David Eastman - BCT

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Introduction and Objects

Hi, my name David and I am a second year student at AUT doing a Bachelor of Creative Technology course. I started designing concepts around 4 years ago due to excessive levels of boredom when I was unable to do very much due to my movement condition. However, while I was sitting around very bored for extended periods of time I may of gone a little stir crazy at times. So my designs usually fell into 2 categories of practical, “interesting” or things I want.

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AUT Showcase 2019

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Demonstration of the Jacket

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Stress Testing

I didn’t see the point of play-testing this design since it was only a re-creation and variation of something that already exists. Plus with me using the analog jacket to test/learn how pick-pocketing worked, there would be unlikely that other people could do something that I hadn’t already tried on the jacket. But I did find that while the single stitches help keep the jacket looking neat, they are also break easily if enough pressure is applied to them. Furthermore, while the sensors are cheap (and easy to make I later found out), they are also fragile. I had bought 4 sensors originally and have replace both discs from moving and using the jacket. The wires were good enough (after all the issues they ahd already given me), but they didn’t sit in the arduino pins well until Krishna the mechatronics technician helped do some soldering for me and put some male header pins on the ends of the wires which made wiring everything up a much simpler process.

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Finished Jacket

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Design Placement and Why

I reduced the number of sensors to 2 for the 2 outside front pockets since it would be less work I would have to find someone else to do and it was only a prototype for a proof of concept. Makes me sound a bit lazy, but while I can use a sewing machine I am not very good with hand stitching. Plus I am working by myself which means there is only so much I can do and my personal life had problems repeatedly popping up that left me with less time to work on this project. Not to make excuses for myself but it did mean I needed to make some design decisions that were easier to implement and less time consuming. This included putting wires on the outside of the jacket instead of through the jacket so people wouldn’t see it. But since I was getting assessed on my circuit for Physical Computing I needed the circuit visible which made for a easy decision. The training jacket was designed to be used on a mannequin primarily so it wouldn’t exactly be out of place either. I also placed the sensor discs in the pockets but to the side so the user can steal around it. But if they were to touch it or move the pocket too much, it would still go off. Plus, by changing a number for the threshold in the code you can make it very sensitive. This also made it easier for me, who has unsteady hands some of the time, to use with simple adjustment. The Arduino and breadboard was also sown onto the back of the jacket to hold it there and make the wires and short as possible for this design. The wires were sown on with a few single stitches to just keep the wires looking neat and reduce pressure/weight on the Arduino and breadboard.

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Circuit Problems

I started to build the circuit on the $20 male jacket that I bought for this project and once it is complete along with some stitching to hold the arduino in place I tested it and started to get some unexpected results. The speaker keeps going off once triggered and the LED doesn’t light up. This shouldn’t of happened since the circuit and code had already been tested, firstly the LED and then the speaker added in, and there were no problems and everything worked as I had intended.

Thought it was the wires since the test circuit was using solid core wires from my arduino kit while the wires for the jacket were stranded (multi-core). I thought maybe the signal from the sensors were not being sent all at one time which is why the reading from the sensor kept changing inconsistently. So I went to get some replacement wires from jaycar. Turned out the wires I had first bought were only good for audio and not much else and what the sales guy had told me was wrong. He apparently had some experience with arduino so he should of known what he was talking about but I was stupid enough not to have done enough research on what wires I would need. Who knew there was such a huge difference on what wires would be suitable aside from if they were strong enough for the current I would be running through them. Got new wires that were still stranded wires but I still kept getting the same sort of readings from the sensors.

I take the jacket to present to Stefan for my Physical Computing paper’s final project with my jacket still not working the way it should much to my irritation. Turns out while I had hooked everything up to negative I had forgot to hook the negative line on my breadboard to the ground pin on my arduino. Seems my frustration from struggling to do precise circuit placement and unable to find out why the jacket was not working the way it should had clouded my vision to this simple mistake. 30 seconds and one new wire connecting two points later, the jacket works the way it should.

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Circuit Design

Designing the circuit had a few mistakes that I learned from along the way. I thought it was too simple and easy and found out that I was right and had drawn it wrong since it wouldn’t of worker.

Second photo is a cleaner drawing of the circuit. I then made a temporary circuit to test it and it worked the way I intended.

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Arduino Research + Sensor Choice

This phase of this project worked well for me since it gave me time to catch up on my physical computing paper just in time to sit the test. There were only five weeks of notes and practice examples in total which I had to review for the test plus whatever examples from my own practice book, that came with my arduino kit, to make sure I understood. Thankfully I scored a 76.3% on the test which is enough for me. Luckily the content I needed to cover was also a couple of the major parts for the jacket. It only covered things I need for the output of a LED light and speaker using PWM waves.

After that I finished looking at different sensors and decided on Piezo vibration disc sensors for the analog input of the circuit. I will place the discs in the pockets or maybe between the lining that should detect movement if the pocket is moved too much. One good thing about these sensors for me is that they are cheap ($9 each + shipping) which is friendly to a uni students budget.

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Pickpocket Training Jacket Blog Posts List

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/187162212188/semester-2-new-project

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/187162231613/pickpocket-research

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/187162407123/analog-pickpocket-training-jacket

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/187162492213/electronic-basics-and-sensor-research

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188652374668/arduino-research-sensor-choice

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188652622468/circuit-design

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188652862708/circuit-problems

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188652880378/design-placement-and-why

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188652890753/finished-jacket

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188652895113/stress-testing

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/188653456883/demonstration-of-the-jacket

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Electronic Basics and Sensor Research

This is the stage where I focus on my Physical Computing paper with Arduino basics and electronic circuits which is what I will be using to make the electronic Pickpocket Training Jacket. Since this project will also be submitted for both papers to make it easier on myself this semester, I think this is a useful step to include since it is a huge part of the project. I will also be looking at different sensor types that I think will be more appropriate for my project as well as what is easier and cheaper to purchase to keep my costs as low as possible/acceptable.

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Analog Pickpocket Training Jacket

I made an analog version using bells since that is what I was trying to re-create (and because I wanted one). I used a episode of White Collar Season 2 Episode 15 where there was a training jacket as an example/basis for where to place/sew the bells.

I found making this helpful due to the fact that the research mainly had me looking at how pick pocketing worked on a person. That included the distraction and manipulating a persons attention on top of technique. And the distraction is a huge part of this which lead me to trying to try and add a human attention variable to make a training jacket for pick pocketing as a whole instead of just the technique. But by making a jacket that I was basing my idea on instead of just an idea in my head, I am able to look at how it works for myself and focus on just making my electronic version of this.

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Project Research

Book

Techniques of the Professional Pickpocket - Very easy to search and find a pdf copy.

Apollo Robins - Gentleman Thief

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGY0wPAnus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-dWSIUNF10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktABbmy6IgQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO2LqCfNCRQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY-eMyC5bWo

Penn and Teller - Explanation of Misdirection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo5BRAKvJoA

James Freedman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPwpqK_37_I

Pickpocket Tutorials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS7GYh64cE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAXEM8qhfMU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykFMmnOfvL4

Articles

https://boingboing.net/2011/06/23/bell-dummy-for-train.html

https://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/bob-arnos-path-to-pickpocketing/

https://vagabondish.com/colombias-underground-school-for-pickpockets/

Otero-Millan, J., Macknik, S. L., Robbins, A., & Martinez-Conde, S. (2011). Stronger Misdirection in Curved than in Straight Motion. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 5. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00133 

Attention and Misdirection: How to Use Conjuring Experience to Study Attentional Processes. (2015). The Handbook of Attention. doi: 10.7551/mitpress/10033.003.0025 

Movies

Bastille Day - On of the main characters is a pickpocket who uses, by the looks of it, proper technique.

Focus - Will Smith consulted Apollo Robbins so he could show proper technique in the film, so the lifts are realistic. Article - https://www.motionpictures.org/2015/02/apollo-robbins-teaches-will-smith-margot-robbie-art-of-grifting-in-focus/

Ocean’s 11 and 12 - small scenes that use sleight of hand.

The Italian Job (remake) - Scene of a bully being distracted and having his wallet stolen from his back pocket.

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows - Scene where Sherlock steals and replaces Moriarty’s ledger/notebook

The A-Team - Face steals a news ID badge while talking/flirting with her.

Kingsman - Scene of stealing someones car keys and swapping poisoned brandy while person is distracted.

TV Shows

Criminal Minds Season 4 Episode 13 - Gypsies family where a pickpocket training jacket was shown. A scene that helped give me the idea for a digital version.

White Collar Season 2 Episode 15 - A clearer look at a pickpocket training jacket that I re-created for my analog version.

Blacklist Season 1 Episode 14 - A brush pass which uses similar principles to work.

Leverage - One of the main characters is a thief who picks peoples pockets regularly.

Hogan’s Heroes - Character “Newkirk” steals things basicly every episode. Looks very fake but it has to be based on some technique to convince the audience that he is picking people’s pockets like in Leverage.

Elementary Season 2 Episode 3 - Joan Watson steals a guys watch and mentions some small details on how to pick pockets she had learned. But Sherlock steals people’s phones regularly.

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Semester 2 New Project

This semester I decided to make a Pickpocket Training Jacket but instead of the traditional bells, I will try to make it with sensors. Also I will be making this by myself.

This is my planned process for this project:

The last step are extra steps of development that I don’t know if I will get to this semester. It will depend on how long each step takes me; especially the step of making the electronic jacket. I also have an idea to add LEDs to represent where a person’s attention is, which is a huge part of successfully picking a person’s pockets, but I will only look at that step after making the multi-difficulty setting.

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Final Post

Surmised Reflection

I learnt a few things from this project. Such as the limits of what only one person can do by themselves and what extra limitations I have on top of those due to my condition. It just means that while I am not good at dealing with groups, I still need people to work with so I am going to need to figure out a way to make that work next semester. Also that my time management needs more work in regards to estimating how much time I need for different steps of the design process and allowances for things to go wrong. Another thing I learnt was that I still need to research things that I think I know how they work even if I am right and not just assume I am. I also figured out that when I need help with certain parts of the design process that I should just ask for help, like when trying to pick and choose colours. Furthermore, Play-testing is important to do even if I get feedback with expected results. And finally that when I need help I should just ask for it instead of being stubborn and insistent on doing things myself when I am not up to it.

Blog Post Index:

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/184980751503/new-project-and-group-finding

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/184980765053/group-finding-poster

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/184980810803/concepts-and-breakdown-paperwork

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/184980822493/breakdown-of-concepts

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/184980838228/prototype-1-pic

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/184980846993/prototype-1

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185422539388/prototype-2

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185422857528/prototype-3

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185423080878/prototype-4

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185630043543/prototype-5

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185630494688/piece-layout

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185630942773/play-testing-and-colour-scheme

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185630950913/making-my-wooden-prototype

https://davideastman-bct.tumblr.com/post/185636694973/open-studio-and-observations

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Open Studio and Observations

The Open Studio went well in my opinion. People were open to my interpretation and physical representation of introverted behavior. Everyone I talked to seemed to agree and the puzzles had the intended effects on the users that I have previously mentioned. The puzzle only got solved by one of the people who tried it who turned out to be a introvert. She got to the second puzzle and decided she was not leaving till she solved it. She tried for 20mins before someone else started helping her and they managed to solve it 10mins later. Other people even gave up on the easy puzzle which I thought was straight forward to solve but people still had trouble which surprised me. When I explained to people that it represented the frustration introverts can feel trying to socialize with extroverts people seemed to become thoughtful and intrigued. One of my lecturers Ricardo came and had a look and asked questions on my interpretation of introverted behavior. After talking to him I realized that I just assumed what introverted behavior was since I am one instead of researching what it actually was overall. Another person liked my interpretation a lot but said that socializing as a introvert is more about how they feel internally than the actual difficulty of socializing. This made me think about how I could adjust my prototype to fit this different interpretation because it made me realize that mine was very biased by how difficult I find socializing and how it was almost impossible for me. I figured I don’t have to physically change anything but what metaphorical meaning I convey when I describe/explain my prototype to other people. I was a bit surprised but glad that people liked and were still open to my prototype after I mentioned that I hadn’t really made anything new, but just arranged all the elements in a way to give the user a intended experience. Finally, I think I need to do more research on introverted behavior if I was to develop this prototype further.

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Making my Wooden prototype

Making the board came with a few obstacles that I did not plan for. One which I should have was my body reacting badly to the intense vibrations of the power tools I used. This meant I needed to take more breaks and pace myself which required more time than I planned for. Some of the tools I used breaking and not working as they should was just something that happened and I couldn’t do anything about except find ways around them, which I managed to do. The hand router I was using to widen the channels so I could put something on the bottom of the blocks to guide the pieces, broke near the beginning of me using it so I had to resort to just using them as lines to direct the user. Drill bits breaking after that trying to get the sides on which I had to get someone else to help me with because it was just quicker and easier for someone other than me to do, also did not help. Thankfully undercoating and painting the blocks was a quick process which other people helped me do, while trying to router unsuccessfully, made that a easy process. Admittedly the standard of finish I was trying to hold myself to was higher than what was needed for a prototype and that added to the frustration I felt when things went wrong.

The main things this process brought to my attention was to plan more time for things that I will struggle with and to try and find help to make those parts easier on me to finish. Just means my time management needs more work even though this is just a prototype. Also I should try to keep in mind what level of detail I need to meet and make sure I’m not being too much of a perfectionist.

Pic of the puzzle board from the open studio. Dark green block is there because I lost one just before the open studio and that was the only paint we had on hand.