Spica
Academic, Columbia University, Fall 2014
Elective: Responsive Environments | Tutors: (Epitome) Koray Bingol +Deniz Tumerdem + Gamze Gunduz | Team: Seda Oznal + Ege Acar
+ Ozguc Capunaman + Yıldırım Erbaz
Description: Spica is a wearable technology concept that explores visualization of sound and seeks to synthesize a dialogue in another medium. It basically responds to sound; talking, shouting, screaming and is tunable by three potentiometers: delay, frequency, and range. One of the most challenging design criteria was to make the system smaller, lighter and wearable. After solving the system in a 50x50x50 cm3 box with gears and paths, we focused on system’s compatibility. At last, it turned into a compact shell for the mouth area only. It is a basic system with two shells; inner and outer where between the shells sensor, Arduino, motor, and cables are organized. In the inner shell, there is a basic spring system. The sound sensor triggers the motor so that spring goes through the contraction to relaxation which pushes the spikey surface. It can be an attachment to the human body in a dystopic future where people had to wear them in order to communicate. Or it can be a contemporary tool that sensors anger and rage. Despite its usage area, it is a small research trying to alternate current paths of communication.