personal space (working title) introduction...personal space (working title) introduction for my...

15035035 Contextual Report Hardware Hacking

Personal Space (Working Title) Introduction For my final Hardware Hacking project, I have decided to make an interactive piece of art that explores the ideas surrounding personal space and invites members of the public to discover it in their own way. The piece will be made up of a pair, or a small group of wearables that participants can pick up and put on. Each wearable will use sensors that will react and control the brightness of neopixel lights embedded in the wearable, based on the proximity of other people taking part in the interaction. The result will be an interactive piece for the voluntary participants, and a performative piece for the spectators as they watch the participants discover how the lights change based on their interactions with other individuals. The installation is designed with a gallery setting in mind, so I hope to have it on display as part of the final year degree show. I also hope that people of all ages and backgrounds will want to take part, as I love the idea of seeing the differences in interactions between complete strangers, and lovers or close family members and seeing how the light display changes to exaggerate those interactions in a beautiful way. Context/research What really attracted me to making this project was exploring the ideas of personal space. I remember studying psychology at A Level and learning about personal space and how we have different imagined bubbles surrounding us that denote different levels of intimacy and where we feel at comfort distance wise with different types of people, i.e. lovers, acquaintances and strangers. In the recent work on preferred interpersonal distances by Sorokowska et al (2017), the work of many other psychological studies is cited in their description of preferred interpersonal distances; “Interpersonal space, or interpersonal distance, is an essential feature of individuals’ social behaviour in relation to their physical environment and social interactions (Hall, 1966; Hayduk, 1983). It is a distance we maintain in interpersonal interactions, or in other words, “breathing space,” an abstract area that surrounds each individual (Hall, 1966; Madanipour, 2003; Sommer, 1969)”.


Fig 1. Diagram of Edward T. Hall’s hidden dimensions I remember seeing these diagrams (see fig 1) of a person with these imagined zones drawn around them and thinking, surely, it’s not as straight-forward as just having these set distances that dictate where you feel comfortable with people. I also remember being at secondary school in my early teenage years, being introduced to new groups of people and being really anxious about how ‘huggy’ everyone was as they made their way around greeting each other with embraces, finally reaching me and just going straight in for a hug, making me feel really uncomfortable. The more time I spent thinking about it, the more I realised it’s something I care a lot about and I am really motivated by. It’s for these reasons why I truly believe that the abstract concept of different layers of personal space is so much more complex from one person to another than just drawing circles around the diagram of a person. The reason I chose to read Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison (Sorokowska. et al., 2017), is because I feel like they have started to make a good effort in studying in more detail how the concept could vary globally through empirical research. Whilst the study does give a good rough idea of how these perceived barriers vary from one culture to another (see fig 2), I still think there’s a lot more complexity to it, as Sorokowska explains in their conclusion of the study, “In all, there is compelling evidence of cross-cultural variations in proxemic behaviors. Such differences might be underpinned by cultural norms, but at the same time, these norms could be associated with certain psychological and ecological variables… Given the exploratory nature of our empirical investigation, we are aware that at this stage of research, we cannot yet explain the exact mechanisms of influence of these variables on interpersonal distance preferences”.


Fig 2. Mean values (cm) of social, personal, and intimate distance across all nations. (Sorokowska. et al., 2017) The present seems like such a perfect time to explore these ideas of personal space. It’s a topic that’s heavily discussed now that many parts of the world are given a stronger voice on social media platforms. For example, the recent #MeToo social media campaign was one that supported and encouraged women everywhere to share their stories of how they had been sexually assaulted by men (Khomami, N., 2018). The campaign resulted in millions of women (and some men) sharing their stories within days. It succeeded in highlighting that sexual misconduct is still a big issue, and to me that ideas around personal space worth exploring. Many art projects have explored ideas around personal space from different angles. Boundary Functions (Snibbe, S., 2018), was a project where participants were invited to stand on a platform where boundaries were projected onto the floor around them and reacted and moved dynamically as they wondered around the space. The piece was one that narrated that boundaries are just abstractly put in place in relation to other beings. Anouk Wipprecht’s (2018) Spider Dress is a wearable piece of ‘fashiontech’ that takes inspiration from the animal kingdom and is equipped with robotic limbs and lights that act as a defence mechanism when someone gets too close to someone’s immediate intimate space. She even similarly references some of the aforementioned psychological studies drawing on these abstract proximity boundaries. Projects that I find are more similar to my idea, not necessarily in presentation but in user experience are projects such as GAIA’s ‘Veasyble’ (2018), and Marina Abramović’s ‘The Artist is Present’ (restoredfaithi, 2013). In particular, one of the wearables that GAIA created offers room to share an intimate space with another person, giving wearers the opportunity to share a moment together. In Abramovic’s ‘The Artist is Present’, she invites participants to sit down at a table opposite her and share one minute’s silence together staring each


other in the eyes. On one occasion, an ex-lover of her’s: Ulay, makes a surprise appearance to sit opposite Marina. The result is a moment of genuine and beautiful display of human emotion and connection which ends up in the barrier between the personal and intimate space being crossed as they reach out to hold hands. For me it’s these exact moments of discovery, wonder and beauty of human interaction and its connection to personal space that I would like to invite people to explore in my project. Method/making As mentioned previously, when conceptualising new ideas, I always refer to Pinterest as a first port of call as it normally proves a good starting place for idea exploration and research. I started pinning anything remotely related to wearable tech and became fixated on the idea of creating a dress or accessory full of lights.

Fig 3. Screenshot of my board on Pinterest I made some changes to some code examples and programmed an Arduino to adjust the brightness of neopixels based on proximity using an IR sensor. I made a quick wearable prototype that I strapped to class mate Tom’s arm to illustrate how the lights brighten based on proximity, and happy with a piece of code that worked on a basic level I decided to move onto making the physical object part of my project as I knew this would take the most amount of time.


Fig 4. Arduino and bread board with Neopixel lights and IR sensor


Fig 5. Rough prototype I made of IR sensor controlling Neopixel brightness


Fig 6. Early sketch shown to James and Nick to communicate idea During meetings with James and Nick (technicians from the Fabrication lab), we discussed several approaches to realising the physical aspect of my project. James suggested that if I wanted to make it from paper, that I should look at a piece of software called Pepakura. Pepakura takes 3D models and turns them into unfolded patterns that can then be produced with a laser cutter. To use this program, James explained that I would need a 3D model to start with though, so he advised I should meet with Nick one of the other technicians. Nick explained that it would be tricky with my limited knowledge to start 3D modelling in Rhino and a bit of a stretch in scope given my time frame. Therefore I proposed the idea of creating the form I wanted to work with from plasticine first, then 3D scanning it so I had a 3D digital form to start working with in Rhino. Nick explained this could work and that it would just be a case of taking my 3D model and reducing the polygon count in Rhino which is a fairly simple command. So, I followed this proposed method of modelling from plasticine, 3D scanning with the Artec Spider scanner, tidying up the scan with Artec 3D Studio, exporting the 3D model as an .stl file, importing into Rhino, reducing the polygon count and making some further adjustments such as splitting and mirroring for a symmetrical form, creating and preparing the model for the unfolded model then printing with the laser cutter.


Fig 7. Plasticine backpack for 3D scan


Fig 8. Plasticine model ready for scanning


Fig 9. Artec Spider 3D scanner

Fig 10. 3D scan in Artec 3D Studio


Fig 11. 3D model in Rhino with reduced poly mesh behind

Fig 12. Reduced poly meshes prepped in Rhino for Pepakura and Slicer outputs


Fig 13. Model in Pepakura being prepared for laser cutting

Fig 14. Laser cut Pepakura model ready for assembly


Fig 15. Part-assembled Pepakura model


Fig 16. Small scale Pepakura form modelled by animatronic bird


Fig 17. Low poly assembled Pepakura model in comparison with 3D scan With the pepakura model laser cut out, it was then just a case of assembling and gluing the model together. I started with a small prototype for testing the form and printed on a fairly thick card for strength. I found the model was trickier to assemble than I thought, and one other problem to solve would be that I need to work with a lighter form like paper, so the lights can shine through, but a lighter material obviously sacrifices strength. I also have the added challenge of needing some kind of internal structure to house the lights and electrics, so I discussed this with Nick and Michelle (another technician) and they explained that I could print the same form using a program called Slicer. Slicer is a piece of software that takes a 3D model and creates constructable 2D slices. So, I made a few more adjustments in Rhino, created the 2D slices in Slicer and then sent them to the laser cutter to be cut out at full scale. I found this model to be a little weak in places and very difficult to assemble with some pieces not slotting together properly. It may be that the internal structure is strong enough when I assemble the full size Pepakura outer shell to go on top, so that’s the next step I’m going to try. I’ve already started creating a new digital file for the larger scale Pepakura model, this time manipulating it in Adobe Illustrator to offset some of the panels to create holes to be cut to allow space for the light to shine through on the thicker card. I could then possibly cover this with a white fabric, so I retain that smooth finish on the form as well as strengthening the overall model. I also plan on still cutting on a lighter weight paper and putting this over the structure to see if it’s strong enough and what works best.


Fig 18. Inside structure being prepared for cutting in Slicer

Fig 19. Laser cut pieces from Slicer


Fig 20. Slicer pieces ready to be assembled


Fig 21. Slicer assembly rig - Tensabarrier hack I also did some more research around similar forms and I took a look back at a piece I found on my moodboard called The Human Sensor by Kasia Molga (2018). The piece has a similar idea with regards to my desired form, so I did some examining of photos and videos and worked out that it looks like hard laser cut shapes on fabric. After doing some more digging around online I did manage to find a video on the project where it confirms that it’s made from laser cut plastic and cotton, but this is the only information I could find. Therefore, I do also plan on making a small prototype with this method to see how it works. Finally, I also need to work out how the form will fit comfortably on the wearer. Our lecturer Becca donated an old bag and some strap material which could be used to build around or secure the form with clips etc., but I’m hoping the pack may just sit on the wearer’s shoulders without having to be fixed too much but this will come later with further prototyping. I did do some quick testing placing the structure model on Nick and James’ shoulders and it did fit quite well but this is the only testing I’ve managed to do at this point, but I will need to test out the fit and user experience aspects at a later date.


Fig 22. Nick modelling the backpack


Fig 23. James modelling the backpack References: Arnolfini (2018) Do Ho Suh: a behind-the-scenes report — Arnolfini. Available from: https://www.arnolfini.org.uk/blog/do-ho-suh-blog [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Bristol Museums (2018) New York City Apartment/Bristol | Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Available from: https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/do-ho-suh/ [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Destro, N. (2009) Personal Space Protector. Available from: https://nathandestro.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/personal-space-protector/ [Accessed 22 March 2018]. GAIA (2018) VEASYBLE. Available from: http://www.veasyble.com/projecteng.html [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Golub, A. (2018) Body Art And Paintings by NYC Artist Andy Golub. Available from: http://andygolub.com/ [Accessed 22 March 2018].


Huffington Post (2018) Interactive Artist Explores "Human Connection" in the Digital Space. Available from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-schlaikjer/interactive-artist-human-_b_4953860.html [Accessed 22 March 2018]. ICC (2018) ICC Online | Open Space | Art & Technology Zone. Available from: http://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/feature/2006/Openspace/art_technology/boundaryfunctions.html [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Khomami, N. (2018) #MeToo: how a hashtag became a rallying cry against sexual harassment. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/20/women-worldwide-use-hashtag-metoo-against-sexual-harassment [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Molga, K. (2018) Kasia Molga. Available from: http://www.kasiamolga.net/ [Accessed 22 March 2018]. National Geographic (2018) You Need Your Personal Space—Here's the Science Why. Available from: http://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/science/2018/01/you-need-your-personal-space-heres-science-why [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Puxian, V. (2010) The Personal Space Protector ® created and designed by Vivian Puxian. Available from: https://personalspaceprotector.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/hello-world/ [Accessed 22 March 2018]. restoredfaithih (2013) Marina Abramović - Uley visits The Artist is Present. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4lp4w8lNYs [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Romm, C. (2018) Here’s How the Rest of the World Defines Personal Space. Available from: https://www.thecut.com/2017/03/heres-how-the-rest-of-the-world-defines-personal-space.html [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Snibbe, S. (2018) Boundary Functions (1998). Available from: https://www.snibbe.com/projects/interactive/boundaryfunctions/ [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Sorokowska, A. et al (2017) Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 48 (4), pp. 577-592. Available from: https://doi-org.ezproxy.uwe.ac.uk/10.1177/0022022117698039 [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Sturm, D. (2018) Dlight - new light on personal space - Dorette Sturm. Available from: http://www.dorettesturm.com/en/projects/dlight-new-light-on-personal-space.html [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Victoria Miro (2018) Do Ho Suh. Available from: https://www.victoria-miro.com/artists/188-do-ho-suh/ [Accessed 22 March 2018]. Wipprecht, A. (2017) ANOUK WIPPRECHT // profile #FASHIONTECH. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK02id_3aS8 [Accessed 22 March 2018].


Wipprecht, A. (2018) Home. Available from: http://www.anoukwipprecht.nl/#intro-1 [Accessed 22 March 2018].

personal space (working title) introduction...personal space (working title) introduction for my...

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