Virtual Environments Design Journal Samantha Marsh
Inflate Systems
The inflateable studied was a children’s pool ring, composed of two separate tubes each with its own inflate valve. The seams of the inflateable were all welded.
Inflate Systems: rhino
Personal Space: nature
Snail: hard outer shell
Porcupine: spines
Scallop: hard outer shell
Squid: ink
Figure study: female form Any wearable garment must be in harmony with the structure and functions of the human body, or else it will be unsuitable for use. Different considerations must be made for both the male and female form, in terms of both structure, and in terms of personal space. In general terms, personal space needs are greatest towards the front, less towards the side, and even smaller at the back. In females, however additonal space awareness may occur at the breast, pubic, and posterior regions, where more ‘personal space’ is likely to be necessary. The finished garment must also take into consideration points of movement; the neck, joints, and the hips and waist. Rigidness in any of these regions may restrict movement, causing positive or negative alterations in the movement and posture of the wearer.
Mapping personal space
In general, it is acceped that personal spaceis greatest at the front, less at the sides, and the least at the back, however, personal space is a changable concept that is relative to both each individual, and to the situation which they are in.
Situations: • Time of day (light vs. dark) • Location (known vs. unkown, busy vs.empty) • Other people (gender, appearance)
Personal considerations: • Gender (male vs. female) • Culture • Living environment Living in close proximity to over 300 other students of the same age, it is likely that my concept of personal space differs from someone who lives by themselves, in a small share house, or with their family. If personal space is regularly encroached, it can be diminished over time. This is why my personal space, which I have mapped as approximately 0.4m at the sides, 0.5 m at the front, and 0.7 m from the back, is likely smaller than that of the majority of other people. This is also observable in the behaviour of animals. Animals that are regularly around humans are much more likely to have a smaller radius of comfort than those that live away from areas of high human traffic.
Ideation: geo inflatable
In this design, the geometry of the hood reflects the idea of varying personal space, with the flat rear of the hood in contrast to the peaked front and sides. The garment expands at the front when inflated to create extra space between the wearer and their surroundings, while skin and bone fins on the side provide protection and visual interest.
Ideation: collapsible inflatable
Each tube is individually inflated using valves, and hence each is a closed inflate system. The skirt as a whole is an open inflate system.
Once inflated, the collapsible ‘nesting’ tubes of the skirt drop down, bringing the garment to full length. The nesting elements do not necessarily need to be tubular.
Ideation: beekeeper hood The face, head, and neck are important aspects in considering personal space in relation to garments. As the most personal space is needed towards the front, facial protection may provide feelings of security. In contrast, exposing the back of the head may help to alleviate the feeling of claustrophobia without compromising personal space.
In this design, a skin and bone lattice has been laid across the face, allowing protection whilst maintaining vision. Inflateable ‘spines’ add to the protection of frontal personal space. Opaque panels at the sides and translucent panels at the rear of the hood reflect personal space needs at different points of the face.
As the hood will implement an open-inflate system, the front of the hood will be partially covered by translucent plastic to prevent the escape of large quantities of air.
Ideation: erupting shoulder piece This design plays on the idea of ‘levels’ of personal space; a different level of personal space may be required for different social situations. The framework of the shoulder piece is a skin and bone network. By pushing down on the outer or inner layer, the other layer is pushed up. This design was inspired by the work of Janet Echelman,
Ideation: deflate
Just as inflation can affect the dimensions of personal space and the way in which personal space is protected, so can the act of deflation affect interactions in terms of personal space. If we take the squid as a symbolic example, excretion of ink helps to protect the squid itself.
The Design: This design is inspired by the idea of deflate protecting personal space. Deflate is achieved by a series of barbs of various lengths radiating out from the body. These pierce inflated ‘balloons’ if the wearer is approached at a certain distance. Inflating the different balloons by different amounts can vary the required personal space.
Ideation: fusing two systems The two systems to be integrated within the finished garment are inflate and skin and bone. In essence, this seems like a relatively easy concept; an inflatable skin over a bone structure. There are, however, infinite possibilities outside of this scope: the sytems could be interconnected but functionally separate, or the inflate system could push out from under the skin and bone structure.
Background: In order to choose a method of combining the two systems, we first set out to select an idea that was relevant to both personal space, and to us. Personal space is largely a social construct, which varies from culture to culture. In modern western society, closeness is undervalued, and indeed, largely discouraged. Making eye contact, or indeed having shoulders touch, on public transport is taboo, and we all work excessively hard to maintain our bubble of personal space, even in crowds where space is limited. This is particularly the case in the instance of women. Why is it that a man may feel safe walking at night, when a woman is threatened by the mere presence of a stranger within her line of sight? Both face their own respective dangers in darkness, but those posed to women are increasingly publicised, although this is not to say that any such dangers are imaginary. Women are often portrayed as fragile and vulnerable birds captive to the dangers of modern society, and we aimed to create a design that both reflects this reality and challenges it, while addressing the idea of personal space. Stemming from this is the idea of a bird in captivity. Captivity can be viewed from two angles, bringing either safety and protection, or imposing stifling restriction.
Ideation: light, colour, texture Light, colour, and texture are very important in the final design product, producing both visual and emotional effects. Design is often described in relation to the five senses, and design is therefore an experience in itself. A holistic design may focus on creating effects that satisy all of the senses, touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Other designs may focus on just one or two of the senses.
Light: Light is often used in design. Different shapes and textures can cast different shadows, allowing the object to occupy space beyond its physical dimensions. As a shadow is a non-physical extension of an object, it can be used to demonstrate personal space, just as stepping on another child’s shadow in the plaayground was seen as an invasion of personal space. Another dimension of light’s relevance to personal space is the changing of personal space with the absence or presence of light. In the daylight, a lone woman can feel reasonably safe with strangers at closer distance, compared to at night, where the mere presence of a stranger in her line of vision may be an invasion.
Colour: Similar to light, colour can elicit an emotional response. Certain colours have different connotations, and can warn off people from coming closer, or to invite them further in. Generally warm colours are more inviting than cool colours, and light colours are more inviting than dark.
Texture: People are greatly tactile and visual by nature, and hence texture is an important design consideration. Two identical buildings, for example, clad in different textures materials, may elicit totally different responses. Smooth textures may be construed as impersonal, soft as inviting, and spiky as dangerous.
Ideation: cage and wing Design: Using a combination of the principles of light, colour, and texture, we came up with a design that utilises the skin and bone system in combination with inflate. This design draws inspiration, in particular, from the idea of encroached personal space at night, and the societal perception of the danger of darkness.
Wing: The wing is a geometrical open-inflate system of interlinking panels, which form triangular prisms of different shape and dimension. The wing is movable, and not rigid, allowing for personal space to be protected from different angles, if need be, or indeed to draw other in in an embrace. This element of the design, therefore, is neither an invitational nor a defense mechanism, but rather transverses and integrates both. The coloured panels represent the production of light; clear plastic panels combine with opaque coloured panels, and opaque reflective panels, playing with colour and light to allow a representation of safety, and decreased need for personal space.
Cage: The cage is s representation of the idea of safety and personal space. the face is one of the most vulnerable and sensitive areas of the body, and one that needs adequate protection. It consists of a skin and bone structure, with reflective objects suspended from translucent cables, adding extra light for both protection and visual interest.