Blog link: https://www.figma.com/proto/yysftBDAh3IthljHK9S0M0/Weekly-Blog?nodeid=1%3A4&scaling=contain&page-id=0%3A1
2022
Yilin Gu - 22018554
therApist
What if over-consumption of resources comes to the society?
Inspired by the current situation of over-consumption of environmental resources in recent years, I began to think about the consequences of such blind and unaware behaviour of human beings when it comes to themselves and how it affects society.
The rapid development of society has driven humans to always wear emotional masks on the outside, yet the greater the discrepancy between the emotions people show and the emotions they actually feel, the greater the cost of emotional labour and the greater the emotional exhaustion. With this as the main theme of my project, I will produce an interactive installation that will monitor participants‘ state of emotional exhaustion through their behaviour, therefore alert people who are unconsciously over-consuming their emotions to take appropriate treatments.
· Detect and calculate the differences between manifested emotions and real emotions.
· The larger this difference, the more emotional exhaustion the participant has.
· Treatments to reduce emotional exhaustion would been given to the participant.
How
to detect the mental state?
Inputs
1. Force sensor //indicates manifested emotion by measuring the force applied deliberately.
2. Galvanic Skin Response Sensor //indicates real emotion swings by measuring the electrical conductance of the skin.
Outputs
1. LED RGB Strip //differentiate the above two values and set three intervals as the states of emotional exhaustion. Each state corresponding to the different colours of the RGB lights.
2. LCD //displays different text as suggest responses for each state.
Mining Human brain
as resource Emotional labor &
Emotional exhaustion
experiencing depression...
When
Basic logic
Characters Low Medium High Manifested emotions Real emotions State of
emotional exhaustion
Project setup
How do we solve
the problem?
Brainstroming
Interaction collage
This collage shows a person with his face smiling but undergoes anxiety and depression in his real mind. The installation detects his emotion state and reflects red light which is high warning. On the LCD screen would be a suggest treatment for him to express his true feelings.
The limbic system is a set of brain structures where emotional life is largely housed in. The amygdala, as part of the limbic system, performs a primary role in the processing of emotional responses (including fear, anxiety, and aggression). I would like to take reference of the limbic system shape as an imagery of the installation’s core appearance, while simulating the folded surface of the brain with the housing shell.
Appearance & Composition
Illustrations made to define how the physical installation works with inputs and outputs. Decisions made about where each element should be set.
Circuit & Code
Circuit diagram
Testing & Making
Circuit simulation was built on Tinkercad and tested while uploading the code to it.
Input: GSR sensor
How the results are displayed?
In 3 different situations...
1. Low emotional exhaustion
In: abs(Force value - GSR value) < 50
Out: Green light + text “Stay real to yourself ”
2. Medium emotional exhaustion
In: 50 <= abs(Force value - GSR value) < 80
Out: Blue light + text “Take a rest ”
3. High emotional exhaustion
In: abs(Force value - GSR value) >= 80
Out: Red light + text “Express your feeling ”
Code (Github link: https://github.com/moonarchive/therApist-Code.git)
Input
Get input data
Force sensor: 0-951
GSR sensor: 460-540
Low
Match both input values to 0-100
Get the absolute value of the difference between input values
Set the value of differences into 3 intervals refer to 3 emotional states
Output:
LCD
1. Set the primary data and test the workability separately of each element.
Output
Defining each state with an RGB color fading on the light strip and text to show on the LCD screen
Force sensor
Light strip
GSR sensor
Test different pressure values Hard to screw the resistance to 512Ω
Generate fading effect
2. Build the circuit and test
Setting the 3 intervals which lead to different results was a bit tricky since a lot of experiments with force and gsr sensors were needed.
3. Soldering
During the soldering process, I found it hard to adjusting the metal without resulting in any short between rows. More practices might still be needed.
Change text LC
10kΩ resistor
Output: LED light strip
Input: Force sensor
Making proces
Materials
Structrue: Aluminium wire, white thin thread
Skin: Oraganza fabric, glass wrapping paper
Core object: 3D printed limbic system model
Circuit base: Arduino Leonardo, stripboard
Circuit inputs: Force sensor, GSR sensor
Circuit outputs: LED RGB strip, LCD screen
1. Building the structure with
wire
2. Experiment with material textures attached to the structure
1. Organza Fabric
+: Clear, creates good glowing effect while reflecting lights with beautiful pleated texture.
-: Too soft to be shaped
2. Wrapping Paper
+: Maintains good pleated shape just like the brain after kneading
-: Too opaque to create any lighting effect
Medium High
3. Glass Wrapping Paper
+: Translucent material, different colors can be seen from different angles
-: The stiffness of the material makes the shape a little less malleable and prevents the creation of a smooth pleated surface.
4. Organza Fabric (Inner) + Glass Wrapping Paper (Outer)
+: Fancy lighting effect, especially under direct light. Combination of 2 layers creates a breathable semi-enclosed space.
-: The outer glass wrapping paper kind of restricted the expansion of the organza layer’s shape inside.
5. Final decision - Glass Wrapping Paper (Inner) + Organza Fabric (Outer)
The lamination of the glass paper to the interior of the material exerts its hardness to better support the other constituent elements inside the housing. The outer layer of organza gives the surface of the case a more rounded crease, which is more reminiscent of the shape of the brain, and also reflects some of the light that hits the glass paper so that it is not too shiny.
2. Send it to the 3d print machine and print each element out
3. Glue them together
3. 3D print the model of the core object
1. Building digital model and covert it to stl file
4. Attach the output elements to the core object for a more clear display effect and better visual experience
5. Housing shell skin
Glue the outer shell skin (1 layer glass paper + 2 layers of organza fabric) to the wire structure
6. Combining
Set the circuit elements, while using the thread to lift up the core to a fixed position at the centre.
7. Finished
Final output
Video (YouTube link: https://youtu.be/zkG4NafCjcc)
Future possibilities...
In an increasingly stressful social context, there will be a greater need for people to care for their psychological condition. It helps people to be aware of their emotional form in a private setting and to heal their emotional problems while gaining access to the purification that aesthetics can produce for the senses.
In the future, ‘therApist’ would be helpful in various locations and environments. For example, company employees, especially those who work at the counter. Students with stressful lives and studies who are not facing up to their mental health issues, etc.
