Breathe With Me is a wearbale t-shirt that leverages the expansion and compression of pneumatics to encourage the wearer to focus on and control their breathing during moments of panic and anxiety.
It is constructed using soft upcycled cotton, silicone molding and a blood pressure hand pump.
The journey to Breathe With Me began with a lifetime of not fully understanding my own impeding anxiety. I wanted a toolkit that could go with the user anywhere and be used to feel calm throughout the day.
I discovered that common methods to reduce anxiety included applied deep body pressure and a foucs on diaphragmatic breathing techniques. A sensation similar to a supportive hug is felt when the user squeezes a hand pump to inflate areas of silicone around their chest and back. As squeezing the pump relieves stress, the sense of pressure reminds the user to take a deep breath.
Look here for a more detailed description of the project development and research.
While summer crept into the small Brooklyn studio, textile artist Maria Romero and I poured our own liquid agar concoctions onto textile scraps and into free standing structures. We trapped chamomile petals, cochineal powder, turmeric and madder inside the transparent jelly to infuse bright saturated hues. After the first round of results, we learned that the bioplastic hardens the moment it is removed from the heat and shrinks by one third as it sets, therefore we are now meticulous when making molds of distinct size and incorporating color. When we discovered that fungi settle home in the thick layers, we adjusted the recipe until the batter spread into thin flexible sheets. Each repetition of the process strengthens our relationship with the foreign material and introduces us to unforeseen future creations.
I designed a research project in which I asked the question,
“Can I develop a sustainable, closed-loop, all natural and biodegradable colored textile that is comparative with synthetic processes?”
I researched the current modern process for textile processing, then compared each step to a natural and lower waste alternative. I successfully color dyed a small batch of recycled cotton fabric in my own kitchen using spices and vegetables. Read more about my research, process and development in the following links:
Reused cotton fabric, hand-dyed using natural enzymes, vegetables and turmeric.
Batches of natural color dyes
Used white cotton fabric
Larger batch after color dyeing
I sewed the larger batch together into a new shirt!
My goal was to create a system that provided light for the person below and simulated the feeling of rain. I accomplish this by illuminating the inside of an umbrella with animated programmable LEDs. A speaker inside projects the sound of rain and I built my own rain sensors, placed on the top of the umbrellla, that activate additional small LEDs inside. The more water on each rain sensor, the brighter the corresponding LED.
I wanted my final piece to be a hub for relaxation and romanticism with or without real rain. Perhaps the design could translate to an outdoor tent or an indoor canopy simulation, where the user falls asleep each night to the raining ambiance.
For my final project of my first semester at ITP, I wanted to experiment with using Neopixels in an interactive wearable. I created a jacket that illuminates as it is zipped up and down. The jacket tells a simple story of finding the colors of light that lead to the rainbow. An LED rainbow replaces the red heart when pressure is placed on the left pocket.
My class was broken into teams and assigned the task of designing and implementing an interactive artistic window display, to be presented on the streets of New York City. My team found an intersection of our interests through the concept of a doll tea party, representing the implications of control in a power obsessed society. To do so we gave the user control via a life-size female doll that in turn determined the outcome of her fictional party guests.
The star of our window, originally a life-size toy doll from my childhood, was the host of the party and therefore would choose what happened to her party guests. Using conductive touch sensors, the player would place their hand on the outside of the glass as the doll’s arm begins to spin. Six objects surround the doll to represent an action when her arm lands on a specific object. The arm stops spinning, according to how long the player leaves their hand over the glass, and a corresponding event is displayed on the TV screen to match the chosen object. For example, when the doll’s arm lands on the gorilla stuffed animal, a digital gorilla appears on the screen and attacks the party table. When the doll’s arm lands on the snow man toy, a digital snow storm sweeps through the tea party on the TV screen. All parts were sourced, constructed and programmed by my team, with help from fellow students and teachers.
For an assingment for homemade PCB fabrication, I had to mill and assemble a through-hole PCB to control an LED letter board. I chose to create my own soft stroke sensor for this project using neoprene fabric, conductive thread and resistive thread. There is conductive tape on the back of the neoprene, with the conductive thread looped through. The resistive thread is looped through the middle where there is no conductive tape. When the sensor is stroked, the resistance changes in the circuit, providing a range of power to the LED board.
For my next PCB fabrication assignment, I had to design an acid etched surface mount PCB of any function. I am interested in creating a rain jacket that illuminates upon contact with each rain drop, therefore I set out to recreate a water sensor for my project. Since I make soft and wearable devices, I experimented with using flexible PCB. It turned out well, but I am continuing to iterate my design and fabrication.
