Panel Statement
Panel: Borders and interfaces: the challenges of the wearable computer’s design in the near future
The processes of communication between man and machine and man-machine-man gain other contours from the advances of the mobile networks. These possibilities expand as we add them to the biometric technologies that map the physiological data from the users and allow combining them with more differentiated outputs of their choice. This condition provides the design of interactions between users and between users and computers that match the body and emotional state of individuals involved and, thus, to configure increasingly affectionate relationships based on these organic exchanges of information. In this context, we are going presenting and discussing several proposals from artists and designers committed to the creation and development of bio-wearable devices applied to the fields of knowledge and performance of fashion, games, art and design. Among them we may mention a few: “Conductor’s Jacket”, created by researchers at the Affective Computing Group at MIT, which interprets the physiological signals and gestures of the user applying them in a musical context; “Smart Second Skin Dress”, proposed by Jenny Tillotson, it consists of a interactive dress that realizes the user’s mood and starts to flow vent odors, allowing the interactor to create your own olfactory environment; “BioBodyGame” and “NeuroBodyGame”, created by Rachel Zuanon and Geraldo Lima, they consist in two wearable computers that provide interactions with games from the neurophysiological signals and brain signals from the users, respectively, and they present the emotional state of the interactor at the color and vibrations changes of their physical structure.
- Rachel Zuanon is media artist and designer. She is a researcher and professor in the MA Design Program at the Anhembi Morumbi University. She coordinates the CNPq research group “Design: creation, language and technology” and the study group “Design of Physical-Digital Interfaces”. She holds a PhD in Communication and Semiotics (PUC-SP). She is a partner-director of the Zuannon Integrated Solutions in Design, Interactivity and Technology, a company focused in development of projects and interactive solutions for physical and digital environments. She has presented her research in a variety of places, such as: M-Connect 2010; ISEA2008 and ISEA2002; Consciousness Reframed 2008 and 2004, among others.
See paper: p. 2686-2691 (with Geraldo Lima)