Eve Hurst

Final Major Project

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Linear Servo Motor Mechanism

Finalising the mechanism that will move the rods (linear servos), control and measure their position and speed (DC motor, PWN signal and a potentiometer), and send feedback to the partner space to create an opposite motion (potentiometer with radar transmission). This would work by running the rods in the opposite direction, by using the same position data but simply reversing the polarity of the system in the partner space.

The series of photos show the servo moving up and down, which would be connected to my soft rods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5tx64G1ilQ

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Final Render

I have rendered this representation of the two partner spaces being used by a mother and daughter in different locations, separated due to COVID-19. The spaces should be placed in relaxing, positive environments where they are easily accessed. This would most likely be in the home, such as in a bedroom or living area.

The daughter connects with her mum while in her bedroom, where she spends much of her time and is more likely to be in a positive, relaxed mindset. The mother has to live and work away from home, which may be for many reasons such as a need to go into shielding or work for the NHS on the frontline, so the proprioceptive space could be placed in a rented flat or hotel room.

These renders show a slice through each space, so you can see the rods and how they form to the body. These two users feel opposite sensations, causing them to have to work together to maintain comfort and stability within the space. This engages their sense of proprioception to focus on subtle movements of their own and their loved one’s bodies, resulting in heightened awareness and a shared sensory experience.

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Rendering

A render of a slice through my final space without a foam layer, showing my original idea and how the mechanism would work, with an occupant for scale.

A render showing a cooler, calmer and more neutral colour palette, as I realised that the bright reds would be very visually distracting and therefore retract from the isolation of proprioception, taking away from the shared experience.

 A render of a simplified slice through my final space, showing how it would look from the inside, with a foam layer which moves up and down using soft rods on servo/ rams which adjust height by sensing the occupant’s movements and shifting to accommodate them.

I need to render a similar slice through which shows the rods and how they could work, also putting it into a real life context for use.

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Mechanism in context

Putting the mechanism into the context of the space, showing how I would want the final space to look, with a more enclosed, immersive form and vertical rods covered in a layer of foam for a continuous, far more comfortable surface. Foam would also hold the body as it moves, creating a feeling of warmth and comfort that brings users physically (and emotionally) closer.

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Materials

Working out whether the current surface of my space is too uncomfortable - I have decided through testing similar textures and surfaces that I should add a layer of foam on top of the rod mechanism to create more comfort and a more continuous surface, while the rods move underneath to shift the form of the space when users move. The rods would dig into the body and be uncomfortable, whereas the foam on the inside of the space would cushion this.

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Opposite movements

Explaining the concept of opposite movements, where when one rod moves up, its twin in the partner space moves down the same distance.

This opposite motion changes the spaces so they are only comfortable and inhabitable by one user, unless users work together to facilitate each other and continually focus on subtle movements of their own and their loved one’s body. This engagement in the shared experience would heighten awareness of mutual proprioception and isolate the sense far more than in my previous concept with the same movements, as users are no longer passively perceiving. Instead, they have to communicate only via touch and physical position, which greatly strengthens physical and emotional connections, as suggested in my previous research.

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Planning next steps

Working out how to approach my possible new concept and ways of modelling, visualising and testing this.

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Working to achieve equilibrium

After my tutorial, I began to think about what my concept may be lacking, particularly looking at the mutual aspect of this sense of proprioception.

At this stage in my project I am focusing on stimulating and isolating proprioception to heighten awareness of it and therefore become more connected with your, and also in this case a loved one’s, body and self. When thinking about this, I realised that I have not been focusing enough on the communicative, empathetic aspects of my concept which I find so interesting, and which make it different from other sensory spaces and communication devices.

I have begun to think of ways of bringing these key areas to the forefront of my design, working out how users can engage more in the process of this interaction to focus more on their sense of proprioception. I think working together more to create a stronger connection and therefore force users to engage far more in their (and therefore their partner’s) sense of proprioception would make this communication so much more meaningful.

I think the way of doing this, as shown in my sketches, would be to create two spaces which have opposite movements.

When one person puts more weight on their space, their rods move down but their partner’s move up. This opposite action requires far more awareness of the minute movements of their partner, as they have to work to stay balanced without unbalancing their partner, all without speech or seeing them.

Modifying my concept in this way would significantly enhance engagement and therefore awareness of mutual proprioception, as well as heightening the physical and emotional connection, and sense of communication between users.

[evehurst]

Tutorial 8

Fine tuning my concept and planning my final steps

This tutorial was really useful because I had not been sure what my next steps would be, and it was useful to receive various suggestions.

It was particularly helpful discussing the need to present my concept and its technicalities visually, as I am very word-focussed when describing and explaining, and I can see that it would be far easier to explain the complexities if I do this visually. I particularly need to focus on explaining how the experience is shared, and how the communication and bonding take place, as my tutors conveyed feelings of confusion at first until I explained it in depth. It would definitely help if I can visually show this, either without any words or a small caption, so I plan to do this next.

I think renderings would also help in this way, putting my proprioceptive space into a real life context to show aspects like how it works and how it is used more clearly.

When I have completely finalised my concept and design, I want to present it in use via a film, to articulate the concept well and put it into a reality which will allow viewers to understand it, with the mutual proprioception in action. It may be difficult to present this with the technology and long distance aspects, but I will try my best to make it work so I do not have to sacrifice these.

As shown in the sketch, towards the end of the discussion I remembered how I initially saw my design, as a space which is far more immersive and better at isolating proprioception due to its enclosed nature. I am wondering whether I would go back to this idea and its arguably more successful attributes, so I want to look back at this and see if I can develop it further.

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Mutual Proprioception Mechanism Model

A model showing the impression mechanism in the context of my proprioceptive space

Investigating proprioception in the context of COVID-19, through a pair of spaces which enhance feelings of this sense by heightening awareness of self-movement and the body’s position in space. The spaces interact to create indentations of users bodies, allowing you to feel each other’s position, movements, and take on their mood as you experience mutual proprioception, creating a new form of communication with a loved one.

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Model Making - Finalising

Making a model of the mechanism for my mutual proprioception space, showing how it would work as far as I can.

I used plastic stick light tubes from my Dad’s DIY when he was replacing the kitchen lights, and cardboard to create a shaped box to encase the rods in, and glued the rods together into a rigid structure to hold the red tubes inside. The red tubes fit inside the clear ones perfectly and can slide up and down. I realised this would be perfect for showing the movement of my rods. I used foam which I salvaged from a skip to pad the bottom in a curve mirroring the top of the box, creating the surface for the tubes to rest on, which pushes them slowly back up when weight is applied to the red tubes.

In reality, I would use servo motors to move the rods up and down, adjusting the positioning of the rods as the occupant moves. I would like to test this more and see if I can make my own servo motors or simulate this movement more accurately.

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Model Making Sketches

Sketches and diagrams working out how to make a model of a proprioceptive space, focusing on the rod mechanism.

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Proprioceptive Space Sketching

Working out the logistics of the design, helping with the process of making a model, as a visual demonstration of my concept.

In reality, I would not use sharp plastic tubes, as these would be uncomfortable and even painful. I would also use servo motors instead of foam for movement and data transfer.

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Mechanisms

Real life mechanisms for the mutual proprioception spaces, looking at how data will be transferred between them, over long distances, and how the rods will be moved, mirroring each other.

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Peer Tutorial

Evaluating and resolving my current idea and next steps

This peer tutorial was very useful in helping me to find solutions to specific worries about my project.

We discussed the idea suggested by my tutors to create a pair of spaces 2 metres apart, which I have explored myself, in order to work out whether this idea is really more suitable for me. Initially, I had decided against this idea, as it undermines my main focuses including isolating proprioception and creating a new form of communication. If speech is possible and you can still see your partner space, or even the occupant, this would pose a significant setback to isolating the sense of proprioception and the subsequent closeness and understanding this creates. I also thought that long distance is far more painful and lonely, as you cannot talk or see each other, whereas you can at a 2 metre distance.

Talking to my peers, they agreed with me that the 2 metre idea would not work with my main focuses, for the same reasons which I had originally outlined, and this gave me a lot of clarity and confidence in my focus on long distance connections. I questioned my peers to work out which they felt would be a more satisfying and successful outcome, and I feel reassured in their confirmation that my idea would be the right direction to go in.

My peers also agreed that materials are hard to come by at the moment, especially flour for dough, which I have found myself, so we discussed ways of tackling this in models and development up to the final piece, which was very helpful. I think I will work on the rods concept, unless it really does not work, in which case I will investigate dough again as my tutors suggested.

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Tutorial 7

Discussing my final concept and planning my next steps

This tutorial was interesting in making m question my current direction. I have already investigated the concept of spaces at a 2 metre distance, so it was interesting to hear my tutors suggest it as an idea. I had already chosen against this idea for a number of previously mentioned reasons, and it made me rethink my decision. Despite my explanation that it would probably not be suitable, my tutors still want me to think about whether it would be better.

My tutors also caused me to question my use of materials, saying that if materials like dough work how I want them to I should use them regardless of real life implications. This was interesting, as I had not thought this would be acceptable, so I would like to look back at dough as a possible material if the rods concept does not work. So far, I think the rods are the most successful, but dough was the best solid material with the properties I am looking for.

I think it would be useful for me to have a peer tutorial to discuss these ideas in more depth, as I am struggling to work out which approaches are best moving forward.