'Captain Electric and Battery Boy' refers to an ongoing research project that aims to develop electronic garments and wearable artifacts that harness power from the body and use that energy to power electronic components. Joanna Berzowska, Assistant Professor of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University and also research director of XS Labs, is working on this project and also researching yarns woven with strands of silver or stainless steel that are able to conduct electricity.
The first stage of the project took place during a winter 2008 design course where students were presented with a brief to create an artifact for "Human-Powered Illumination." The second consisted of a two-week intensive workshop with a selection of the original students, held in the summer of 2008 at XS Labs.
The prototypes developed through this design process focus on alternate definitions of functionality, such as pleasure, fun, and beauty, so as to allow playful and engaging design concepts. Reflecting fashion's historic relationship between discomfort and style, the different prototypes and designs restrict and reshape the body in order to produce energy. Berzowska acknowledges that some technology seems too uncomfortable to be wearable or too fragile to endure the rigours of everyday life.
Impact by Catherine Marchand (shown below): the theme explored in this project is that of fashion as a frustrating constraint and the false sense of empowerment that garments sometimes provide. Fashion, particularly sports apparel, is presented as a protective physical and psychological shell. The artifact itself is modelled on the bandage-like hand wraps traditionally worn underneath boxing gloves to protect knuckles and thumb joints. The hand wraps are uncomfortably tight and embody themes such as empowerment, frustration, brutality, physicality, force, and domination. A string of LEDs emits an amber glow after a few punches have been thrown. Placed over the knuckles, the reddish glow is also a symbol of the blood on our hands that results from the punch and further references the brutality of boxing.
Figure 1 (on the left): The Impact prototype by Catherine Marchand. Box A shows the input pulley generator device. Box B shows the output LEDs. Box C shows the PCB with integrated rechargeable battery; Figure 2 (on the right): As she starts to throw punches in the air, the red LEDs on the knuckles begin to glow
Happy Times by Catherine Cournoyer (shown below): dance is a form of expression that communicates cultural identity, social concerns, and individual beliefs. Happy Times aims to promote dance for the individual as a form of celebration and enlightenment. The ballet shoes and accompanying leg warmers contain LEDs, a soft switch, a power accumulator, and a power generator, all connected through conductive threads. Dancing illuminates the LEDs, creating a sense of satisfaction and wonder. The more the dancer dances, the more light is generated.
Happy Times by Catherine Cournoyer
"Right now, it's a novelty," Berzowska says. But in the future it may not be only experimental.
Credit Captain Electric and Battery Boy
Top image of Joanna Berzowska source Ambience 08
For more read : Energy Harvesting and Storage for Electronic Devices 2009-2019
