NEXT NATURE Adaptive & Informative Skin
Student: Vivian van der Burgt Coach: R. van Tienhoven Year: B2.2 - 2010-2011 s081013
CONTENT PAGE
Introduction Research Idea generation 1 Vision Idea generation 2 Midterm Exhibition Concept selection Final concept Technology Advertisement Scenario References
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INTRODUCTION In old nature the appearance of product is often highly informative on its functioning. Take for instance of a banana: you can buy a banana when it is still green, and it is already possible to eat it. But when you wait for the banana to turn yellow, before eating it, its taste will be completely dierent. You can choose the proper moment of eating yourself, when you like the taste of the banana best. The visual appearance of the banana is more than just a skin. It is actually meaningful and provides you with information on how the banana will taste. In this project the aim is to transfer this principle to product design. There are more examples of products that have adaptive and informative skins. For example a hard disk cover that evolves with your data, a dynamic agenda wall paper that shows an overview of how busy you are during the week. The data is being presented in an abstract way, other people will only perceive it as decoration, a heat–sensitive wallpaper of which the printed flowers will be blooming when the radiator is on and many more ideas. The aim is to transfer principles from old nature or nature as we know it now with our new technology, our new culture, into a new product. This report will describe the focus of the project. The main focus lies on implementing aspects from old nature into a product. The main direction is about the adaptive skins of reptiles, especially the molting process of lizards and snakes. These aspects are implemented in the final concept. The main goal is to achieve a concept of prove about the totally new experience of the concept.
RESEARCH In the beginning we were provided with the ‘Next Nature’ website. On that site there are a lot of examples of products that have an adaptive skin in a certain way. To get more background information about the project I looked at different concepts on the site that had to deal with adaptive skins. Further an essay about information decoration was read and founded very interesting. It is said that we live in an age of information. When you look around you, everywhere are traffic signs, advertisements; all kinds of screens with information. The purpose of information decoration is to integrate this information into our environment, that it communicates information in a subtle way and where there is a balance between aesthetic and informational quality. You can do that by looking at old nature: how does nature communicate and exchange information. Or you could learn from our decorative world. An example of a concept where information decoration is used is the concept of dynamic wallpaper that unobtrusively conveys the agenda of its user on the wall. It provides you with an impression of your upcoming plans. For other people it only may decoration. I found this way of thinking very interesting. Another viewpoint I looked at is Biomimicry. This means that you can learn a lot from nature. Look at for example photosynthesis, the system of how bees work together and communicate, and how ants built their hills with holes for excellent ventilation, and much more.
RESEARCH Now a day we designed our own nature with new technology. This technology can help us to make things that have the same aspects from old nature. I like the fact that you put aspects from nature, aspects of animal behavior into a product to make a whole new experience. So how animals communicate and interact, a product should also interact like that; integrating systems from nature into products. With these different approaches I started different brainstorm with more people from the project. First a brainstorm about natural intelligent systems or phenomenal was done. Here we got aware of the nature, the different systems, how animals communicate and interact. Then we did a brainstorm about intelligent skins from animals especially. We came up with different adaptive skins of animals, like the chameleon, the lizard, the snake etc. . With all this information about nature and different concepts, I still couldn’t find a beginning or a direction. So we did another brainstorm about daily problems. I was looking at problems or products in daily life where I could implement an adaptive or informative skin to solve the problem. But designing is not only looking at problems and solving them, it is also about looking at opportunities and discovering new things. After this we did a final brainstorm about different senses you can use for your product to make it adaptive and informative.
IDEA GENERATION 1 1. A product that reacts on emotions and that behaves like nature. For example a product that closes when you’re angry, and when you’re happy it opens towards you. It is like a natural interaction like flowers open and close. This is integrating natural behavior into a product. But it is very hard to detect emotions. You only can measure primary emotions, like being scared - heartbeat or stress measure sweat and tension of the body. 2. A 3D wall (paper) with different 3D objects which reacts on the activity in the room. So when there are people screaming in the room, or running the objects on the wall start to move very fast. When someone else enters the room after some time and nobody is there anymore, the wall is still moving. So the person knows that there were some people in the room a couple of minutes ago. So the wall gives you information about what’s going on in your house. Further it can be nice decoration wallpaper. So this idea is inspired by information decoration.
IDEA GENERATION 1 3. On food packages there is always an expiration date. But when you open a package of certain food the expiration is limited and the date is useless. To give people information about the expiration of the food, the label starts to peel off when the food gets spoiled. This is about solving a problem. 4. Sometimes you see a bottle of coke on a table in your house, or at your working place and you don’t know if it is still drinkable. You don’t know how long it already stands there. To give people information about that you can provide the bottle with visuals that show if it is still drinkable. This is about solving a problem. 5. A scarf that shows what kind of weather it will be. It will start interacting with you when you have to put it on, because it is cold outside. It could invite you, or starting to move. This also can be done with other clothes. 6. A shoe which you buy as a blank shoe, but the longer you wear your shoes, and the more places you go, the more visuals will appear on the shoe. They will get a unique print every time
VISION First I had to develop my own vision or direction to come up with dierent ideas. I spend too long behind the information screens; it was time to go outside and be inspired by real nature. Going to the zoo was very inspiring. In nature there are a lot of animals with the possibilities of adapting their skins and give information. Like a peacock that puts his feathers up to intimidate the other, a lizard that is molting because he is growing, a snake that imitates a rattle snake to look dangerous and scare of enemies, a chameleon that changes color for camouflage, skin that is self healing and growing. I was really fascinated about these aspects and I start to develop a direction. I wanted to implement those kind of aspects into a product. The aspect of the molting process of dierent reptiles was a nice opportunity to implement it in a product in some way.
IDEA GENERATION 2 With the first idea generation I was more looking at problems we face in our society or daily lifes and coming up with solutions. This is one approach, but the ideas that came out of that were not that strong. This project didn’t state a problem, it was more about opportunities. So after developed my direction I started to think of more ideas that had to deal with these adaptive skins and found more opportunities instead of solving problems. I really liked the shoe concept so I thought of different variations on that.
1. A shoe that the longer you wear them, and the more places you go, how faster it will peel of its skin. Every time, a new print is underneath the layer that is peeling off. Sneaker fans will love this and will walk more distance with its shoes, because they seek for the newest, coolest prints.
2. A third variation is that the skin of the shoe is influenced by the environment and the weather. For example, when it rains and the drops will fall on the shoe, it will leave a print behind. Or when the shoe is influenced by heat, the shoe will turn red.
IDEA GENERATION 2 3. A second variation on the shoe is a shoe that peels of its skin throughout the year. You buy it as a boot in the winter, and when it becomes spring, the shoe will start to peel of its skin. A new shoe that fits the spring is underneath. This will go on until you only have left flip flops in the summer. a shoe that adapts itself for the seasons.
4. Another idea is a credit wallet. In the future, I think we will have no real money anymore. We will only pay virtually with a card. People will easily spend more money and not be aware of the amount they still have. That’s why a wallet with an adaptive skin would be helpful. When you have less money your wallet hides for you, changes color. When you earn money, your wallet will flash up. Or it will peel of when you have no money and after some time there will be no wallet left.
MIDTERM EXHIBITION For the exhibition it was required to present three main concepts. We had to make three posters that were like advertisements that explained our concept. The three main concepts I chose were: The seasonal shoe It is a shoe that transforms throughout the year. You can buy it as a boot in the winter. When it becomes spring, and the weather is getting warmer, your shoe suddenly starts to peel o its skin. It is a shoe that has four transformations, a shoe with 4 layers underneath each other. It could be a new fashion trend. The exact transformations have to be explored. Further the whole experience of wearing such a shoe and story behind the concept is very important to be developed.
MIDTERM EXHIBITION The 3D-wall This is a wall that shows the activity within a room. When people are very busy and shouting in a living room the wall will starts to move, to breathe faster. This breathing will hold on. So when the next person enters the living room and he sees the wall breathing and no one is there, he knows that a couple of minutes ago people were here. This will raise questions like: why where they here, and who were they? The wall will give you information about what’s going on in your house. It has also an aesthetic value: it can be a nice decoration wallpaper. So this idea is inspired by information decoration. I made a little wall of how I see this wall with its breathing and aesthetic value. I decorated the wall with aluminum foil. This has a nice reflection of light when it moves. The aesthetics of the wall have to be explored much further. I can explore different 3d objects on the wall or different materials.
MIDTERM EXHIBITION Coming home This idea is derived from the emotion object. Because emotions are very hard to detect, another object with its own emotions has developed. It is a coat stand that shows how many people there are at home. In a student house you don’t always know if there is anyone home. The coat stand will be sad and bend down when no one is home, just like a flower that is withered. When more people come home, the coat stand will lift up and the people can put their coat on the stand. The coat stand will become a reference point for how many people are at home. Usually you don’t look at how many jackets there are on the coat stand.
CONCEPT SELECTION After the exhibition a lot of feedback was received. The coming home concept is a nice concept, a kind of variation on the emotion object concept from the beginning. The concept is about an object that has a behavior; this is not really having an adaptive skin. The concept was different from the other two and fitted least with the project. This was the first concept that was dropped out. One concept had to be selected to work out. A SWOT-analysis was made for the other two ideas. 3D-wall: S The wall is a whole experience. W The wall will be noisy and too much, too present. O explore the form/material. A working prototype is possible. T You can hang anything on the wall or put something in front of the wall, it will become an object itself. Seasonal Shoe S The story behind the concept is strong. The shoe is a totally new experience and a new vision. W Concept of prove will show the concept.This has to be strong, else the whole experience is gone. O Make the story behind the concept very clear, and capture the experience in advertisements and other strong visuals. T Is it realistic? The 3D-wall is a new experience and the form and material can be explored widely. The technology can be an obstacle because it is very complicated to make all the objects move separately from each other. Another point is that you can’t put anything in front of the wall and maybe the room or environment would be too busy and noisy. A working prototype is possible, but to really aim for the whole experience, you need to make a whole room, which is too hard to make. The seasonal shoe concept is very strong. The story behind the seasonal shoe is very strong, but it is hard to realize. It is important that the whole story needs to be correct. The experience of this new shoe is totally different from shoes now and it is a new way of thinking. Also the commercial aspect of the shoe, the marketing, has to be convincing and optimal. Further the technology of the shoe, how it is going to work, or could be, is something which you have to think of and have in mind. The prototype will be a wizard of oss: Through visuals and a prototype that shows the principal will be the optimal experience. The seasonal shoe is the concept where I fully can throw myself into and which I believe is the best concept to work out. I found that connection with a concept very important. Overall, the seasonal shoe is the concept to continu with.
FINAL CONCEPT Seasonal Shoe – Story behind the concept The shoe is inspired by the adaptive skins of different reptiles. There are reptiles who adapt the color of their skin to the environment for camouflage, adapt their skin for imitating a dangerous animal to scare of enemies and a skin that molts time after time because the skin becomes too small. Molting is such a nice phenomenal and fascinated thing that it is a nice opportunity to use it in a concept. The Seasonal Shoe peels of its skin throughout the year adaptable on the seasons. The shoe has four layers, so four transformations. The fabric of the shoe looks like it has scales just like lizards and snakes. It starts with a boot which you buy in the autumn. Then it will become winter and nothing will happen yet. Once it becomes spring, and the temperature is rising, the shoe will suddenly start to molt its first skin. Underneath there is a loafer, a shoe that is appropriate for the spring. This molting will take a day (24 hours): first the fabric will get loose and will start to fray and scale off and the first pieces will fall off, just like a lizard. This will be a higher surprising factor then when the shoe sheds its skin at once like a snake does (*). As the leaves will lie on the ground in the autumn, the pieces of the seasonal shoe will lie on the ground in the spring. The user will be that surprised that he can’t wait until the next transformation will start. As the spring will release you from the cold winter, the spring will release you from the boot. Between the spring and the summer the shoe will molt until a kind of sandal. When it is in the middle of the summer, the shoe will molt until its last phase, the flip flops. This is the end of the cycle, the seasonal shoe. The autumn is the time to look back at the transformations and time to buy your new seasonal shoe to start a new cycle. Your shoe will come to life and will fit your needs.
(*) Snakes and lizards Just like a lizard, the snake crawls on its belly, whereby the scales wear. Because the scales are fixed and can’t grow, the snake has to renew them, which called molting. In the case of snakes, the complete outer layer of skin is shed in one layer. They are not shed separately but as a complete outer layer during each molt, just like a sock being turned inside out. Then the snake has renewed itself. A lizard does the same but unlike the snake, the lizard sheds its skin in parts. The skin will tear down until it is completely lost. This will also happens with the seasonal shoe.
TECHNOLOGY With what kind of technology is it possible to realize the molting of the fabric? The skin of a lizard consists out of scales. In the germ layer (stratum germinativum) these scales are made by mitoses. Above this layer there lies the interlayer, where the scales are developing further. On the top layer of the skin there is the stratum corneum where the full grown scales lie. When a lizard starts to molt, the cells in the germ layer will move to the interlayer where they develop further. Because of this growing new skin in the interlayer, the outer, old skin will release. We can learn from this molting. Translating these nature genius is called biomimicry. But this would be impossible to do. First the conditions of the shoe are mentioned. The seasonal shoe is made out of four layers of fabric which have to be attached to one sole. The best way to do that is by gluing them, stitching would be too hard. Shoes now a day already exist of several layers. First you make the nose, then the heel. Then a second layer above and the third layer is the lining of the fabric. The four layers can be thin and flexible, as they are only a layer of fabric on the shoe and have no other function like supporting the feet. The shoe starts to molt in relation with the seasons. The temperature will influence the molting process. When the outside temperature starts to rise, the first transformation will start. So this whole process is automatically and should reacts on temperature outside. But the temperature outside throughout the year is a range between -10 degrees in the winter and 30 degrees in the summer. This is a small range and diďŹƒcult to measure with sensors in the shoe plus, when you’re inside, the temperature changes quickly and will have influences on the process. That’s why it is better to put a timer in the shoe, a microcontroller with timer. When you buy the shoe, you can set the timer from that moment and calculate the months before it becomes spring. When it is time to molt for the first time, the timer (microcontroller) can send a signal and can start a reaction with the fabric. But which reaction can start the fabric to fray, solve, or fall apart?
TECHNOLOGY There are different ways to influence the fabric. Cotton for example, consists out of cellulose, a lot of polymers. The cellulose molecule structure will fall apart under influence of UV-light and temperature. the sulfur bridges between the polymers will break and the cotton thread will get brittle and starts to fray. But how could the UV-light be implemented in the shoe? This could be dangerous because you need a strong intensity of UV-light. Another possibility could be heating or solving glue or gel. Glue or gel consist out of polymers with a lot of water. When you heat the glue or gel, you will influence the structure of the polymers so it will get liquid. In this way it will loose the surface that it was holding on to. With this you need to put a heating element into the shoe, or wave steel wire through the fabric, which conducts the heat through the shoe and influence the glue between the layers. But for this you need a very high temperature which is not pleasant for your feet and skin. Another possibility with glue is solving it in water, but for this you need to make your shoe wet, which is not ideal. A way that would have potential, is electrolyse. Through voltage you can arouse the electron flow in the gel or glue. The potential difference will attract the ions of the gel, whereas the structure of the molecules of the gel will fall apart. In this way the first layer will fall off the shoe. With the timer of the microcontroller, you can send the voltage through the shoe. In this way the shoe will automatically start to ‘molt’. The microcontroller with battery can be put in the sole of the shoe. In this way it will not burden.
ADVERTISEMENT There is made a concept of prove with this project. The seasons and the transformations are showed in the first advertisement. In the second advertisement the use and the experience of wearing such a shoe is captured, which is very fascinating. The user only has to buy one pair of shoes for the whole year. This is totally new and interesting for the user. It will save money. Further it will be a totally new experience to wear molting shoes. Other people will also see people with molting shoes or noticing pieces of fabric on the ground all around, and start wondering what it could be. With the advertisement you can get people curious. These shoes can have a totally new impact on the fashion industry; the newest trend on shoes. A shoe with its own skin that can molt down would be the newest fashion trend. The shoes are still wearable and functional. The production process of the shoe is possible with the technique that shoe makers work with. The four layers can be attached to the sole of the shoe with glue (stitching would be impossible or too hard). Shoes now a day already have more layers of fabric. On the nose and heel you have an extra layer underneath the main layer. Then most of the time the shoe gets a lining. The shoe will be more expensive at first sight. But because you buy 4 shoes in 1, you will save money in the end.
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SCENARIO Anna heard about the ‘Seasonal Shoe’ on the television and saw an advertisement on the street. She finds it really interesting and decides to buy a pair now, when it is still in the autumn. She goes to the shop and picks his four transformation phases of the shoe. She now has bought four shoes in one. It is winter and Anna wears her boots and she can’t wait until it is spring. She is really exciting about what is going to happen then. A couple of months later she is walking down the street and looks down at her shoes: The shoes are molting! The first layer is getting loose! When she gets home she starts to tear of the fabric, but it is not possible to do that. She decides to leave it and goes to the supermarket. When walking on a path, she sees the pieces fall off and fall on the ground. When she looks around her another person also has a molting shoe! They feel connected to each other and start to talk about their shoes, their transformations. Other people start to notice more and more pieces of fabric on the ground. They are wondering where they come from. Everyone is surprised and excited about it. In the evening when Anna is coming home from a long day her seasonal shoe has lost its first skin and became a loafer. The spring has begun and she is now free from the winter!
REFERENCES http://www.nextnature.net/2007/12/iyv-the-evolving-harddisk-cover/ Nano technology http://www.osgbk.nl/lijm/LinkedDocuments/nanotechnologie.pdf http://www.nextnature.net/2010/05/self-healing-surfaces/ http://www.nextnature.net/events/nano-supermarket/ Biomimicry http://www.icse.nl/ Molting process reptiles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbT8GI0oS7U&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btdHaksZoUg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFcK-fjm6oI Technology http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=nl113g047411w332&size=largest http://www.dow.com/PublishedLiterature/dh_01ad/0901b803801ad376.pdf?filepath=dowexcipients/pdfs/noreg/198-02186. pdf&fromPage=GetDoc http://www.chemischefeitelijkheden.nl/Uploads/Magazines/CF-197-zetmeel.pdf http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/nl/Electrolysis