fashion for you? and why are you interested in fashion

Fashion is a popular culture and a form of self-expression. It shows the public’s definition of the standard of beauty within a certain period of time. At the same time, for individuals, fashion also shows people’s personalities, attitudes and personal tastes. I am interested in fashion because I am interested in clothing, an essential part of people’s daily lives. How clothing, the second skin of human beings, as a natural extension of human character and taste, forms a social fashion. I am curious about it.

• What kinds of things do your clothing say about you and your values?

I think the color and material of clothes show the personality of a person. I always wear light-colored loose clothing, which means informal and casual. I also hope that I can convey an approachable, easy-going image to others, which leads to casual, relaxed conversations. In addition, the source of the clothes also tells the value of the buyer. For example, wearing clothes from a fast fashion brand may mean that the person is sensitive to fashion or trends. Usually wearing luxury brand clothing means that the person is in a good financial situation and may have a brand cult at the same time. The choice of second-hand clothes is a side indicates that the buyer may be concerned about environmentally friendly fashion

• What are your main learnings and take aways from the readings?

The fashion industry is closely related to time, and therefore changing rapidly. The content of fashion is constantly changing with the characteristics of the times, but the industry itself will always exist, from the past, to the future. The combination of technology and fashion, which is constantly evolving and easily obsolete, is trying to reach the eternal “timelessness”.