TransSynaesthesia
by Daniela Frogheri – Fab Academy 2015
My project, is called TransSynaesthesia, and is a way to MAP and VISUALIZE human synaesthesia, specifically the COLORS OF NUMBERS ALPHABET and WORDS, through a RGB LED that takes the colors, and eventually others behaviors associated with these elements, when you WRITE or you TALK.
The project is composed for two principal parts: the first one is to MAP the personal synaesthesia, and the second one is to BRING it to OUTSIDE from INSIDE and transmitting its DATA to the MATERIAL world.
In this way, the “not synaesthetic” can know how works something that he cannot perceive, and the “synaesthetic”, also can understand better something that is difficult to define and explain. In the two cases, it will be a natural way to train and make deeper our capacity to THINK, COMMUNICATE and GENERATE MULTI-SENSORIAL THINGS
The Structure
mapping synaesthesia: INPUT
synesthesia to the outside from the inside through a material thing: COMMUNICATION AND OUTPUT
materialization: THE BODY
the body: CONNECTIONS AND SKIN
For “the body” that is the “material thing” through we can see synaesthesia, I made two things: a kit of small elements that are all connected and that work all together, and a flexible skin.
THE PROJECT
mapping:
writing – without interface
selecting – with interface
talking
communication: Synduino
microprocessor Atmega 328p
drawing (Rhinoceros)
milling and welding: Monofab SMR20; endmill 1/32″;
connections: conductive tape and conductive thread
materialization: SynElements
drawings: the shape comes from the performance of the elements (see Synduino)
milling:(see Synduino) + 3D printer Uprint ABS
connecting (conductive thread)
materialization: SynSkin
Silicon Rubber and using an existing object as a mold
Silicon Rubber + wooden&lasercutted with engraving mold; 3mm thickness
Silicon Rubber + wooden&lasercutted with engraving mold; less than 1mm thickness
TranSynaesthesia :
colors of numbers, colors of alphabets & colors of words
to see more:
interface and application programming
invention, intellectual property and income
… next steps for the future …
By the moment, TransSynaesthesia is a device totally open and low cost that permits to map and visualize a specific kind of synaesthesia through a specific “material thing”; but for my this is only a small part of the whole project that I want do, as a research with applications, to understand better this phenomenon or condition, in relation with language, communication and, of course, with the material world.
For now, this work is developed to be used from only one person each time, that personalizes it by mapping; my idea is to make a code and a device that can be able to be used by more than one person at the same time. To do that, I’m thinking to write a code, connected with a data base, where each person can enter with something personal, for example writing his name or telling his name, activating in this way his personal configuration.
Now I used my own personal synaesthesia, but to make it both a research and a public device, I need to have more and more people mapping and sharing their “synaesthesias” and thinking abut how to use it to think and make things.
I need also “no synesthetics persons” trying to play with the device, in order to understand if it can be used from everyone, as a new multi-sensorial tool.
For this, rather than a only one device or a simple code, I would like to make an application more complex, that works with “modules” ( for example like the modules of the antimony …) with which generate the “synaesthetics units, making all the possible kind of associations not only with numbers, letters, words and colors, but also with movements, shapes, other sound … etc. , that can be used as a tool to map synesthesia ( for the syn. person) and to play with synesthesia for all the others.
About the body, I would like to be able to separate it from the computer, maybe with Bluetooth, a battery etc. but without lose the capacity to recognize the inputs in real time and with all possible numbers, letters and words, as I did with the library of speak recognition.
About the specific body that I have developed, I would like to have a net composed by more elements, and a skin with all the cables and the leds embedded inside.
In general, the bigger idea, anyway still being the first that I had and that was to send the synaestheticl input not only to an object, but to others living beings, that will start to make others things using these new data, but also generating something that I cannot imagine or plannign by myself.
Searching informations about some similar, I couldn’t find something similar … synaesthetic people in general make some map of their colors by hand, or some artist use it to some installation … there are also some famous case, like the poesy “voyelles” of Rimbaud, but all of them still being something very defined, personal and closed; about the way that I made it visible using a light, I found many examples of devices to select a color … to control a led with a code … but never related with synaesthesia. Looking about the body, for the SynElements, I found some elements from Adafruit that can be considered similar, but the concept is different, because the SynElements come from the idea to generate connections and their shapes come from the structure of the RGB led.
For all these things, I think that this can be considered something new and it is a good idea that can be very deep and powerful to understand better and use synaesthesia, but and also more light, amusing like a game.
For now, I am very happy with this first step of my project TransSynaesthesia, that is a first prototype, it is very basic, but is working well … and also I learned a lot of new things.
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