Group assignment - Virtual Environments Naila Rahman and Ingrid Aagenaes
Exploring ideas
Personal Space
What is personal space for us? * zone around the body * introversion vs extraversion *safety in terms of comfort
Personal Space
Personal space – exploring ideas
Inspiraton: Olafur Eliasson
Inspiraton: Olafur Eliasson The use of surfaces to create a feeling inspired us. Light and diferent textures have the ability to make a dreamy and meditatve feeling. When you are in that state of mind it makes you feel comfortable and in your own space. That made us think of creatng the personal space as a sensorium.
SENSORIUM
Drawing upon what we identfed as a personal space and the inspiraton we got from Olafur Eliasson, we wanted to create a sensorium. Something that inhabits the whole body and a place where there is harmony and room for yourself.
Surface
We explored with diferent type of surfaces. Our aim was to make each layer stand out in diferent ways. Either using diferent textures or using diferentaton as a method. In that way each layer will provide a special feeling. Together they act as a sensorium for the personal space we hope to create.
Precedent study
Functon and developed idea in Rhino
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We used the idea of two fans joined together with a pin joint at both ends. We used the 123D model and put in in to Rhino. We drew an outline of the body responding on the personal space. So over the head we created more space than around the legs.
Rhino model
Physical model
When we started to make the physical model we experienced a lot of mistakes. The pin joint did not work the way we wanted it to because of the bit under the bin joint. The skin was not folding in the right directon and we ended up making a statc model.
Test model #1 When the hinge system did not work we had to come up with a soluton for a mechanical system that would work. We came up with a half circle as a rail where each rib would be atached to it with a hole on the end part.
Test model #1 We tested out the rail system by making a Rhino model of it. Afer further consideraton we understood that the plywood on a rail, would be difcult. It would not run smoothly on the rail and it would be a big chance that it would break.
Change in design We wanted to focus on the head instead of the body. The reason comes back to personal space and how the head and the back is the most vulnerable. All our senses is also around the head, and since we want to create a sensorium this will be our focus area. We also wanted the second skin to be a part of the body unlike our previous design that was separate from the body.This enhances the idea of personal space as the person have something that is atached to them instead of something that functons only on external space. Hence we started over again with 123D Catch focusing only on the upper body. In the diagram below is the outline of the 3D mesh of our model.
Personal space and blurred lines We tested out where exactly personal space is in terms of a comfort zone. We also explored where the blurriness needs to be strong and where it needs to be weak to keep the comfort zone alive
Headpiece sketches
“Nubrella� by Kickstarter Kickstarter have made a tool called 'Nubrella'. This has the same mechanical system that we want to use. Ribs joined together with a pin joint at both ends.
Test model #2
Plan
Front
Mechanical test model #3
Physical test model #3
Cardboard 6mm = Did not work
In this mechanical system the ribs and the slits were frst atempted to model in a cardboard with a thickness of 6mm which didn’t work out that well. The layout is in the frst collage as shown. However when the same layout of ribs and plates were atempted in a cardboard of 1 mm thick it functoned well with the pin joint on both sides as seen in the collages below. Hence, when we build a 1:1 scale model we have to use plywood which is very thin in width so that it corresponds well as a model.
Cardboard 1mm= success
Rib systems
Springsteel= Bendable and strong
Chalkboard = not strong enough to resist tension forces
Folding techniques In order to design our second skin, we explored with diferent folding techniques which allowed movement that could stretch and restore/fall down. While experimentng with these foldings we had a triangular patern as it responded to the skin that could cover the arc-like ribs.
Rhino -fnished model
Final rib system, made by FabLab using plywood
Rib system with folding Springsteel
Plywood
Exploring personal space The red dots in the sketch represents the areas where closure and sufocaton were evident when testng how much out second skin needs to be exposed. As a result, the areas mainly around the eyes and the nose need to be exposed/open the most. When I moved the head around using cone of vision in a statc state, the spots that needed cut-outs/openness followed the outline of the face which means that the exposed/open parts would have to follow a similar layout.
Folding system– Physical model
Final model
Sensorium feeling