|| M I T M E D I A L A B ||
I was 1 of 15 designers, engineers, and researchers selected for BODY + INTERNET, an interdisciplinary program between MIT, Brown University, and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) exploring the relationships between art and technology that was hosted at the MIT Media Lab. I collaborated with an industrial designer and computer engineers to design and build a plush cat-chair embedded with Arduino software that responds to the emotions of its user and fosters digital communication. My main responsibilities were developing soft-goods patterns, integrating electronic components, and ensuring user accessibility.
At the initial workshop, participants were introduced to Arduino hardware and software technology. Each team was given a kit- equip with miscellaneous fabric strips, microchips, pumps, and wires- to experiment with. Immediately my team was drawn to the idea of computer interaction with touch. After some collaborative experimentation, we utilized geometric pattern making to engineer a prototype enhanced with Arduino programming to respond to human touch and sensitivity.
For our next project, my team expanded on our original experimentations by creating a more complex (and adorable) hardware vehicle to channel advanced code. I chose a cat form because cats had become somewhat of an internet meme, and created the fabric shell and integrated electric wires and lights. The user types messages on a hosted site and can listen with a stethoscope to the cat’s AI response heartbeat that is synced to light up its cheeks.
As our final presentation my team decided to give our cat-friend a growth-spurt and more personality. We designed and built a plush chair that emits a high pitched meow when the user sits down, but is pacified once the user strokes the sensor patch on its arm (an analogy to the addictive attention that modern technology drains from people). I was responsible for designing the soft good structure and strategically embedding sensors on the tail and arm patch to respond to user pulse and emotions. For the final exhibition held simultaneously at a RISD gallery in Providence and the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, we set up communication systems between the cat chair and cat toy so that users on both ends could influence the responses of the cats across cities.
Through this program I learned not only new skills in technology and soft-goods circuitry, but also best practices for effective empathy and communication with individuals from different fields. I am thankful to have had this opportunity to work alongside such diverse and passionate designers, engineers, and researchers, and am determined to continue finding communities to practice such collaboration throughout my life.