By: Natalia Santiago

  1. Jellyfish Skirt

I wanted this skirt to invoke the same type of floating movement as a jellyfish moving underwater. In order to make it feel light and floaty, the skirt would move 3 layers of tulle up and down using some motor/pneumatic powered flaps (made of some lightweight plastic).

  • What’s the scale? Could it be huge?
    • I was thinking that the skirt could be a ball gown type skirt which reaches the floor or anle length. In the design I included 3 layers of tulle but I imagine each being very fluffy with a lot of gathering in order to give the skirt a floaty-like feeling like a jelly fish. If you werer to put a lot of tulle then you would probably loose some of the up and down motion from the motors, therefore, the skirt should not be too fluffy (have too much tulle).
  • What’s happens if more than one person is involved?
    • You could make the skirt reactive to people around you. A possible implementation is to make the panels lift up in direction in which the person is approaching you. That way the skirt alerts you of people nearby.
  • Where might it incorporate inflatable bladders for powered movement? What about lots and lots of them?
    • Originally I was thinking of the movement being invoked by mobile pannels (motor activated) that lift up the tulle however that lifting motion could very easily be caused by pneumatic actuators. The amount of tulle used would probably determine the amount and size of the actuators, in other words, if a lot of tulle was used then the actuators would have be big and less frequent to create a more visible dramatic motion.
  • Are there other kinds of pneumatic or mechanical actuation?
    • Yes, I was thinking that the motors could lift the tulle with some plastic that is attached to them (see the drawinig for example). This way the tulle could be lifted with force and then allowed to slowly fall back into place (similar to the motion of a jelly fish).
  • What kind of programmed behavior might it include? Would that be responding to the wearer/user or independent of them?
    • The motors could be programmed to activate and alternate in different patterns which reflect the wearers current emotional state. If the wearer is calmed the skirt could reflect that by creating a soft up and down motion, in contrast, if the wearer is agitated then the movement of the skirt could be erratic and fast.
  • What kind of crazy materials would accentuate the movement? E.g., billowing yards of gossamer silk, miles of glitter fringe, arches of tulle?
    • A lot of gathered tulle that is light and is able to float down rather than fall down when lifted/thrown in the air.

Inspiration:

2. Frilled Lizard Collar

  • What’s the scale? Could it be huge?
    • I wanted the collar to surround the wearers head in the same way the the lizards collar was. It can also be layered, I only drew one layer that lifts but you could have multiple to make it look big like a peacocks tail.
  • What’s happens if more than one person is involved?
    • It can also be an alert device that lifts up when someone is making you uncomfortable or you would like to stop recieving attention. It can also be used as a privacy type device.
  • Where might it incorporate inflatable bladders for powered movement? What about lots and lots of them?
    • You could create a pneumatic hinge to lift up the collar and give it more dimention and shape around the wearer’s neck area. This would allow the collar to fall when the actuators deflate.
  • Are there other kinds of pneumatic or mechanical actuation?
    • The original mechanism that I thought of using to lift and drop the collar was a metal wire frame that would lift up with tension when pulled. This would allow the collar to hold its shape when pulled and then fall back down when let go.
  • What kind of programmed behavior might it include? Would that be responding to the wearer/user or independent of them?
    • The programmed behavior would be to lift up and down. It could be indipendent to the wearer but it can also be made to be activated by the wearer when they want privacy.
  • What kind of crazy materials would accentuate the movement? E.g., billowing yards of gossamer silk, miles of glitter fringe, arches of tulle?
    • Some soft leather or fabric that mimics the lizards collar would accentuate the movement.

Inspiration:

3. Pattern Changing Skirt

  • What’s the scale? Could it be huge?
    • I was imagining that the skirt would fall mid calf. The pleats could vary in size in order to make a more impactful or sudden change.
  • What’s happens if more than one person is involved?
    • Once again the skirt could be made to react to its enviroment and reflect the wearers internal state. However my original idea was to have it be more of a performance piece.
  • Where might it incorporate inflatable bladders for powered movement? What about lots and lots of them?
    • Instead of using panels pulled by a string (sort of like blinds) you could use the actuators to flip the pannels by alternating the actuators that inflate.
  • Are there other kinds of pneumatic or mechanical actuation?
    • My original idea to make the pleats flip was to attach some sort of flat rigid material at the top (belt area) of the skirt and pull a string to flip the panels to one side and change the direction of the pleats. This can be either motorized or done manually.
  • What kind of programmed behavior might it include? Would that be responding to the wearer/user or independent of them?
    • You could attacha motor that intermittently flips the pleats to have the skirt be more of a performance piece. My plan was originally to have the movement be indipendent of the wearer but it could be modified to be controlled by the wearer or change dependent of the enviroment around it.
  • What kind of crazy materials would accentuate the movement? E.g., billowing yards of gossamer silk, miles of glitter fringe, arches of tulle?
    • I would be best to use a thick fabric that can hold its shape (the pleats). To make the piece more dramatic you could have one fabric be black or a solid color and the other fabric be a really busy pattern.