[Week9] Sketch 2 Progress

Our team decided to go with idea #2 involving gestures such as patting, stroking, and hugging. According to Merleau-Ponty, we were reminded that the embodied experience is not only about bodily encounters, but the reflection of bodily encounters. So, we decided to use a flower, because it truly reflected our individual who opens up to their good friend's intimate exchange of touch.

Now our challenge was to figure out where to place sensors. We did this through experimenting and testing places where we  would pat, stroke, and hug someone. During this week, my team was really observant of how people around us touch each other. We scanned the mall and campus for friends exchanging touches. In addition, we tested out touching point with each other. Below are images of me re-enacting situations where i would provide a comforting touch to my teammate:

Stroking the top half of her back

Hugging with arm over one shoulder and around the waist

Marking sensor positions with tape

We decided on using four sensors. Two sensors were place on the left shoulder for shoulder pats and strokes and two other sensors were places along the top half of the spine to facilitate back circular strokes and hugs.

Sensors were placed in felt pouches inside the shirt 

When we were testing the sensors, directly touching it with our fingers, we found that the sensors were too sensitive. It sent a large reading to Arduino and we needed to detect the force at which one pats, stroke, and hugs to determine how intimate the touch was. This was solved by creating felt pouches to store our force sensors, to dampen the sensors sensitivity. These were then sewed onto the inside of the shirt. However, these pouches made stroking someone less natural, because we could feel where the pouches were. Perhaps, we need to find a thicker material for the shirt. When sewing, we learned that we needed to provide sufficient space between each row of stitching to prevent the circuit from crossing.