Concept:
The intention of this design is to enhance skiing visibility. Through lights and synchronized flashing, the armband enhances the perceptual systems of others. Furthermore the armband extends the user's sense of motion, by calculating acceleration magnitude and average velocity to produce color and blinking that differs according to user motion.
Core Functionality:
The 'Skiing Visibility Armband' measures the user's acceleration using an accelerometer. It then calculates the user's acceleration magnitude, and an average velocity. Using this sensory information, the armband produces an LED output, that reflects the sensors. It provides different colour and blinking patterns according to the data, moving from green to red as velocity increases, and increasing blinking speed with acceleration magnitude. While the primary goal of this wearable is visibility, it also implies the speed to the user to other skiers through the armband patterns.
Changes in proposal:
The original proposal for 'Hyper Body Wearable' was a 'thermosensitive glove'. The idea was initially to provide feedback from the ambient temperature. This feedback wouldn't be given by leds, and focused on bringing attention to the problem. However, there were far more final, commercially available wearable that directly heated the gloves.
As such, I decided to refocus my efforts on the aspect of the wearable specific to visibility, and change the wearable to an armband. This was a better change, because it allowed me to focus on a more specific user.
Why?
This wearable was designed with a primary user in mind, being a skier (or snowboarder) that spends significant amounts of time on the mountain. The lose persona for this primary user is a friend, who I questioned when considering this armband.
The form factor of an armband is convenient for a skier, because it can be added an removed easily. In addition, not directly embedding this into a jacket allows the user to freely choose their jacket according to fashion and weather.
The core functionality of the armband serves the function of providing visibility, According to Salomon Mountain Academy, an educational guide for skiing, outlines how poor visibility is the most significant cause of skiing accidents. It further explains how fog and snow are some of the most significant factors in lowering visibility. While wearing bright clothing, rather than white or black, is a good convention in maximizing visibility in ideal weather conditions, these weather phenomenon can lower visibility regardless.
Prototype:
Prototype, sewing begins.
Prototype, Final Circuit
Prototype, final circuit running w/ Organza light diffuser.
Materials:
Hardware Materials-
Flora Board
Conductive Thread
2x Neo Pixel LED
Flora Accelerometer/Compass Sensor
3.7V Lithium Rechargeable Battery
Other Materials-
Clear Organza Fabric
Spandex Fabric
String, of varying colour.
Elastic Band.
Velcro.
Electrical Tape.
Device Aesthetics:
The device itself is aiming to be low-key, and neutral, so that it can easily be worn with different kinds of jackets. However, it's colour compliments more neutral black and white jackets. In addition, white jackets, diffuse the LED light better. The arm band itself uses white material and organza to reflect and diffuse the colour as much as possible to make it view able in darker times of day.
Hardware Diagram:
Citations:
Salomon Mountain Academy, Poor Visibility Guidelines. Retrieved from Feb, 8th, 2018 http://mountainacademy.salomon.com/en/demo/62/poor-visibility-fog-and-clouds
Snowy Mountain. [Photograph]. Retrieved from Feb,8th, 2018 https://www.hdwallpapers.in/walls/snow_mountains_windows_10-wide.jpg
Whistler Mountain. {Photograph} Retrieved from Feb8th, 2018 from http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/11/16/470066A300000578-4368416-The_town_of_Whistler_sits_at_the_base_of_the_beautiful_Blackcomb-a-9_1513009625783.jpg
