Captain electric and battery boy: prototypes for wearable power-generating artifacts

“Captain Electric and Battery Boy” refers to an ongoing research project that aims to develop electronic garments and wearable artifacts that harness power from the body and use that energy to actuate co-located electronic components. This paper will discuss two initial stages of the collaborative design process, which led to concepts and prototypes that seamlessly integrate technical constraints within design aesthetics. The first stage took place during a winter 2008 design course where students were presented with a brief to create an artifact for “Human-Powered Illumination.” The second consisted of a two-week intensive workshop with a selection of the original students, held in the summer of 2008 at XS Labs. Finally, we will briefly present the final outcome. Author Keywords Human-generated power, electronic garments, wearable technology. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.2 User Interfaces: Input devices and strategies. General Terms Design, Human Factors

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: TEI
• Authors: Joanna Berzowska, Marc Beaulieu, Vincent Leclerc, Gaia Orain, Catherine Marchand, Catou Cournoyer, Emily Paris, Lois Frankel, Miliana Sesartic
• Keywords: Co-located Electronic Components, Electronic Garments, Hardware, Keywords Human-generated Power, TEI 2010