Wearable Technology- Low Cost Bluetooth OLED Purse¶
Objectives¶
Designing and making a USB chargeable bag with OLED screen.
This would be a cheaper alternative to the high-end bags Louis Vitton showcased last season.
An app, separately developed, need to communicate with the bag through a Bluetooth module. The user can change the displayed images on the OLED screen through the app.
Files¶
Tools¶
Autodesk Fusion 360
Inkscape
Research¶
In 2020, when the rest of the world went still, Louis Vitton slowly cat walked into the wearable technology arena with a collection of OLED bags that were displayed at the Cruise 2020 fashion show in NewYork.
Other than being a smart handbag that functions as a public display, what purpose does this bag serve is a question that needs to be answered. Being carry ons, Handbags are a peripheral item in the context of wearable technology. Yet being much more visible than jewellery, it holds a major position as an item of fashion, and is often associated with personal identity and status. A bag in essence is a public of valuable, intimate items inside.
Technology in Bags
In the past, bags equipped with solar chargers, those that could register a missing item from it using NFC(Near Field Communication) technology etc, were some of the technologies that went beyond prototyping. Safeguarding the bag itself using bluetooth and tracking its location using GPS are other that were used previously. 3D printing the bag itself has made each user into a designer and an artisan.
Is it providing any aesthetic appeal?
Beyond kicking the fashion statement a notch, the OLED screen can change colours (at least in theory) to what the user wants. But visually it will not have much effect as whatever colour it achieves, it looks more or less like a translucent plastic sheet from afar.
Technology Dependence
Are we becoming so dependent on technology that we need to look at a screen and the fast paced movements in it, even while walking through a street or sitting on the metro.
Cost
Durability
Resources wastage
Heat Generation
Lifetime
OLED Screen:
OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is a flat light emitting technology, made by placing a series of organic thin films between two conductors. When electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. OLEDs are emissive displays that do not require a backlight and so are thinner and more efficient than LCD displays (which do require a white backlight).
Amoled(Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes)displays are the newest trend now, in 2021. These Oled screens are used in many smart phones.
The OLED screen available in India do not have bluetooth compatible microcontroller module attached to the display.
Learn more here:
Cost¶
Oled Screen with bluetooth module is not available in India.
As the point of doing this exercise is to prove that technology can be affordable, cost is a significant factor and I would like to keep the proce of an enire bag under Rs 5000/-
While OLED screens are getting cheaper day by day and is now available even on budget smartphones, purchasing it in retail is still hard to do. Most of the screens are priced between Rs 3000-5000 in retail whereas the entire smartphones that uses it starts from a price of Rs 9000. However it can be bought in cheap when purchased in bulk and hence the companies are monopolising the wearable technology gadgets. The personolisation is hardly done as the hardware is not accesible
To work around this problem of affordability, I partnered with GQWon Morton from Fablab California, who is using oled screens for his research on compatible devices for UAVs. He had purchased the entire screen modules in huge amounts and has kindly agreed to send me 2 or 3 oled screens by removing it from the main module.
Plan¶
Thanks to GQWON Morton’s wife who sent the OLEDscreens for me promptly I’m expecting some OLED screens delivered to my lab shortly to start working on the bag design.
The idea is to create either a 3d printed base or a laser cut wooden sheet to give the structure.
April 20: Recieve the Panel
April 20-25: Learn the propeties and functions possible using the module
April 25-28: First bag design+cutting
April 28-30: Test Design 1
May 1-15: Try out new designs and Test out, Start phone app
May 16-25: Design the collection and create it
May 25-June 10: App Base version Test
June 10-June 20: Connecting the bag with phone
June 20: Presenting the collection
Design¶
