Virtual EnvironmentsSemester 2

University of Melbourne

Second Skin Project

Marta Elefterijadis and Misato Inoue640888 637052

Definition of Personal Space:

Personal space is defined by a user’s observable space, in other words the reality that is visible within the viewer’s visual range.As well as this, personal space is defined by the area around an individual which evokes a feeling of discomfort or threat when intruded, which can be protected not just physically, but also visually by means of intimidation.

D e f i n i t i o n

With this in mind, our design aims to both intimidate others away from the user’s personal space through the use of spikes and quite dark skeletal shapes, as well as extend the reality of the user through the use of mirrored surfaces, thus giving a greater sense of personal safety as well as adding to the overall intimidating effect.

Systems:

- Skin and Bone (claw)

- Panel and Fold (spine and ribs)

Extensor Hand Tendons

When pulled cause the fingers of the hand to extend out.

Flexor Hand Tendons

When pulled cause the fingers of the hand to retract and curve in.

The mechanics and inner workings of a human hand was the major precedent in deciding how to create a mechanism for the opening and closing of the umbrella-like claw that rests on the top of our second skin.

Half umbrellas such as the one to the left gave us a clear idea of how we should go about positioning the claw on the spine in order to minimise rotation of arms during opening and closing.

P r e c e d e n t s

H a l f U m b r e l l a

H u m a n H a n d

P r e c e d e n t s

Humans appear to have a roughly 180 degree field of vision, although in many cases it could be even less. This can be seen from the diagram to the left, as well as the panoramic image, taken to illustrate my own personal field of vision.

Figure 1: The field of vision of each eye, where the to-tal binocular vision is about 115 °.

Source: http://www.forbestvision.com/binocular-vision/

V i s u a l R a n g e

Again by looking at the diagram on the left, we can see that peripheral vision is not as strong as binocular vision, which is the middle field of vision where both eyes are operating to produce the image before us. This field again has a very limited range.

This particular precedent allowed us to directly observe and develop our understanding of part of our definition for personal space, thus enabling us to begin developing ideas for our second skin.

Alexander McQueen’s ‘Savage Beauty’ collection was the main inspiration for not only the aesthetic design of our second skin, but also for the spine and ribs that the claw is supported by.

As can be seen in the picture to the left, McQueen designed a type of exoskeleton in the form of ribs and a spine, which we then redesigned to fit and separate all 10 of the strings used in the pulley system for the claw, as well as be fastened to the user’s body.

A l e x a n d e r M c Q u e e n

‘ S a v a g e B e a u t y ’

P r e c e d e n t s

P r e c e d e n t s

S p i d e r D r e s s By Anouk Wipprecht

C a p r i o l e By Iris Van Herpen

Another contributor to the aesthetic design of the umbrella in particular, were both the Spider Dress (above) and the Capriole collection (right).From this we decided to create a claw-like spider as the umbrella, incorporating spikes in the skin.It was also decided that there should be a dominance of black throughout the design, to add to the intimidating effect.

M e a s u r e d D r a w i n g s

Subject - UmbrellaMaterial System - Skin and BoneMaterials - Metal, plastic, nylonDimentions - Height (783mm) - Diameter (940mm) - Length of curve of canopy (1090mm)

Measured drawing drawn to 1:10 scale

U m b r e l l a T y p e O n e

M e a s u r e d D r a w i n g s

Legend:

1. rotating pin joint2. rotating pin joint3. rotating pin joint4. rotating pin joint5. rotating pin joint6. spring7. arm supporting nylon canopy (545mm)8. 90 ° arm supporting arm 7 (215mm)9. angled wire arm supporting arm 8 (83mm)

The umbrella has 8 long metal arms that support the canopy, each itself supporten by two additional arms underneath. The canopy stretched above acts as the “skin” and the arms and the mechanism under it act as the “bones” of this system.All joints are rotating pin joints, with the exception of the tip of the umbrella above the canopy and the handle, both of which are fixed joints.The mechanism of the umbrella works as a spring loaded one, in that the spring once released from the clip below, pushes the arms upwards until they are in the position depicted in the drawing above.The only thing stopping the pin joints from rotating too far is the 6cm stopper positioned on the rod, just under the centre of the canopy.

M e a s u r e d D r a w i n g sU m b r e l l a

T y p e T w o

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n s

I n i t i a l I d e a s

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n s

F i r s t C o m b i n e d I t e r a t i o n

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n s

P r o t o t y p e s

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n sS e c o n d

I t e r a t i o n

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n s

R h i n o M o d e l i n g

Our initial attempt at creating a Rhino model resulted in the image seen on the left. The idea was to abandon the rail, and instead create a harness on which the umbrella claw would sit.

The triangle part as is seen, was to be made of PVC pipe with wire mesh triangles sitting on either side, all mounted on yet more wire mesh harness.

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n sT h i r d

I t e r a t i o n

P r o t o t y p e s

D e s i g n I t e r a t i o n s

F i n a l D e s i g n

Our final design incorporated an exoskeleton-like harness, with the claw-like umbrella, ultimately forming both an intimidating and a practical device.

As can be seen from the rendered image to the right, the harness consists of six ribs, each of which help to in a way clamp the spine down onto the user’s body, thus creating a stable point for the claw resting on the very top.

As well as this, the spine itself is designed in a waffle style in order to help with the sorting of wires coming from the claw.

F i n a l D e s i g n

F i n a l D e s i g n