Interactive Architecture Lab Research Cluster 3
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3.11 The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015
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Figs. 3.10 – 3.13 Ero Papavasileiou, Yanchao Xi, Yexin Xiong ‘Polymelia’. Polymelia (from ‘poly’ meaning many and ‘melia’ meaning ‘parts’) describes a human or animal born with more than the usual number of limbs. The Polymelia project is a cyborg body of many parts intended to explore a new prosthetic vision for the future of humanity and prosthesis. One of the principal parts of the Polymelia Project is the ‘Hammerhead’. It provides 360 degrees of vision around the head perimeter and gives the wearer the ability to share his sight and hearing senses with other Hammerhead wearers. It is inspired by the hammerhead shark’s stereo visual perception: its head is almost 50% as wide as its entire body length and its eyes are located on the sides of its broad skull. The visual field of one hammerhead shark eye (monocular visual field) is about
180 degrees and there is a significant overlap of the visual fields from each eye. This overlap helps the shark to achieve excellent depth perception. Fig. 3.10 Prototype of headset in white acrylic. A key challenge was finding a material that was lightweight but stiff and durable as well as attractive. Many iterations of materials and fabrication approaches were explored including casting, vacuum forming, 3D SLS & ABS printing and robotic milling. Fig. 3.11 Early experiments with biometric sensors and actuators developed the group’s understanding of the augmented experience of our body and space through prosthetics, for example a heart rate ear clip sensor that measures arousal of emotion and activates vibration feedback to make a user more aware of their internal state. Another example, muscle activity sensors, EMG
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