Rain Ashford creates interactive wearables and art using microcontrollers and sensors. She is interested in encouraging young people to learn coding and electronics through creative projects. Some of her work includes physiological sensing wearables that track metrics like heart rate and temperature and output the data visually or sonically. She is experimenting with galvanic skin response and electroencephalography sensors for future projects.

1. Thursday Club: Art-Creativity-Technology & Wellness
Goldsmiths, C4CC, 2012
Rain Ashford - http://rainycatz.wordpress.com

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

3. I’m an avid self-tracker and sensor
superfan!

4. ..and I’m also into encouraging young people to become
interested in coding and electronics via creative uses of
technology
..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!
Pics fromTechnocamps, Aberystwyth, workshops I did with Sophie McDonald

5. I’m interested in physiological
hacking…
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:
 sensors – tracking physiological
signs: heart rate, accelerometer,
temperature, etc.
 Actuators
 Visually reactive
 Sonically reactive
 Might record sound / feedback
from user
‘Yr In Mah Face’: temperature /mood sensing t-shirt  Camera
 Logging device

6. Steve Mann – cyborg
I’m fascinated by body modification, cyborgs and how thehe miniaturisation of technology
has changed how people build & use wearable tech & electronics; they’re no longer
comprised of cold, bulky sharp, boxy & ugly components that one might prefer to remain
hidden

7. The availability of sewable electronic & e-textiles has revolutionised the way I and many other
artists & designers work

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

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

10. …allowing me to incorporate the
technology into my designs

11. Examples of conductive thread and
wire used as part of my design

12. 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’

13. 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.

14. 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

15. Not all of my wearables focus on physiological sensors,
some are environmental: Teapot Bunny Ears!

16. My latest work, Baroesque (barometric skirt) includes
both physiological and enviromental sensors

17. What am I working on next?
..experimenting with GSR & EEG

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