Frozen Suit

Abstract

General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms ABSTRACTWe present the concept of Frozen Suit, a type of clothing that restricts users' movements at joint positions (e.g. elbow, knee) via a changeable stiffness jamming material. The suit can "freeze" users' body parts, for example during a game in order to provide the physical sensation of being frozen by an enemy. In this paper we first present the Frozen Suit concept and its potential applications. We then systematically investigate how to design jamming patches in order to sufficiently restrict an arm or a leg. In particular we used low-fidelity prototypes to explore the restricting power of different material and particles. In order to push this analysis further we conducted a controlled experiment in order to compare the perceived stiffness of different patches sizes attached to the elbow. We performed a paired comparison experience and used a Bradley-Terry-Luce model to analyze the subjective feedback from participants. We found that 20cm long x 7cm large is the most restrictive patch and that an increase in patch area correlates with an increase in perceived stiffness (quadratic). We finish by presenting a use case application with a game that we implemented where enemies can freeze the player.

HCI meets Material Science

“…The concept of material anisotropy for shape-change has been investigated to some extent by HCI researchers by using particle jamming to achieve variable stiffness properties, such as in [1,67], where the authors focused on alternating between soft and hard deformability. However, Ou et al [171] showed that it was also possible to introduce anisotropic deformation using jamming through the structural design of the jammable materials, such as by weaving multiple jamming units into the material, using interleaving flaps in the elastic air bladder, or by introducing crease patterns or cutting geometrical patterns into the jamming flaps [169].…”

Grand Challenges in Shape-Changing Interface Research

“…prosthesis or the sixth finger device [71]) to enhance manipulation dexterity. Conversely, smart fabric can change its stiffness around the user's joints to restrict their movement in gaming, training, or rehabilitation [1].…”

“…A significant challenge remains in the availability of small form-factor, minimal weight, and high resolution actuators. In line with more general computing trends, shape-changing interfaces are moving from stationary to mobile to wearable form factors [1,46], and from rigid to flexible to stretchable and even floating shapes [27,57,62,65]. The use of electromechanical actuators, as is common in many systems (e.g.…”

“…First activities should focus on soft robotics, as this field is the closest to supporting working prototypes. Soft robotics are often based on pneumatic approaches [1,22,65,108], which allow for varied geometries, slim shapes, and even stretchable form factors, while offering strong output forces. Recent advances in computational design and digital fabrication show great potential in simplifying the implementation of custom form factors and customized actuation patterns.…”

Tacttoo

“…The most commonly used technology for wearable tactile interfaces, including commercial products, is vibro-tactile output. Other forms of actuations methods such as thermal [49,52,66], pneumatic [20,2], shear forces [23], ultrasound [68,55], wind flow [43] and brushing [58] have been demonstrated.…”