Wearable networks, creating hybrid spaces with soft circuits

Abstract

With the emergence of augmented eyeglasses, smart watches, and health and performance monitoring wristbands, wearable computing has moved to the cusp of commonplace consumer technology. These technologies continue a trend already observed within mobile technologies, their exclusivity to the wearer. Users often project an aura of disengagement from their surroundings. To address this issue we developed the Lightning Bug, a light enhanced garment. The Lightning Bug signifies an extension of our existing channels of mobile communication into the directly perceivable realm, by deploying a visible mode of interaction and exchange of information. In a semantic analysis, we investigate the ability of the garment to represent information using different light-patterns, and develop a mode of intuitively interpretable signaling. Considering the established mental models concerning fashion, we further develop a system of controlling the device based on natural behavioral patterns by reading and utilizing the wearer's nonverbal communicative clues. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.