Final Project
During Fab Academy I want to create a collection of wearables that explores tensions caused by the juxtaposition of our private and collective lives. With the world rapidly changing our private lives are becoming more and more public whilst we're becoming less private in public. The individual freedoms that in my childhood seemed a given are collectively being threatened. A lot of people know these things are happening, but they seem abstract and far removed from our daily lives. Through this collection I want to show that these developments affects all of us. Show that the our collective freedoms can only be fought for by collectives of individuals.
So what does this mean for my final project? SPACE WARS! One of the developments threating our freedom is invisible warfare. While we may feel individual freedom on the ground in Europe, above our heads wars are fought in our name. To make this less abstract I want to make a ring that through lights displays information about what satellites are currently above your head, and what they are doing there.
Research
To actually make realize this design 3 topics need researching:
- design
- fabrication
- data
Design research
Wearables are the most private objects we take with us in public. So to find the best form to communicate satellite data I wanna delve into the world of wearables. During the academy I would like to research a range of wearables, both low and high tech. What is the history? What influence has this wearable had on society? How private, or public is it? What does it communicate to the wearer? And what does it communicate about the wearer to the public?
Fabrication research
A very important question is of course how do I make a wearable and what tech can I fit in there? This is exactly what I'm aiming to learn during Fab Academy. Every week I hope to gain a better understanding into the possibilities and limitations of fabrication in both fab labs and on an industrial scale.
Data research
For the data research I'm lucky to have a partner in Follow the Money, an independent financial investigative journalism platform where Dimitri Tokmetzis is currently researching satellites as a NIAS fellow. For Fab Academy however the data research might be out of scope and I may use a controlled test environment for my final project.
Specs
- shippable consumer product
- real time data driven
- end of life? recyclable/reusable
Sketch
I've been wanting to learn how to draw on the iPad for a while, turns out is pretty hard. Stay tuned for better sketches, this is embarrassing.
Other ideas
Just cause it's fun, here's some ideas that didn't quite make it:
- pimp my cargo bike
- hand/body size fidget spinner for my neurodivergent babes, other stimming/pressure devices