Bio Circuit at IF'09: Stereo

Bio Circuit will be a part of the Stereo Exhibit in the Concourse gallery of Emily Carr University this week.

Stereo Interactive Futures ‘09: Stereo (IF’09: Stereo) will be hosted by the Intersections Digital Studios at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver. IF’09: Stereo offers a broad thematic reading of “stereo” to include research and art works that use techniques and devices to lure the body into ephemeral spaces. Examples include stereographic films and animations, linked interactive performance spaces, simulated touch interfaces, binaural sound works, and mixed-reality art works. IF’09: Stereo has invited practitioners who are working with subtle uses of immersive techniques, illusionary space and objects, and telepresence that evoke unexpected responses and challenge the modes of creation used by popular entertainment media and technologies…>

IF’09: Stereo has invited media artists, designers, researchers and filmmakers experimenting with: stereographic projection; illusionary sound and vision; methods of co-location (ways of simultaneously mapping and representing more than one location).

If you’re interested in seeing Bio Circuit for yourself, you can visit Emily Carr University (1399 Johnston Street) on Granville Island in Vancouver. Stereo will be in the Concourse Gallery from Nov. 18-22nd. IF’09 is on from Nov. 19-21.

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.

It’s finally finished! And it finally has a name! For months our wearable technology project has gone unnamed, but today we are pleased to introduce you to Bio Circuit*

Holly and I got together on Friday to do some filming, and hopefully we’ll be able to post some footage of Bio Circuit in action very soon! We are working on a submission to TEI’10, a conference for Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction. Our video and paper submission will be to the Explorations category, so keep your fingers crossed for us as well.

** thank you to the beautiful and wonderful Angela Henderson for being our model

A sketch has been settled on, and I’m in the process of making a pattern for the garment. The collar of the vest will be high enough to cover one of the wearer’s ears, while the other side can be scrunched down so that the ambient sounds of the environment can be heard as well.

After I make a pattern, I’ll sew together a quick muslin and work out the details. Simultaneously, we will be working out the details of our electronic components as well! So much to do, so little time. But at least its fun!