“ohne mich”

“Words hold strong meaning for me, and while I’m tired of thinking about putting LED lights on the body, the idea of being able to wear words really appeals to me. I choose to write “ohne mich” (Engl. “without me”) on the back of a second hand jean jacket because I wanted to show how an existing garment could be “augmented” with technology to express an opinion. I find the german words “ohne” and “mich” beautiful and lonely by themselves, but together they declare in unison a call for protesting the system. The words are not legible without the light which fades on and off to illuminate one word at a time – revealing the message through the animation of light.” (Hannah)

materials: second hand jean jacket, 1.5mm side glow optic fibers, Lulu LED modules, ATtiny microcontroller, capacitor, two BC 338-40 NPN Transistors, while wool felt, Karl-Grimm copper conductive thread, fusible, metal snaps, power supply
materials cost: 22 Euro (not including jean jacket)

techniques: sewing, couching, fusing
hours of labor: 6 hours

With poetry in motion we’re exploring what meanings we can create by putting words on the body. And for the first time in a long time I’m working with optic fibers (fiber optics). Thin plastic tubes that emit light when a bright LED light is shone in one end of the tube. The reason the light emits from the sides of the tube is either because the surface is scratched/abraised/damaged on the outside, or the tube is hollow within and a cloudy coating causes the light to “catch” and illuminate the tube. For a first prototype I pulled out my Lulu module from my E-Textile Swatchbook 2016 (thank you Maurin!). The strands of optic fibers have been sanded on the outside so that the light emits like small sparkles. The optic fibers are 0.25 – 0.5mm in diameter and are nice and flexible so that I could bend them into a hand-written style font.

“ohne mich” means “without me”

Tutorial (in progress): http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=7031
Flickr set: https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157690450178046

A Final Design?

After making a first version of this on a “Blaumann Arbeitsjacke” (German workwear jacket), the final version moves to a jean jacket. The intention is to show that “Poetry in Motion” collection items are embellished/augmented/upgraded/upcycled with e-textiles.

ATtiny 45
BC 338-40 NPN Transsitor (30V, 0,8A)
Lulu
Sideglow optic fiber

/*
* KOBA Tailor Shop Code by KOBAKANT
* “ohne mich” Poetry in Motion example
* Opening Collection, Dec 2017
* http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/
*/

Setup the output PWM pin
const int outputPin = 0;
const int outputPin2 = 1;

const int pwmIntervals = 100; // The number of Steps between the output being on and off
float R; // The R value in the graph equation
#define delaySpeed 60

void setup() {
// set the pin connected to the LED as an output
pinMode(outputPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(outputPin2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(2, HIGH);
// Calculate the R variable (only needs to be done once at setup)
R = (pwmIntervals * log10(2)) / (log10(255));
}

void loop() {
int brightness = 0;
int brightness2 = 0;

for (int interval = 0; interval <= pwmIntervals; interval++) { // Calculate the required PWM value for this interval step brightness = pow (2, (interval / R)) - 1; int interval2 = pwmIntervals - interval; brightness2 = pow (2, (interval2 / R)) - 1; // Set the LED output to the calculated brightness analogWrite(outputPin, brightness); analogWrite(outputPin2, brightness2); delay(delaySpeed); } for (int interval = 0; interval <= pwmIntervals; interval++) { // Calculate the required PWM value for this interval step brightness = pow (2, (interval / R)) - 1; int interval2 = pwmIntervals - interval; brightness2 = pow (2, (interval2 / R)) - 1; // Set the LED output to the calculated brightness analogWrite(outputPin, brightness2); analogWrite(outputPin2, brightness); delay(delaySpeed); } }

First Prototype

Second prototype:

With only one word embroidered, you can already read it when it is not light up.

The overlay obscures the individual words, and the light reveals them.

NOTES:

Overlay to obscure

Movement causes light

Light reveals words

what words? –> what movement/gesture? –> what sensor? –> what garment? –> what meaning?

Words:
Garment: “blaumann” blue German engineers work jacket
Gesture: swinging back and forth or shrugging shoulder
Sensor: beaded tilt sensor (http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=201)
Meaning: ?

By prototyping i noticed some nice things:
– swinging back and forth paces the words next to one another in space for the eye of the beholder
– shrugging also works to trigger the tilt sensor. this is nice.

Putting words on the body: