This paper presents DynamicSkin, a bio-inspired scaled sleeve that offers body heat regulation for the wearer while serving as a channel for self-expression and making a fashion statement. We present the design process and system design enabling the dynamic scaled sleeve, exploring the meaning of unobtrusive wearable technology and beautification of features that are often chosen to be hidden instead. This research aims to advance body crafts by exploring a wearable that benefits the human body while providing ample aesthetic value for the user.
Research has been conducted on attaching a robotic arm to a human body and using it as a supernumerary limb. However, it remains unclear what type of behaviors contribute to the induction of embodiment in a supernumerary limb. In this study, we created a virtual environment where we could observe behaviors that contribute to the embodiment of avatars and tools, such as ”looking at one’s own body in a mirror,” ”moving the supernumerary limb quickly and accurately,” and ”paying constant attention to the supernumerary limb,” and verified whether these behaviors are also effective in inducing the embodiment of the supernumerary limb. After spending 40 min in a behavior observation space, the left hand, the side with the supernumerary limb, was used significantly less frequently. In addition to these behaviors, ”self-touching,” ”transferring objects between their own hand and the supernumerary limb,” and ”whole-body movement” were also observed. The observations suggest that these behaviors may change the awareness of the supernumerary limb and contribute to the improvement of its embodiment.
On-skin electronics are an emerging group of interactive devices, with challenges in both engineering functionalities and design aesthetics. One design approach that lacks extensive exploration is combining prosthetic makeup with transformative wearables that generate dynamic output modalities. We propose a design approach called Morphace that imbues prosthetic makeup with customizability and transformative properties, which allows wearables to ‘camouflage’ on the original face and transform it. We use a case study on the face for its rich affordance of expressions and high visibility, which emphasizes the appearance of epidermal electronics. We developed a three-step computational design and fabrication workflow that integrates the prosthetic makeup process to fabricate functional primitives. We further explore the utility of Morphace through interactive experiences in social communication, facial augmentation, and self-expression. We believe Morphace offers an integrative approach that enriches current wearable solutions and enables creative output modalities and affordances for designing future on-skin shape-changing interfaces.
As it can take up to several months for recognizable skin improvement, it is difficult to realize the improvement of a skin condition in daily skin care. In this study, with the aim of making it easier to realize the improvement in skin condition and obtain motivating effect of skin care, we developed a system to enhance tactile sensitivity to skin conditions. We used the stochastic resonance to enhance tactile sensitivity to roughness by short-time exposure of minute white-noise vibrations to the fingertips. Additionally, we found that the use of this system in actual skin care routine helped the users to feel the improvement in their skin and improved their motivation.
We present E-MASK, a mask-shaped interface for silent speech interaction. As face masks have become daily accessories since the COVID-19 pandemic, it is reasonable to utilize a mask as a wearable interface. Unlike conventional speech recognition, we envision that silent speech interaction allows users to access digital services even in crowded public spaces. With flexible and highly sensitive strain sensors, E-MASK presents a new measurement principle for silent speech interactions. We built a dataset of sensor patterns corresponding to 21 fundamental commands of Alexa’s operation. All commands were silently spoken by five non-native English speakers. The dataset was used to estimate the silently spoken commands. Estimation accuracies of 84.4% while sitting on a chair and 79.1% while walking on a treadmill were archived. This result suggests that our system provides seamless interaction with digital devices in various situations in daily life, such as walking in a crowd.
