Ben Goodman Andreas Kostopoulos

Steve KumSarah Wolf

‘T.S.A. me’ explores questions of ethics in product design. A full body scanner draws from the spectacle of burlesque dancing and the circus. The porject not only invades privacy by scanning the body, but does so in a way that makes a performer out of the subject, whether she likes it or not.

the environment

DesignPole form diagrams

plan

elevationprespective

profile extraction

elevationWe lofted the four profiles so that a clear angular path could radiate from the pole.

plan side 1 side 2

Drawingsprofile form

Using the rule of triangulation, each profile is tensioned by two anchor points.

first prototypeThe installation presents two different environments which are modulated by varying lighting conditions. The first is created by the profiles and the second is created by the anchor lines. A change in environment signals when metal is detected on a scanned body, and traps the subject in a fluorescent entanglement.

The installation is positioned in the center of the gallery. The boundary for the piece reacts to the existing conditions in the space.

the wearableA woven glove responds to and interacts with its environment (the poles) through the use of built-in tracking and pulse sensors.

4/18/11 11:36 PM f=0.50 /Users/Ben/Dropbox/meam 516/Wearable/wearable_Arduino.sch (Sheet: 1/1)

wearable arduino

4/18/11 11:38 PM f=2.00 /Users/Ben/Dropbox/meam 516/Wearable/wearable_Arduino.brd

wearable arduino board

R1 R4R5

C2

C3

C4IRLED

R7

R8

P-TRANS

R2

R3C1

R6

R9

INDC

JP3

C5

IC1

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pulse oximeter

pulse oximeter scheme

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4/18/11 11:40 PM f=2.00 /Users/Ben/Dropbox/meam 516/Wearable/sequenceropto.brd

sequencer

wearable board

When in use, the installation controls the subject’s movement through space. By wearing the glove the subject interacts with the poles and controls the performance of the installation. The result is a unique spectacle that demonstrates the influence that the user has on her environment as well as the influence the environment has on the user.

More specifically, an RFID sensor understands the location of the dancer using the poles as points of reference. The pulse sensor tracks the user’s heartbeat. Patterns of illumination on the poles respond to the reletive position of the body and to the rate of the heartbeat. The human body thus becomes the mechanism that translates the poles’ spatial input into a new visual output.

the performance

formal

informal