Design 1

Basic and lacking in detail, however, does convey my early idea of the concept.

Design 2

This design is more detailed and labelled which is needed especially if the object is to be built/ rebuilt by others. After this design, I realised that by having two hands there would need to be 10 sensors with 10 different sounds, I thought about it but there didn’t seem to be much benefit to this either aesthetically or symbolically. At this stage in the design process, I was interested in visible technology, I felt that the relationship between body and technology was interesting and so wanted to explore this further.

Design 3

On the 4th iteration I began designing in pencil. This makes adjusting and erasing much easier. After I designed this, I decided that one hand felt more accurate to the narrative the sound object is portraying.

Design 4

When designing the final object I considered the placement of everything both inside and outside. I sketched the placement of the conductive fabric and velostat inside the sensor and made measurements of the wire length I would require.

Inside of the sensor.

Planned how to attach wires and measured the length of the wire. This diagram does not represent the colours used in the object. When I was planning for the wires I also had to consider the colour they would be. I contemplated red and white, they both have different aesthetic value but I decided to use red. When I placed the red wires inside the sensor and onto to the dress I realised they resembled veins, I feel like this gives the hand sensor a sense of aliveness and I find that to be aesthetically very interesting.

The final design makes the computing elements possible to hide, this change in the design came from imagining the object within contexts it might be viewed/ interacted with. I felt that by using the body to trigger the sound ideas about the body and technology were being conveyed more subtly. It also interferes less with the original appearance of the dress. I was unsure whether to have the hand cut out to the shape or keep it in the square it was in the process of making it. I’ve been considering permanence and impermanence recently and felt hesitant to make a permanent decision so decided to leave the sensor as a square so I could impermanently attach it to the dress whilst still being as effective. This also allows the sensor to be used within different contexts in the future which feels more sustainable then if it was permanently attached to the dress.