CLING
Statically Charged Virtual Reality Suit
ArtCenter College of Design . Future X Lab . Material Innovation . 14 Weeks
Problem
The biggest problem with current virtual reality is the reality part. The reality of the
experiences is what makes VR more immersive. Things like sounds are easy to recreate. The other senses like smell or feel are much harder to create virtually.
Solution
Static cling is the tendency for light objects to stick to other objects from static electricity. By using an electrostatic generator you can manipulate static cling. If worn, a user becomes positively charged, attracting conductive materials to mimic the sense of touch on the body.
To feel anything there is a dynamic system of nerves that interact and send signals to
the brain. This information is organized before the information is sent to your cortex
it is sorted by the thalamus, which is responsible for all of the senses.
Process of Feeling
Tactile Illusions
Tactile illusions are when the perception of an object through the sense of touch doesn’t line up with the physical action. Many of these illusions can be exploited in order to create efficient haptic feedback or to understand the nervous system better.
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Aristotle Illusion: Tricking your brain into thinking that there are two objects when your fingers are crossed
Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback is any technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user.
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Spiders are some of the most haptically sensitive creatures on the planet. They have over 3,000 sensors in their body, mostly coming from the long hairs on their legs.
Textile Make-Up
Took a look at innovative materials that could be used in replacement of the mock-up materials. These materials have similar properties to wool and mylar but they could increase the durability and quality of the new textile.
Textile Mock-Up
Creating a weave mix material with mylar and wool to see what the effects of static cling
would have on me or the material itself.
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Mylar is often used in static experiments because of its conductive nature. It’s super lightweight and is affected by even small amounts of surface tension. I chose to use wool because the texture is almost scratchy and if rubbed against the skin, it feels textured and soft.
Electrostatic Generator
The electrostatic generator is powered by a single 9v battery that goes into a
negative ion generator that outputs a ground wire and positive energy. These outputs
are then connected to aluminum sheets that make the contact surface larger.
On the base of the outsole, a ground is attached to a strap and a rubber stopper to
attract negative charges. The whole generator is strapped to the leg allowing
the positive charge to be applied to the skin and body.
Ideation
Initial material blocking over sensitivity chart. With a focus on putting the weave material over the most sensitive parts of the body and the micro-textured material on the less sensitive parts.
Attraction
When charged by my electrostatic generator I can create static cling with these sample materials. This effect could be scaled and controlled, and the amount of power could fluctuate. The energy is flowing through the entire body allowing for the material to stick to any part of my body.
Development of the material blocking lead to figuring out where the generator would go the details of battery placement, and where if at all would the wires go.
Refinement
By looking at acupuncture points, tattoo pain charts, and sensitive parts of the body I can start to make material/pattern breakup of the VR suit.
Surface model to show how the cutlines look in three dimensions, figuring out what detailing was important to highlight, such as the generator and the textiles.
CLING
Final Design, highlighting the materiality and detailing. A new era of immersion is here.
