Click here to view the embedded video.

This video depicts the collaborative wearable technology project of Bio Circuit in action. Bio Circuit was created at Emily Carr University by myself (Industrial Design student Dana Ramler), and MAA student Holly Schmidt.

Bio Circuit is a vest that provides a form of bio feedback using data from the wearer’s heart rate to determine what “sounds” they hear through the speaker embedded in the collar of the garment. The wearer places the heart rate monitor around the ribcage, resting against the skin and close to the heart. An MP3 audio player embedded in the vest plays the audio track related to that specific heart rate. The audio tracks are soundscapes mixed from a range of ambient sounds. If the wearer’s heart rate is low, the soundscape will reflect a quiet natural area with sounds such as water, birds and insects. If the wearer has a high heart rate then they will hear a cacophony of urban sounds such as people talking and traffic.

Bio Circuit stems from our concern for ethical design and the creation of media-based interactions that reveal human interdependence with the environment. With each beat of the heart, Bio Circuit connects the wearer with the inner workings of their body. In this sense the garment functions like other biofeedback devices that use sensors to provide a person with information about their physiological state. With Bio Circuit, we are proposing that these kinds of devices could extend a person’s awareness to include the environment.

* A special thank you to Suzi Webster, Bobbi Kozinuk, Emily Carr IDS, Bryan Rite and Angela Henderson.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The carpet picks up the radio waves which your body receives and makes them “hearable.” When walking on the carpet you can tune it to a certain frequency, similar to the tuner of a radio.

I really love the idea of engaging with the things in our home to make them come ‘alive.’ Without the user, the carpet is silent and functions in a regular way. Walking across it completely transforms it into an interactive soft technology and brings a new element of sound into the environment.

Swedish designer Hedvig af Ekenstam has completed a number of product designs that do just this. Her ‘knitted radiator the ‘knitted radiator’ is designed using heating cables coiled to create a new type of radiator. The design is a flexible and lightweight screen that can be shaped to fit the user’s needs. I love it!

Her project ‘Heating Curtain’ is another radiator design. The curtain is made from fabric and has a heating coil woven into it to provide heat.

This light, visually attractive mobile heating unit is a beautiful and innovative alternative to the typical electric heater found in the market today.