HUG
Therapeutic Feelings Thru Physical Touch
Thesis Project 2024
Submitted for the degree of Master of Science
Integrated Design and Media
Kaiqing Su
My interactive installation, a teddy bear woven from yarn and equipped with sensory technology, is born from extensive research into mental health challenges faced by young adults aged 18-25. Discovering the meditative power of knitting and crochet, which offer therapeutic relief through their repetitive, tactile nature, I was inspired to transcend traditional craft boundaries. This led to the creation of an artwork that embodies the essence of these activities’ calming effects without the necessity of producing a tangible outcome. Mimicking the comfort of a steady heartbeat, the installation engages visitors in a personal, sensory journey, offering a peaceful retreat from life’s anxieties. Drawing parallels with Neto’s immersive sculptures, my work serves as a bridge between art and wellness, inviting users to physically and emotionally connect, thereby exploring the tactile's role in fostering mental well-being.
Iteration one
Primary Idea
Crochet design: The initial idea of this interactive soft sculpture was to design a robe-like yarn-made installation. There is a thought of adding some physical computing parts to form an interaction, but there is no specific plan.
Arduino design: I haven’t decided.
Iteration two
Interaction
Crochet design: robe-like sweater or huge and super long scarf. With other inspirations from social media, such as knitting scarves and gloves, I started considering whether a robe would attract people to interact with it. Even though I haven't decided on the form to delivery my final project, I did a lot of survey on colors and texture to figure out what materials I should get.
Arduino design: multiple LED lights controlled by a sensor. When the audience interacts with it, touching or wearing it, the LED lights will turn on in corresponding orders. By seeing the LEDs, the audience is given positive feedback that the robe welcomes them to interact with.
Iteration three
Switching from passive to active interaction
Crochet design: a hugable stuffed animal. A soft sculpture with a human face but wearing a costume resembling a familiar comfort toy, a teddy bear is not only a reflection of the audience themselves but also a hypothetical companion in life.
Arduino design: On the back of the teddy bear, the RGB LED lights manipulated in orange will form a heart shape, turning on gradually from bottom to top according to the photocell sensor value read.
Iteration four
Demo day
Crochet design: teddy bear with human face.
Arduino design: After the demo day, I switched my focus from visual feedback to tactile and sound feedback—a touch sensor as input and a sound speaker as output form a complete circle of this interaction.
I tried using Python and a VLC app to play the music file on my laptop and a touch sensor connected to the Arduino board as an input switch.
Iteration five
Max/MSP
Crochet design: no changes
Arduino design: switch Python to MaxMSP. MaxMSP could communicate with the Arduino board and control the music playback by visual coding.
I also accepted the new suggestions from people. One of those was to make the hugging interaction more like a reward system, changing the tempo of the heartbeat as the time the audience hugged the bear.
Final Version
Assembling
Crochet design: The Teddy Bear is completed; waiting for the conductive thread to be sewn.
Arduino design: The conductive thread happens to have bad stability when I use too many amounts of them. The Arduino board would also get into a mess. So, to avoid that, I use cable wire to do most of the connection and use conductive thread only for the surface part as a touch sensor.
