Nudgeables

Sometimes we need secret codes to communicate with our friends, partners, or colleagues while in the company of a larger group of people: a nudge, a cough, a scratch of the nose; something that says “save me from this conversation”, “let’s get out of here”, or “I’m thinking of you”.  What if our clothing could communicate these messages for us?

The Nudgeables Accessory Kit is a modular hardware kit for creating paired sets of wireless wearable accessories.  A single Nudgeables device employs a pre-configured wireless radio transciever with a sensor input and an output for a “notifier” (actuator).  The flexible design allows for you to attach a wide variety of sensors and actuators to the board to create custom sensory and feedback systems.  By creatively embedding wireless communication into yours and your friend/partner/colleague’s garments, you are able to secretly “nudge” each other at a distance.

Nudgeables Accessory Kit

This project was developed at the Social Body Lab at OCAD University in Toronto in collaboration with Aesthetec Studio. Research Assistants on the project were Erin Lewis, Jackson McConnell, Hillary Predko, Ryan Maksymic, Borzu Talaie. Funding was provided by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

Initial designs created using the Nudgeables Accessory Kit were made by the following commissioned designers: Mystica Cooper (Fashion Designer), Angella Mackey (Fashion Designer), Joanne Jin (Textile Designer), Larry Kwok (Emerging Industrial Designer), Carl Penny (Fetish Wear Designer), Greg Phillips (Emerging Jewelry Designer), Ryan Taylor (Goldsmith), Mike Vaughan (Emerging Industrial Designer)

Additional workshops using the Nudgeables Accessory Kits have taken place at Espacio Telefonica in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Etopia in Zaragoza, Spain; Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design in Copenhagen, Denmark; ITP/NYU in New York, New York.

The research report can be found here: http://www.ocadu.ca/Assets/content/research/FedDev+Projects/nudgeables-kit.pdf

layout design for Nudgeables t-shirt & necklace