MODULE 2 SYNOPSIS OF PERSONAL SPACE
VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS GROUP TASK JACKIE, BILL AND SARAH
123Dcatch
Taking the photographs was a little bit difficult, as it was a windy day and the light source was inconsistent. We used a setting, which included a lot of background feature points, in order to contribute to a well formed 3-Dimensional model.
Compiling all the images into 123Dcatch made quite a good 3-Dimentional model, though it was a little bit distorted, as there must have been a little bit of movement from the model throughout the process.
Composite Materials Design Exploration
Idea Consolidation [Idea One] We selected two main ideas of depictign personal space and our personal second skin using composite systems. Panel and Fold, and Inflatable. The first design focused on a wrap around protection that includes spikes on the back and has a front dominated by inflaed shapes. This provides protection from behind and allows for an adjustable depiction of personal space infront. The composite system works with the individuals sense of personal space as a form of protection, illusion and barrier system that can be altered to reflect the current context of the wearer. The barb dominated back warns those advancing from behind that their direction of approach is unsuitable. Instead they are driven to approach from a different angle visible to the person. The bubbles on the front form an attractive, soft image that approaching persons can advance on. The size of these bubbles indicate to others the acceptable closeness. This personal space that is being represented physically is usual created without physical support. Boundaries can be forned using eye contact, body language, attire and personality. Often boundaries of persoanl space are reflect social norms which were first formed by the individuals. Example of carry on personal space: Perhaps for many females the hand bag is a bandle of personal space, which provides a sense of protection.
Idea Consolidation [Idea Two] The second design focuses on a more armour based panel and fold system that covers a large part of the torso and is largely hidden by an inflatable cloud that physically depicts a larger sized personal space. This system draws inspiration from chain mail aspects of armour which allow for movement and protection at the same time. Chainmail however was very heavy and whilst allowed for movement it required gret strength to manoeuvre. Spersonal space is by no means restricted to the strong, and so the consideration of material type becomes a determining factor in the success of the design. A paneling aproach to this design requires again for movement and freedom. The creation of an amoured skin much like that of a crocodile or lizard represent panels that are joined by skin and yet can buckle, fold and move relatively freely and enhance protenction in mobility.
Lectures [Synopsis] + [TED Talk]
Thomas Heatherwick’s range of ideas for architectural struture is absolutely fascinating, and listening to where these ideas stemmed from really makes a lot of sense. Heatherwick noticed something so small that would not often be recognized, and transformed it into a large-scale structure – a seed. The cathedral he designed brought intricate detail to life, highlighting a part of nature and created a stunning piece of art. The transferal of natural light through the cathedral was also fascinating, as the glass stems retained the light and produced an illuminant glow at nighttime that lit up the exterior of the structure. The cathedral was designed with flexibility, in order to enable it to move with the wind and create a constant but gentle flow of movement. This adds character to the structure, making it seem as if the seed has come to life.
Precedent We looked at nature, and animals within nature, and how the different aspects within nature could be emphasized within our design. We drew some inspiration mostly from animals, as they have properties that allow them to protect themselves against threats, properties that humans do not have. We found that quite a few animals actually have spikes, predominately on their back, and their bellies are often quite soft. This is because generally animals have a greater amount of control and awareness with what comes in contact with their front in comparison to their back. A good example of an animal that closely relates to a panel and fold system is that of a crocodile. The spikes on the crocodiles back are very systematic as they are aligned in rows, and run down the entire back. This use of spikes running down the back has a significant influence on personal space and what we perceive it to be. The projection that take on the appearance of spikes on animals such as crocodiles act as a protection barrier to minimize unsuspected attacks from places on the body that are not easily visible by the organism itself. It is therefore evident that personal space is more crucial at the hind of an animal (or human) when it comes to achieving consolation. An animal that is similar to a panel and fold system as well as an inflatable system is a puffer fish. In its deflated form, the puffer fish is reasonably soft and forgiving, though when it feels a threat is present, it takes on its inflated form, raising its spikes in order to create a barrier between itself and its threat. This idea of being able to inflate only when the animal (or person) is feeling threatened is intriguing, and raised some ideas about incorporating a system on a part of the body that is able to inflate. This would produce comfort for a person knowing they have they extra layer or ‘second skin’ that they can rely on when feeling uneasy. Humans are much the same as animals when it comes to personal space, in that both have a primary objective of protection, though humans also rely on personal space for comfort. This is why we thought looking at animals and natural systems of animals would be a good starting point for our design.
The entire body becomes a part of the inflatable system, with almost every section covered with a protective layer of spikes. Appearance is unwelcoming and not approachable
The body is confined to smallest form this allows for tranquil and swift movements. Spikes are almost unrecognizable in a flat position – threat is not suspecting of defense mechanism Appearance is approachable
Individual Notions of Personal Space Jackie
Sarah
Bill
I believe personal space is more important at the back, as I feel more comfortable knowing how close someone is to me, which is easy to interpret if another person is approaching from the front. From the front, personal space definitely still exists, just not to the same extent. Hence, a person should have a larger amount of protection from the back than the front. I also feel like the head is quite sensitive to personal space, as there are so many senses that come from the head and face. Personal space does though; depend completely on who you are with at a certain time. For example, two people who are in love will be a lot more comfortable entering one another’s personal space than two people who have hardly met. Personal space also depends on the situation a person is in. For example a person will have much different measures of personal space if in a social situation in comparison to being in crowded public transport.
Personal space is personal. It reflects the context of the individual. The individual may choose the boundaries which they lay around themselves. Some boundaries are a product of cognative decision whilst others are formed naturally without direct recognision of their existance. There are certain situations where an individuals sense of personal space is hightened. For example when in unfamiliar areas ones personal space may enlarge itself in response to the hightened feeling of danger. In this sense personal space also indicates a boundary of protection. Using an inflatable system a preliminary boundary may be set up by an inflatable system that encompases the entirity of the body. This would create the illusion of protection. The power of illusions could also be utilised in an inflatable spiky element of the design. Whilst it performs an impression of danger those who are familiar with the individual will recognise this act is to displace others. This differentiation of those who can enter different layers of personal space is important. Personal space can be penetrated on different levels by those who are allowed. If however these is no concent personal space detects this and is therefore require to adjust accordingly.
When I think of personal space, automatically I think of where I am and what my surroundings are. I believe that personal space varies for people in terms of how much space they have to themselves to make them comfortable. A personal example of mine would be waiting at a bus stop or train station. While waiting, I would locate myself to the far side of the bench (if there is one), leaving me exposed to only one person sitting next to me. Generally I would like to keep to myself and enjoy the freedom of knowing there is no one beside me to cause any hassle. Others may beg to differ and want to have this attraction from other people, and would comfortably sit anywhere that pleases them, regardless of who is sitting down. This is why I based some of my ideas around the fat man suit, or the bubble man suit, as it will provide me with the extra space to remain comfortable. It may seem like a selfish act, but unlike others, I’d prefer to have the freedom of space whilst travelling on a crowded train to and from university.
Design Breif [Key Ideas]
back front protection situation boundaries senses warning system power of illusions concent surroundings comfortable freedom space
Component Making For our first model making activity, we were to create a component of our model out of any material supplied. Our choice of material was the molding clay, as this would allow us to create sturdy shapes. We experimented with making both triangular and square based pyramids, which would provide us with the back of our design (which will eventually be made from panels). We also tried to make different sized ‘spikes’ in order to create an interesting pattern. Different shaped bases woerked well, as the pyramids seemed to fit quite well together and were more interesting than just having a simple repetitive geometric pattern. It was quite difficult though to create different sizes out of this molding clay, as they were small, and differences were not very noticeable.
Moving Component Incorperated in our composite design is an inflatable system. The second activity allowed for us to explore and create as a group rough ideas of potential inflatable systems that would work well with the requirements of the final piece. The two main ideas explored where the inflatable origami waterballon and the blue cube and tab method that we are familiar with from primary shool when learning about shapes and volumes. The origami proved difficult at first but once mastered it provided an effective inflate and deflate system that did not require air to be trapped inside it or constantly introduced to the system to retain its structural integrity. The plastic fabric cube utilised tape seams and whilst holes existed it took a while to deflate. Both systems when deflated foled down into a similar shape consisting of two triangles at each end of a square.
RIGHT HAND SIDE
BACK VIEW
LEFT HAND SIDE
FRONT VIEW
Volumetric System Depiction Producing a model of our current design idea allowed us to view our ideas as a tangible object that could be picked up and viewed from different angles. In doing so we got a feel for the different sections and components of our ideas. Additionally it raised some key design problems that were easily identifyable in this form. Some design problems included the weight of the design would have to be sufficiently supported by the one shoulder and the hip. To try avoid this problem materials require to be of light weight and yet allow for the creation of personal space. The placement of the spikes are also an obvious concern. Too close to either side of the body and the arms may encounter them and thereofre limit the wearers capacity, as well as around the shoulder spikes may still remain present, however less dominant and intrusive into ones head space.
Design laied out flat
123D Catch [Attempt Three]
Rhino Modeling [Further Development] Here we were having a play around with the extrusion tool in Rhino, where we extruded a square into a square base pyramid. This allowed us to interchange the shape of each pyramid, as well as their size and the direction in which they point. This was quite interesting, and we believe it would be more aesthetically if the whole paneling part of the design was done in this way. This process of creating each spike off the second skin was extremely time consuming, and in order to complete the design using this process would take far too long. For this reason, using our first technique will work out to be more practical in producing our design both in Rhino, as well as out of materials.
Our second design utilised the paneling tool command to create a directional surface of spikes that covered an origional fabric that encases the body. The fabric design was created, scaled, and a web of points were laid out on top. These points were then selected and duplicated but this time a selectable distance off the origional surface. Using the paneling tool command and selecting pyramid1 this representaiton of our protective aspect of our personal space design was created. The upward orient is most appropriate.
Rhino Modeling [Further Development] When producing an inflatable object based on a panel and fold system pattern there has to be an understanding of the connections and of the unrolled model. Additionally when inflated, the seems of an inflatable system are unable to produce ridgid, flat surfaces and joints, rather they bulge and in the case of the dodecahedron create a largely spherical shape.
Reading [Lost In Parameter Space] What are the key differences between 'abstraction' and 'reduction'? Firstly, what is abstraction and reduction? Abstraction is the quality of dealing with ideas rather than events, therefore something that exists only as an idea. Reduction is about finding the optimal way to deliver ideas without altering the content already proposed. Key differences: Abstraction - Reducing the amount of information needed to describe somethingAbstracted models generally tries not to contain as much information as possible, but enough information to describe the properties explicitly. Reduction - Doesn’t throw away information, but rather uses all the information it has to maximise the concept. Does weight most of the information, however, uses normalisation, as a method of eliminating anomalies. Computer-aided design (CAD) is a system used by architects in design modelling, which has been developed to eradicate most math complexities. Non-uniform rational b-splines (NURBS) allow the precise definition of complex shapes through control points, which can be used to abstract a mesh surface. Can you relate these ideas to the tasks you undertook in Module 1? Having to make an inflatable object using rhino involved using control points, which could be manipulated to help form the desired shape. Whilst modelling the shape, a way that reduction was used was through refactoring, as the object would be cleaned up from any unnecessary lines or points that weighted the model, creating more technical difficulties.
Module 1 [Sarah]
Module one saw the exploration of my ideas in and around the concept of a second skin and my feelings around personal space. I experimented with different materials and joining methods. Playing in Rhino was difficult, dispite the hours of tutorials watched. The drawing and measurement aspect of the object and the ideation was very enjoyable.
Module 1 [Bill] What I have done in the first module basically expresses my ideas and actions for my material system, which is an inflatable object. Working with a floaty, I was able to gather ideas for my second skin by playing around with a material that can be inflated, which in this case was a garbage bag. The key aspect of this process is to help give me an idea of how to incorporate inflatable objects as a second skin. This then led onto the next step of my ideation process, which was to create second skin concepts. The whole module is basically a step by step process, which needs one step to be completed to press forward onto the next. In this case, we were told to play around with rhino using our material system, followed by playing around with real materials, and from that design potential ideas for an actual second skin.
Module 1 [Jackie] Working with a panel and fold system allowed me to explore how personal space can be interpreted from a protective point of view, where the back of a persons body is the most vulnerable, and requires a larger amount of protection than the front. As a result of the back of a body being the most vulnerable part, I thought I would cover the majority of the back with spikes, then leave most of the front exposed, as people are more likely going to be able to defend their front. Personal space is all about the relative distance from one individual to another. If I created a second skin that would make other people uncomfortable in entering a space, this would allow for a barrier to be created between two people. I believe this is exactly what personal space stands for.