Interaction - Bachelor

Ravemate

Ravemate is an interactive wearable that translates a user's energy and motion into a dynamic lighting system. Through Ravemate, dancers can observe how their physical presence and movements shape the environment around them, recognising that their energy matters just as much as any lighting rig in a club setting. Users wear a glove that detects arm acceleration and direction during dancing. These movements convert into vectors and mathematical sequences, which subsequently animate glowing lights within a generative display. When dancers encounter a luminous form responding to their motion, they naturally become conscious of the energy and influence they project into the space, revitalising the dance floor.

Naomi King

Headlines for the death of clubbing

The brief

I have identified that no research has been done into better design of club spaces or technologies to adapt with 21st century phone usage. Many clubs implement a “no phones” policy or use simple wearables such as light up wristbands to improved immersion. I am to design an innovative solution with spatial mediums and wearable technology to make the dance floor a more connected and interactive space.

Planning

I began by iterating, sketching and creating low fidelity prototypes of an assortment of wearables, all with different sensors and functions, to grasp what would improve immersion the most. I also researched touch designer as a means of controlling visuals with input from the wearable sensors.

Implementation

I spent hours coding with Aurdino, experimenting with Touch Designer and customisation CAD designs to create the final device. It sends gyroscope information over UDP packets to a computer’s IP address which then runs Touch Designer, and translated glowing circles based on hand movement and the pulsing bass of a song. Together, this creates a hypnotising and immersive dancing experience and extends the user’s body into the world around it.

User testing

User testing was conducted in two stages: low fidelity in the beginning and high fidelity towards the end. The low fidelity testing grasped testers preference for different monitor and wearable types. The high fidelity testing observed their interaction with a finished project, and made minor tweaks to improve immersion.

Naomi King

A graduate software engineer from Meanjin/Brisbane with a focus on AI automation and full stack development. Shortly graduating from QUT with a bachelors in Computer Science and Design (Interaction). Starting a graduate role as a Solutions Engineer in London for Goodnotes.