Anouk’s New Creation: Intel Edison Based Spider Dress 2.0

3D Printing & Imaging Craft & Design Other Boards Science
Anouk’s New Creation: Intel Edison Based Spider Dress 2.0

_SD_DSC5597 copy

Inspired by the territorial displays of arachnids, the Spider Dress 2.0 by designer and electronic wearables artist Anouk Wipprecht is a mechatronic dress with an Intel Edison chip that uses biosignals and learned threat detection to defend the wearer’s personal space. Mechanical arms extend and retract as a response to external stimuli, making it a truly intuitive system. As people approach, the wearer’s own breath will help to signal the defense posture of the robotic arms. The speed of the approach will also feed into defensive behavior; approach quickly and the arms will aggressively posture, but approach in a leisurely fashion and the arms will gently greet you.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This is not the only project from Anouk that has a wearable design using unconscious biosignals as a control mechanism. Her Synapse Dress used biofeedback to record when the user was stressed, distracted, or particularly focused, and it would initiate behavior depending on the wearer’s mental state. She says,

“If you wear a design that you partly control and it partly extends your agency through its autonomous actions, you start to question where you end and my system begins. When you wear Synapse, for example – it knows you sometimes better than you know yourself, as through Intel Edison it captures wireless bio-signals and data visualizes them while monitoring user behavior.”

140914_SPIDER DRESS_broschure.indd
The aesthetic as well as the wearability of this dress are both admirable. Fully 3D printed using the SLS technique (selective laser sintering) in a ridged PA-12, it is full of beautiful and aggressive geometry. An elegant design that makes use of 3D printing to create something that is unique and wearable because of the medium, the design seems light enough to have on for hours without weight fatigue or becoming unbalanced. To keep the print stable and strong, Materialise’s ‘Magics’ software was used to check the complicated structures for a cohesive print. Wipprecht teamed up with Philip H. Wilck (Studio Palermo, Austria) to create the upper dress bodice. Wipprecht says,

“Together we have been straddling difficult geometries and making all the mechanics (press) fit and work to be both mechanically, aesthetically as interaction-wise correct.”

PROCESS010 copy
As this is the second piece to feature the Intel Edison board, I was immediately interested in hearing about the system architecture of the software and hardware. She told me:

“The Edison module runs embedded Linux, the design is programmed in Python. The dress interactions are defined in ’12 states of behavior’ through two Mini Maestro 12-channel USB servo controllers from Pololu and uses inverse kinematics. I am working with 20 small 939MG metal gear servos (0.14sec.60o / 0.13sec.60o – stall torque 2.5kg.cm/2.7kg.cm) all servos run back to the system. I am also working with Dynamixels (XL-320 series) of Robotis, which are super nice to work with as they are smart, strong and very accurate.”

PROCESS009 copy
This dress’ style isn’t the only elegance in the room; the hardware design solutions are as well. Heat isn’t a problem with this dress, as the Edison is neatly integrated into the design in a housing as part of the back of the 3D print where it is cooled away from the body, making the piece easy to wear with no heat to worry about. System wires come in through plugs to the housing making connections easy and secure, and are threaded into the interior structure of the piece meaning the design stays clean and fresh. Sensors are also integrated into the 3D print design, so there are no sticky medical pads to mess up your look.
PROCESS008 copy
Check out the video below for a teaser, and then be sure to see this piece in person at CES in Las Vegas January 6-9, 2015 where it is being showcased for Intel.

 

12 thoughts on “Anouk’s New Creation: Intel Edison Based Spider Dress 2.0

  1. Laurie Galvin says:

    Well written and informative. Would loved to have seen you wearing this dress!

  2. Mick Oberlin says:

    Reblogged this on The Journal of Michael Eric Oberlin and commented:
    Coolest thing since Iron Man.

  3. Jeremy Johnson says:

    Well that’s neat.

  4. emil says:

    intel edison ? .. for that you can use just a atmega that costs about 3 dolars, do not need a intel edison. stupid commercial use of tech

    1. David Swanner says:

      Correct, but the intel edison is not just controlling the dress, it has bio sensors throughout the dress and is reacting to them.

  5. Riptiki says:

    Nothing says, “come closer” like a plastic spider dress.

  6. Voovo says:

    Absolutely love this! I feel like S.H.I.E.L.D would love it too.

  7. Jeff Aicher says:

    Great idea and implementation. Video a bit too tease-y. Would have liked to actually see the thing in action. What are they hiding?

  8. jandeen says:

    As former Femme Fatales senior photographer, this is ultimate.

  9. Matthew Kersplatt Silvers says:

    Love it! Kinda alienish

  10. Eva Gluyas says:

    Beautiful and inspiring. Demonstration that the only limits are the limitations of our own imagination

  11. overflo says:

    This is a great project. But what bothers me is that Daniel Schatzmayr did a lot of work on this project but his name is nowhere to be found. How come? Why not give attribution to those who invest time and energy into anouks projects?

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

Light cutter, fashion trend hunter, urbex artist, and space enthusiast.

Staff Photographer and Photo Editor at Make.

View more articles by Hep Svadja

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK