Outcome

Introduction

There are a ton of wearables today. They all create a flood of information. These informations are either filled within high resolution screens or within a phone app, constantly reminding you to work out & stand up, bombing you and vibrating about phone notifications, etc. They can get quite annoying at times, and if anything, they exacerbate your anxiety in the already too noisy life.

We envision an intimate wearable companion that connects 2 people, loved ones or close friends, and builds their relationships through activity. The activity tracking is designed to be subtle and not bothersome. The 2 people have to work together on a playful ‘goal’: their activity levels will be synced to be encouraged complete a “heart” together. 

Storyboard

Process

We utilized 1 accelerometer, 1 logic level converter, 1 capacitor and 1 8x8 led matrix for each of the 2 breadboards. The general idea was identifying the raw data generated by the accelerometer to be converted to number of steps based on change of values, then displaying and updating the pattern on the pixel matrix based on the values the user produced. In the same time, data from 2 devices are synced in real time via Wi-Fi to complete the ‘pattern’ together.

Step 1. Connect accelerometer and write algorithms to identify data as “steps”.

Because the pixel matrix we ordered had not arrived yet at this point, we used a pixel band as a temporary display option for the progress. More led lights are light up as a person progresses. The first step included setting up algorithms of translating the accelerometer's reading to number of steps.

Step 2. test with led matrix.

This is where we encountered the majority of our issues. Due to the limitation of library resources in Particle, we had to write the algorithms, animations from scratch frame by frame. Particle does not support 64 bit reading, and we therefore needed to code in binary terms.

Step 3. finishing up the connectivity between the 2 devices.

Writing up codes and publishing on particle to have 2 screens sharing the same screen and sharing data from each other. 

Step 4. polishing the aesthetics of the watch.

Aesthetics matter, even for a project prototype of a course. We decided to go all "retro" with every part readily available in the studio, even including the band. For the demo, we used portable chargers, which enabled us to hide all rest of the parts in sleeves or pockets, avoiding unnecessary distractions from the audience. After all, audience care about your actual ideas, not every detail of how they work.

Circuit

Network Diagram

The 2 screens are synced in real time, and are sharing data from each other. As you can see from below, the colors of blue and red represents each half is from one of the 2 devices. At all times, the 2 screens are exactly the same. When both the red and blue parts of the heart finish, the "reward", rainbow-colored heart, will show up on both devices at the same time.

Codes

Final

The initial screen is a heart shape in white color. This indicates a blank shape waiting to be filled. As each person’s activity level increases (i.e. walk more and more steps), the half of the heart on his/her behalf will begin to fill up. The 2 sides are differentiated with red and blue colors. The screens are synced up on the 2 people’s wearables as they progress. When the 2 people both finish, the heart is complete, and a screen of rainbow-colored heart is shown as a reward. Then the white heart becomes a yellow heart waiting to be filled, which is an indication of next level. There are total of 3 levels of white, yellow, and green to encourage the users to move onto next levels.  

Next Steps

Feedbacks from the guest judges and Daragh were really interesting. The guest judges recommended adding sensors such as GPS to complete the functionalities for the devices serving each individual. Daragh also brought up interesting point about refraining from adding more and more functionalities which might make the device to be more complex and lose its original goal.

Following up, we will:

1. Add more patterns to add to the playfulness of the device.

2. Make the device gain access from cellphone for GPS data, so that when idle, the devices will display a degree of light green, green, and dark green to show how far the 2 people are from each other. A rainbow animation appears when the 2 people actually find each other. This mode adds to a playfulness of exploration.

Challenges

The process was unexpectingly complex, mostly due to Particle’s rather limited functions and library. Nearly all of the tutorials were on Arduino, and the libraries included in the codes were therefore not usable for our case. Further, Particle does not support reading of 64 bit, and we realized the problem and solved it with a logic converter.

We composed and created the patterns frame by frame and pixel by pixel. 

Bill of Materials

Assembly list

Part 1: Particle Argon. Quantity: 2.

Part 2: LED matrix (DotStar High Density 8x8, adafruit ID: 3444). Quantity: 2

Part 3: Accelerometer (ADXL 337). Quantity: 2.

Part 4: Capacitor. Quantity: 2.

Part 5: Logic level converter. Quantity: 2.

Shopping list

LED matrix (DotStar High Density 8x8, adafruit ID: 3444).

Additional:

Wire bands.

References

http://yaab-arduino.blogspot.com/2015/05/beating-heart-with-arduino-and-max7219.html

http://arduino-er.blogspot.com/2015/02/beating-heart-animation-on-8x8-led.html

http://duinoedu.com/tools/matrix/#0000000000000000|00000000ffff0000|0000007effff7e00|00183c7effff7e66|40983c7effff7e66|02193c7effff7e66

https://www.instructables.com/id/8x8-LED-Matrix-several-sketches-to-try-out/