Allistar and I met today to discuss the weather and moods and how weather and mood relate to color. We started off by consulting a mood ring graph to see which colors were linked to which emotion.

Then we found a weather pattern graph.

This is a quick and interesting read. They’ve done some research.

Look at the Advantage, Disadvantages of wearable devices, where and how it’s being used.

http://306is.blogspot.com/ 

Ambient Weather Forecast Beacon:

Know what to wear today, if it’ll rain this weekend, or virtually any weather information, all in a calm glanceable display of color.

Read more…

Relationships between weather forecast colors and mood colors using weather charts:

Article on Color and Mood
How does color affect our mood?

Color Meaning from GemstoneGifts:

Here is an episode from Doraemon. The cat (blue figure) is an inventor from the future. At 2:30 mark he pulls out a machine that translates a person’s mood to a weather.  Happy == sunny, sad == rain, anger == thunder.  Sorry it is in cantonese.

Goal – Create a social network based on weather. Ambient display and feel of weather information.

Usage – It can be used to display real weather or be used to display weather which signifies a person’s mood. It is also designed so a person can feel another person’s weather.

Target User – targeting youth as an accessory, and older people as a weather reporting device.

Design Criteria – Portable, personal, networked.

Technologies / Hardware design
First the devices that will connect your experience with another:

Wireless connectivity to your cell phone and other peoples cell phones forming a personalized weather space using:
Mitsumi WML-C40 Class 1 v2 Bluetooth module
As found on spark fun:

The Mitsumi has a 100m range and runs off of 3.3v. The blue tooth option wirelessly integrates The New Thermometer with your cell phone. This allows a networking app on your cell phone to deal with the transfer and conditioning of all the information in and out of the The New Thermometer. Reducing the computational load of The New Thermometer leaving it lighter and more energy efficient.

A tactile interface can transfer weather situations from around the world or a passing stranger, using an Thermoelectric Module from:

These modules can cool or heat based on the Seebeck effect where heating or cooling a material disproportionately will cause a flow of current in that material and visa versa. This allows for a tactile representation on your upper arm of any weather situation that is keyed into a network. This includes weather Data from global tracking systems as well as personalized weather data from friends and family, giving you a more complete notion of weather space.

A flexible screen for display and interaction:

Driven by a OLED driver
Like this from Okisemi:

The organic light emitting diode driver allows for the control of the display screen through a serial interface.

A flex screen can be used to transfer other visual information as well as emotional or personalized cues and provides a interactive platform using

A touch screen over-mount for easy interface and a sleek look
A color 24-bit LCD 4.3 psp touch screen also from spark fun:

Can be used with any 3-5v source.

The combination of the two provides a visual surface that can mount easily to your body with minimal discomfort. While still allowing for an exciting interactive experience.

And the devices that will allow you to transfer your weather data:

Color/light detector from digikey:

Gives a average reading of your surroundings color and brightness, this can be displayed on your device’s screen or ported to another’s experience.

And a
Temperature/ humidity detector:

To transfer your current ambient temperature.

These sensors would be tied into a basic stamp microcontroller like the coridium ARMexpress:

Small cheap and able to communicate with blue tooth serially. It is used for basic systems control and sensor readings.

And all powered by a cell phone battery for easy rechargability:

The battery pack can be recharged with a common phone charger making it an easy accessory to your personal communication devices.

allistar – 917-587-8317
ben – 917-582-1943
chorong – 646-597-4931
justin -347-301-7780
mandy – 609-230-1918

Some articles I came across which could help us design our product.

A Seamless Style for Wearable Computers:

Forget clunky, cyborg-like costumes. Chipmaker Infineon’s Stefan Jung says the devices it makes blend right into the clothing

Ready To Ware:

Check out the PM3 jacket

WeatherMood is a personal weather arm band that a person wears.   People can use it to “feel” the weather at a certain location, or set their weather that reflects their mood.

Components
*Bluetooth for phone communication
*Heating/Cooling pad.
*Flexible LCD display
*Headphone jack
*Re-chargable jack
*Film circuit boards

Usage
*Can be used to cool veins down when it is hot
*Exchange weather information with someone you know
*Broadcast personal weather mood
*Displays color/light/image reflecting weather

Questions to answer
*Problem we are solving?
*Who is it for?

We all love our pets, but did you know that animals poses a forecasting sense some call ‘Now-Cast”? During the Devastating Tsunami of December 2004 moments before and sometimes up to 90 minutes animals headed to the warnings and fled to higher ground. A natural survival instinct. Here are some articles from ECOVIEWS and Nature Sync.