Presentation I gave at Open Source Hardware Camp, UK - OSHcamp 2012

1. Wearable Technology (+ a bit of open sourcery)
Open Source Hardware Camp, UK, 2012
Rain Ashford - http://rainycatz.wordpress.com

2. Hello, my name is Rain and I create interactive wearables and art, working with
many flavours of microcontrollers & various components…

3. I’m interested in…
 Social interaction – formal and
informal events where one is put
on the spot/ excruciating
circumstances: networking, bars,
clubs, meet ups, introductions,
conferences, etc.
Building multi-sensor wearables which
output data on the wearer’s
physiological signs comprised of:
 a logging device
 sensors – tracking physiological
signs: heart rate, accelerometer,
temperature, etc.
 Actuators
 Visually reactive
 Sonically reactive
 Might record sound / feedback
‘Yr In Mah Face’: temperature /mood sensing t-shirt from user
 camera

4. Wearable technology is a diverse area,
and can be fashionable, whimsical, fun,
practical, arty, serious, protective,
interactive, sensing, medical, energy
harvesting, communicating,
musical and lots more…

5. A quick tour: In the beginning…
Wearable technology of yore: heavy, messy, angular & clunky

6. Beam me up Scotty…
..sci-fi has a lot to answer for!

7. But we’re moving on from when wearable tech
evoked thoughts of axe grinding cyborgs, serf
robots, toasters and space pirates…

8. Some people have obviously had too much sci-fi…
“Let’s just hope that they all don’t show up at once.“ Anon
..but I digress!

9. Anyways I have tons of questions…
 What are we going to use Wearable
Technology for?
 How will Open Source work with Wearable
Tech industry?
 What about sustainability?
 OpenWear / open design?
 Interoperability vs proprietry?
 Will smartphones / computers end up
integrated into our clothing?
 Ethics issues - who owns / has access to
our data?
 Privacy & Surveillance
 How far will we get towards Cyborg
culture - implants anyone? CuteCircuit M-Dress
..for another time!

10. The growth of hacker culture & communities has inspired a new group of creatives to evolve
and enter the tech industries

11. ..a convergence of readily available electronic components, shared knowledge through
communities and open source approaches to technology has broken barriers to learning &
creativity

12. For me, the availability of sewable electronic & e-textiles has revolutionised the way I and
many other artists & designers work

13. ..plus the styling of some of these components has made them more attractive to work with

14. LilyPad Arduino
Microcontroller
 Conductive Thread
 E-Textiles
 C (ish) Programming
 Sensors
 Actuators
 Hacked Electronics
 Conductive items
 Wearables
 Sound Artworks
 Games
 All Interactive

15. LilyPad Arduino Microcontroller
• Fabulousness • My wish list
 It’s sewable!  An industrial version
 It’s open source – you can find  Make it cheaper
the Eagle files & free code  More modules please
libraries online / with IDE  Different sizes and shapes of
 Good number of digital & board
analogue I/O  Choice of microcontrollers
 Great vector for encouraging  Variable voltages
girls/ boys /adults/ artists
/anyone / to experience  More competitors, to increase
electronics innovation (Flora, Seeedstudio)
 It’s round (dismisses the idea that  Development of washable
electronics are sharp grey and conductive thread
cold)
 Enthusiastic & helpful community

16. The miniaturization of technology has changed how people build & use wearable tech &
electronics; they’re no longer comprised of cold, bulky sharp, boxy & ugly components that
you might prefer to remain hidden

17. …allowing me create much more
elegant work

18. …incorporating the technology into the
design

19. The availability of sensors in particular that allowed me to bring my ideas to fruition

20. ..plus due to communties & individuals interested in sharing knowledge there’s lots of
information out there to help you make your own!

21. Hacking existing tech & combining sensors has allowed me to
make pieces such as ‘You Make My <3 Flutter’: a proximity
detecting, heart rate sensing ‘techlace’

22. And for looking at social interaction -‘Yr In Mah Face’: temperature /mood sensing t-shirt
- uses Celsius temperature data from a sensor, averages it, then visualises the results via
LEDs.

23. I’m also interested in practical uses - Don’t Break My Heart is a wearable, colour-coded
distance warning system prototype for cyclists to wear on their back

24. Teapot Bunny Ears!

25. Summary: exciting time for e-textiles & wearable tech
 Availability of sewable electronics is revolutionising the work of artists &
designers
 Hackspaces & online communities are helping demystify electronics & coding
 Open Source ethos is sharing & making knowledge more accessible
 Small Maker start-ups are changing the face of tech entrepreneurs
 Sewable electronics are inspiring a broader demographic to become
interested in electronics & coding
 School age students are investigating electronics & code via e-textiles and
wearable tech

26. Wearable tech workshops for 8-16 year olds for Technocamps, an initiative to encourage
school children in Wales to try out various forms of computer & hardware based tech from
robotics, game development, animation to forensics.

27. ..for schools in Aberystwyth, Lampeter & Cardigan,
homeschoolers (mums came too!) & Saturday drop in club.
Sophie & I show our Dragons to the MEP for
Wales, Aberystwyth University & Technocamps
dignitaries came to see what we were up to!

28. A big list of stuff the students learned about…
 Intro to wearable tech  Functions
 E-textiles  Variables
 Intro to Arduino & LilyPad  Numbers: eg Intergers
 Video examples by others  Delays can be so much fun!
 Communicating with computers via USB  True / False states
 Arduino IDE  Conditional s: If / else statements
 Compiling  Loops
 Uploading  Formatting is important!
 Power & Ground  Serial monitor
 Ohm’s Law  Drawing simple circuits
 Resistors  Not to be afraid
 Sensors  Learn from things not working
 Actuators  Troubleshooting
 Analogue vs Digital  Experimenting is good
 PWM  Hacking isn’t bad!
 Circuits, inc Parallel & Series circuits  You can personalise your work
 Short circuits  You can work on your own or with friends
 Switches  Forget about stereotypes
 Sewing with conductive thread  Coding / Electronics isn’t gender specific
 Breadboards  Invent stuff!
 Crocodile clips  Have fun with code & electronics!

29. Ideas and work examples from Wearable Technology half
day workshop & three-day Easter bootcamp.
The students loved how they could personalise and
control electronics very quickly by learning a few
examples of code and following a few rules of
circuitry!

30. Summary: get coding and hardware hacking
into more schools!
 School age students enjoy investigating electronics & code via e-textiles and
wearable tech
 Wearable tech as a vehicle fascinates school children as it allows them to use
their imagination and come up with fantastic ideas
 Young people are very inquisitive and receptive to the principles of open
source
 Giving students project examples that they can personalise gets them
interested
 Don’t talk too long - show them straight away how to get a response from
code and hardware
 Video examples give them ideas!
 Make workshops fun – find interesting analogies to describe what they’re
going to do
 Don’t make lessons dull and worthy!
 Don’t try to make them touch each other in role playing games ;-)

31. Thank you for your attention!
@Rainycat
http://rainycatz.wordpress.com
http://Rain Ashford 2012