Introduction

Nama is a soft circuit instrument that has open purpose and usage, being able to be freely folded, twisted, tightened and manipulated in various contexts to generate real time digital data of its movement.

Based on the concept of relational object created by Lygia Clark, the interface is built upon a fabric tissue given its physical particularities that, through its interaction in motion, are able to bring to senses characteristics related to virtuality such as: fluidity, flexibility and mobility. Therefore causing, along with the sensible feedback, a non-verbal and kinesthetic understanding of virtual liquidity.

The current setup of the interface has a single Lilypad Arduino, 5 Lilypad Accelerometers, one Xbee Module, and a LiPo battery sewed altogether manually with conductive thread. Data is gathered by the accelerometers and sent wirelessly to a computer through Arduino and Xbee, where they will be reprocessed into some kind of output. The project also includes a customizable software specially designed to receive the data from the interface.

Documentation

A video that demonstrates its potential:

And below, a video documentation of an interactive installation produced based on the instrument:

List of materials and components:

• 1 LilyPad Arduino 328 Main Board.

• 5 LilyPad Accelerometers ADXL335.

• 1 LilyPad Xbee.

• LilyPad FTDI Basic Breakout

• 5V LilyPad LiPower.

• 2 XBee 1mW Chip Antenna

• Series 1. - XBee Explorer USB.

• Polymer Lithium Ion Battery (LiPo)

• 1000mAh (good up to 8h running).

• LiPo Charger Basic

• Micro-USB.

• Conductive Thread

• 234/34 4ply.

• Needle set.

• Fabric of your choice.

• Thin wire + solder (optional).

• Textile glue + mounting tape (optional)

More info at:

http://viraseres.com/nama

EXPANDED TECHNICAL DETAILS

Minimalist Hardware Identity Module

Nama is a compact and efficient project designed to provide a digital "Identity" or nameplate to any Arduino-based device or installation.

• ASCII Character Mapping Kernel: The Arduino stores a custom string in its program memory. The firmware uses a bit-masking technique to render each letter on a small OLED or high-contract 7-segment display.
• Dynamic Scrolling Buffer: (Features) If the name is longer than the display, the Arduino implements a hardware-optimized scrolling routine, ensuring smooth, jitter-free movement of text across the screen.

Efficiency

• Zero-Latency Persistence: The project uses the internal EEPROM to allow the user to change the "Device Name" via serial without re-uploading the entire sketch.