A Myoware electromyography (EEG) sensor was used to monitor the model’s muscle activity. When a muscle is flexed, there is a small change in electrical activity, which can be picked up through surface EMG electrodes. An Arduino code was written to map these voltage changes to servo motors that would flutter the shoulder pieces in response to the model’s bicep flexing.
Bio-Responsive Marasmius Cuff-
Inspired by fungus bodies, this necklace design uses the SVA-2 (surface voronoi attractor) script developed internally to computationally generate organic structures around the digital form of each unique wearer. The wireframe was created in the Grasshopper software, and using close cell packing algorithms, the patterns point towards an attractor source that distributed cells over a gradient, forever tracking that attractor energy source in the same way that nature would.
In response to the electrical activity generated by her muscles, servo motors which are attached to the cuff control the purple fabric gills expansion and contraction. During use, the bio-sensor on her bicep relays her physical state to onlookers through these gills in a similar visual way to organisms that use color signalling when interacting with either friend or predator.
Butterfly Corset-
Created using mainly a SubD workflow, the corset was envisioned as a visual bridge between the sinuous root heels and the complex cell packed gauntlets. The multi-layered sweeping forms present an agile heaviness in relation to the revealing cutouts that harken back to the porosity explored in every single piece of this outfit. Between the layers of the corset, a fibrous and flexible purple medium creates a dense structure which protects the wearer from outside stresses in the same way that the microstructures within butterfly wings help maintain rigidity.
Mycetozoa Gauntlets-
Developed in the same way as the Marasmius Cuff with the SVA-2 script, these gauntlets are made to hold the Myoware electromyography (EEG) sensor onto the wearer's forearm. Her muscle activity is measured by the gauntlets and relayed to the servo motors within the Marasmius Cuff where the signals are converted into visual motion by the fabric gills.
Banyan Heels-
Inspired by the banyan trees of India, these heels are computationally generated to support their wearer, while using the least amount of physical material possible. The root systems of the banyan tree grow large and wide, eventually surrounding most materials in its immediate vicinity, supporting the mass of the tree very well over its lifetime. The heels take guidance from this phenomenon. and have been realized by controlling a system of digital agent bodies. These agents exist in a rule based system which sets their starting point, and then over time the agents are able to asssemble together like roots would, eventually finding the best path to achieve their goal. In this case they were defined as having a vertical route, and optimizing themselves to best support a fixed mass placed above their base. Learn more about the Mesh Self Assembly (MSA-8) algorithm here.
