e:I have changed my mind about my project. I've decided that I would like to make a pair of shoes that react to the wearer, dynamically changing itself as well as the other shoe. The shoes will primarily use lights to communicate these changes. They will react to the amount of light in the environment, the walking pattern of the wearer, and explicit commands from a human to the shoe.
e:I feel this project fits the scope of this class better because it will allow me to integrate several different machining and molding techniques. For instance, I plan on molding the soles of the shoe using the rubber molding techniques we learned for assignment #5. And in order to create the form for the mold to be poured into, I will use the vaccuum forming machine from assignment #6 to create a replica of my favorite pair of shoes.
e:I will use the water jet (assignment #4) or mill (assignment #3) to construct some of the rigid form for the shoes, which will hold the electronics and display elements. I will use the PIC project board from assignment # 10 to drive the interactions and sensors.
e:I have chosen the sensing technology for this project during assignment #8. I will use a variable light resistor to monitor the time of day (day vs. night), a touch sensor to let the wearer touch areas of the shoe and change their display patterns, and a pressure sensor that will obtain data about the walking frequency of the wearer.
e:Through all of this, I will take care to construct shoes that have an interesting design and a beautiful execution through materials and machine work.