Create a garment to express a message/information/data to people around you
Eyespot Mimicry: Garment as protection
For this assignment I was really inspired by biomimetics/biomimicry, thinking about how to incorporate strategies found in nature into my assignment’s concept and hardware mechanism. Started thinking about Batesian Mimicry and other variatios of mimicry in nature.
“Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil.” – Wiki
EMF/RF detectors & Distance Sensors
Was trying to think what humans may want additional protection from? But also how it may communicate to others? Thinking about what Idit had mentioned, and that clothing/garments always tell a story about the person that is wearing them. And also Jingwen talking about clothing as protection in various definitions throughout history. After some brainstorming I started to think about counter surveillance and projects around that theme – Not in a Big brother way necessarily but was starting to think about the eye of the lens, and how there’s also a thing called acoustic mimicry and how mimicking the sound of the item you’re camouflaging from is a tactic used often too? And that the sound of the servo sounds a little bit like an older camera adjusting or its shutter snapping? when looking up images of security cameras, I realized that the patterns were actually kind of interesting on a material level too? And made me think of sequins or something slightly reflective as well. I’m really inspired by the Hyperface project and the artist’s previous project CV dazzle that plays with different ways of confusing facial detection software? And could see future iterations/ patterns moving more towards that way of thinking? I’ve always really enjoyed Adam Harvey’s Privacy Gift Shop project ❤ Including his Stealthware series ~
Would like to add a distance sensor maybe into the neck as a next iteration? and could hide the buttons as literal buttons on a garment or maybe nuzzled into a deep skirt pocket. Was also exploring RF detectors used in counter-surveillance that are used to sweep a room for any lens near by?
Making the garment
For my eyespot mimicry patch I decided to play off of the LED rings around certain versions of outdoor security cameras. Embroidering on the sequins in a similar pattern with an embroidery hoop first to help make sure the fabric wouldn’t bunch/keep it taut when sewing.
For my pattern I used a dress I had that has an A-line shift when laid flat, but definitely added a little extra in the measurements knowing that the fabric for the project was not a stretchy knit like the original dress. I then tried some bias tape around the collar and did a quick running stitch to help clean up some of the fraying. I totally forgot to check the grain of the woven fabric and will make sure to be more careful with the next round as well as plan for darts to help the fabric sit better ❤ A huge thank you to Idit & Kemi for their wonderful support in the soft lab!
Videos of Process
Was imaging possible epaulette shoulders with a servo on each that could unfold paper pop up style?But had issues with powering the two with my external powersource, will have to investigate further?
Playing with color/pattern reveals / imaging how to maybe use this method to break up words that may have similar parts of their grammatical structure?
Testing out placement of the eye-mimicry spot
ARDUINO CODE:
Code is iterated off & inspired by Controlling Servos with Push Buttons/ Arduino Code
#include <Servo.h> // add servo library
#define sw1_pin 5
#define sw2_pin 6
Servo myservo; // create servo object to control 1st servo
//Servo myservo2; // create servo object to control 2nd servo
volatile boolean sw1 = false;
volatile boolean sw2 = false;
uint8_t sw1ButtonState = 0;
uint8_t sw2ButtonState = 0;
uint8_t lastsw1ButtonState = 0;
uint8_t lastsw2ButtonState = 0;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(sw1_pin, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(sw2_pin, INPUT_PULLUP);
myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
// myservo2.attach(10); // attaches the servo on pin 10 to the servo object
}
void loop() {
checkIfSw1ButtonIsPressed();
checkIfSw2ButtonIsPressed();
if( sw1){
Serial.println(“sw1”);
sw1 = false;
myservo.write(0);
delay(15);
// myservo2.write(180);
//
}
else if( sw2){
Serial.println(“sw2”);
sw2 = false;
myservo.write(180);
delay(15);
// myservo2.write(0);
//
}
// waits for the servo to get there
}
void checkIfSw1ButtonIsPressed()
{
sw1ButtonState = digitalRead(sw1_pin);
if (sw1ButtonState != lastsw1ButtonState)
{
if ( sw1ButtonState == 0)
{
sw1=true;
}
delay(50);
}
lastsw1ButtonState = sw1ButtonState;
}
void checkIfSw2ButtonIsPressed()
{
sw2ButtonState = digitalRead(sw2_pin);
if (sw2ButtonState != lastsw2ButtonState)
{
if ( sw2ButtonState == 0)
{
sw2=true;
}
delay(50);
}
lastsw2ButtonState = sw2ButtonState;
}
Related Blog posts:
- Soft Lab hours w/ Kemi
- Soft Lab hours w/ Idit
- Office hrs w/ Jingwen
- Office hrs w/ Danny
- Eyespot Mimicry + SevoAssisted Paperengineering
- Origami Flasher Tessellations
- Thinking about Kirigami + Motors
- Wearables: Exploring DC & Micro Servo options
Reference Links:
- Class 3 – Techniques – Hardware for Wearables [slides]
- Class 4 – Expression & Identity [slides]
- Class 5 – Techniques & Textile Basics [ slides ]
- Bioinspiration & Biomimetics Research Journal
- Controlling Servos with Push Buttons/ Arduino Code
- Controlling Servos with Push Buttons/ Video Tutorial
- ResearchGate: Facilitating Fashion Camouflage Art
- Adam Harvey Projects:
- How to Hide from Machines: Dis magazine
- Hyperface project [False-face computer vision camouflage patterns for Hyphen Labs’ NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism at Sundance Film Festival 2017.]
- Stealthware
- CV dazzle
Future Notes for Hardware / Software:
30 KM/s 