Hi! I'm Lio Chang
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REST-MINDER / physical computing

When we look at the relationship between people and objects, we can only think from our own points of view. Almost all man- made objects exist in ways that serve people directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, designers have always been asked to improve “service quality” of the objects they make.

With the speed of our technological advances now, it is not hard to imagine a speculative world where all inanimate objects are developed into smart objects. These objects can sense your physical needs and in turn, give a series of responses that hopes to modify your behavior.

To what extent can the anthropocentric concept be amplified? How will our relationship with objects change in the future?



Rest-minder

Mar - May 2018 | Exhibited in Major-major 2018 exhibition at Parsons School of Design

Rest-minder is a human-like lamp. By sensing the signal of fatigue from the human body and simulating the yawning state of tiredness, then further affects other objects’ state in this environment. Because I want to use the human simulation behavior of the object to try to evoke an empathic, human reflex, to make users aware of their real state and the needs of their body, in order to guide people to rest properly.

Domain

Interactive installation, Speculative product, Internet of Things (IoT)

Tools

Arduino, OpenFrameworks(OpenCV-FaceTracker), Fabrication

Deliverable

Interactive sculpture

 
 
 

When we look at the relationship between people and objects, we can only think from our own points of view. Almost all man-made objects exist in ways that serve people directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, designers have always been asked to improve “service quality” of the objects they make.

With the speed of our technological advances now, it is not hard to imagine a speculative world where all inanimate objects are developed into smart objects. These objects can sense your physical needs and in turn, give a series of responses that hopes to modify your behavior.

To what extent can the anthropocentric concept be amplified?

How will our relationship with objects change in the future?

The final prototype was exhibited at the MajorMajor Showcase at Parsons in May 2018.

The final prototype was exhibited at the MajorMajor Showcase at Parsons in May 2018.

 

Prototyping & Testing

Screen Shot 2018-05-09 at 00.27.54.png
 
 

By using the OpenCV, FaceTraker and other library with openFrameworks, I detect the ratio of width and height of mouth. After lots of testing, I have got a more specific range of ratio number that represent our state of yawning. 

The most difficult part of this project is to build the flexible movement. I tried muscle wire and paper folding to mimic the organic structure before, but all failed.

Finally, I came up with this structure to use the stepper motor to pull the bar up and down to micmic the breathing feeling. Also The change of the lightness, I used LED Strip. And I choose to stitch a paper and translucent fabric that can hide all my wires but keep the brightness.