Conference Paper: OmniFiber: Integrated Fluidic Fiber Actuators for Weaving Movement based Interactions into the ‘Fabric of Everyday Life’
Ozgun Kilic Afsar, Ali Shtarbanov, Hila Mor, Ken Nakagaki, Jack Forman, Karen Modrei, Seung Hee Jeong, Klas Hjort, Kristina Höök, and Hiroshi Ishii. 2021. OmniFiber: Integrated Fluidic Fiber Actuators for Weaving Movement based Interactions into the ‘Fabric of Everyday Life’ The 34th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1010–1026. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3472749.3474802
Review
Originality. All papers must present original work.
This paper appears to be original. It builds upon existing ideas in the field of pneumatics-actuated fibers and soft robotics, while making significant improvements on those ideas.
Novelty
This paper has a novel contribution to the field of soft robotics. Not only are the fibers presented thinner than any comparable fiber in the research space, but they are also designed to be embedded into textiles, taking into account how easily they can be woven, and how safe they are on human skin.
Relevance
This paper is relevant to the field of soft robotics. The fibers presented contain silicone tubing with a soft and stretchable sensor that enables actuation.
Soundness
This paper proves it is technologically and mathematically sound through the presentation of mathematical models and the results of several experiments.
Technical Detail
The data was collected through mechanical tests and prior work.
Accessibility
This paper is not as accessible to an audience which has little to no experience in pneumatics or materials science. For example, the discussion on how constraints influenced the construction of more complicated patterns from the compression/elongation of fibers was confusing.
Referee Form
Knowledge/Conflict of Interest
I have no conflict of interest reviewing this paper. I have no knowledge in the topic area of this paper.
Summary
This paper discusses the creation of thin fluidic fibers with integrated soft sensors that can allow them to actuate in one of two ways: expand or contract. The fibers are connected to piezoelectric micro pumps which facilitate this actuation through the FlowIO platform, and they are designed to be skin safe and be incorporated into textiles using traditional textile processing techniques. Thus, these fibers are meant to become part of a new series of smart garments or wearables. One potential use of this technology lies in its ability influence human motion for educational purposes. As an example, the paper discussed a corset laced with OmniFiber that could guide the breathing of a professional opera singer by compressing and expanding around her torso. Another application was a pair of gloves with OmniFiber sewn into the fingers that could guide a piano player wearing them to play at a different rhythm with each hand. This technology is not only able to facilitate motion, but also reflect it, an example being a tensegrity device with an OmniFiber layer that can reflect a user’s spine movement.Additionally, this technology can be used for communication through haptics-mediated sign language (i.e. OmniFiber devices attached to the user’s fingers that can sense the intensity, pace, and rhythm of the user’s signing), as well as for aesthetic purposes, such as expressive jewelry that expands and contracts into different shapes.
Strengths and Weaknesses
A strength of OmniFiber lies in how it can influence human motion through embedding in textiles. The field of soft robotics has mainly covered applications in the healthcare and environmental fields. However the idea that soft robotic fibers can guide the motion of human limbs, or present feedback on human body positions that would otherwise go unknown makes it a valuable educational resource that can be applied in fields such as the performing arts and education in trades (ie craftsmanship). This paper is also novel in its focus on making flexible smart fibers that are textile friendly – most other studies in the cross between McKibben muscles and soft robotics focus on creating the muscles themselves, not necessarily becoming part of a garment. A main weakness of the paper was the section on mechanical constraints and how they influence the morphing properties of the fiber. After reading over that section several times, I still couldn’t see how inelastic constraints could influence morphing beyond the example I saw in the paper.
Soundness
This paper’s ideas are methodologically sound. It details actuator mechanical tests and details the mathematical models for the fiber’s elongation and bending. To account for the fact that OmniFiber is thinner than thin McKibbens, the researchers conducted a contraction percentage and pressure test as well.
Related Work
This paper builds upon work with shape memory alloys and twisted and coiled actuators, noting how they could be relevant to the field of smart textiles, while noting their pitfalls, such as being potentially dangerous to the human skin and constantly needing power. It also builds upon the concept of McKibben muscle fibers and how their properties were used to create OmniFiber.
Presentation
The paper is organized well into its premise, the work it builds upon, the construction of the fibers, the application of the fibers, the verification (through testing and mathematical models) of the fiber’s properties, and the potential for the expansion of this project.
Suggestions
I would have liked to visually see more examples of the inextensible thread insert constraint, since it made less sense to me than the flexible constraints.
Comments
Overall, this paper has enough originality and importance to merit publication, and it’s relevant to the field of soft robotics. It fills a gap in research into smart textiles, and presents fibers which are thinner than similar actuating fibers and are made to be embedded into textiles. This work has potential in the fields of fashion, rehabilitation, and education.
4- Probably accept: I would argue for accepting this paper.