Final Project

For the final project of this course I'm interested in revisiting a concept that emerged back in the early 2000s, the disposable paper phone. This idea was proposed by the Wayback Machine in 2002, suggesting that it would be able to make 10$ disposable phones in the early 2002s, yet never ended up going through with the idea.

Look at the 2002 proposal here

With the rise of smartphones, many younger people are going back to the use of more basic devices, going as far as getting brick phones to seperate themeselves from the constant stream of notifications. Could there be a purpose for a smartphone alternative that could have useful functionalities without the screentime? ">

I looked at the potential assembly/ appearence of said phone and how it would function. I was thinking perhaps rather than using paper as its structure (perhaps not ideal for long-lasting use) I could use a thinner paper-like plastic, perhaps acetate or something similar that could maybe even be transparent to allow the user to view the circuts inside.

I also came across a project that made a paper speaker that made a foldable speaker that clicks into place, so I was thinking perhaps I could inclorporate that into the back of my phone. This way someone could input their digits on the front, turn the phone around, snap the speaker into place and chat with the person on the other side.

////// update: design pivot //////

After a second thought, It seems like working on just the 'phone' portion of the project is rather limiting, and nonsensical as a phone made of a paper-like material would effectivly be equivalent to one made of glass, even if more materially accessible. I went back to the drawing board to determine what about the phone was most interesting to me. I felt that it was actually the idea of the 'widget', a collection of various functionalities that a phone brings - like the timers, the msuic players, calculators, etc.

widg·et
/ˈwijət/

noun
plural noun: widgets
1. a small gadget or mechanical device, especially one whose name is unknown or unspecified.
2. an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service.

Perhaps what would be more interesting is to take some of these digital widgets, which currently live in our phones and turn them into physical gadgets, which can work together to form a folio of lightweight and compact widgets (ideally even flat) that can be carried around and interacted with anywhere, anytime.

I came accross this project by french designers that created paper electronic toys and was very intruiged by their approach with the interaction between the electronics, paper, and the user. I also really liked how the batteries they were using were similarly lightweight and flat, which might serve as useful power source ideas for my project.

////// update: another design pivot //////

Up until now I'm been esspeically interested in paper electronics, however after the assignment in Week 6 with casting, I discovered a new possibility: silicone. Perhaps rather than having a collection of paper items that can connect together to make different widgets, my project could be one silicone object that bends and morphs to make different widgets!

I think this train of thought is the most interesting to me, as it becomes a very playful and do wad of an object where the fabrication and electronics need to work in harmony. I have begun to think of the idea as a 'gumby thneed', referring to the sticky silicone green man and the product from the Lorax that could famously 'be anything and everything people need'.

I am really interested in the idea that the different functionalities emerge when different limbs on the object touch, forming a complete circut. Perhaps the same limb can even lead to different functionalities depending on the other limb it is connected to.

I began looking at if this is at all feasable, and it seems like there are some precedents. First I found this site which describes making embedded circuts into stretchy silicone, where they embedded all of the inputs, outputs, and power into silicone and show a diversive of projects that use this system. In order to atcheive the different functions this example used different layers to seperate the circuts. Each layer was cut or etched into a baseplate, stuffed, then cast in silicone before moving onto the next layer. However this example features an entriely flat silicone peice.

A next step that I looked at was brainstorming some possible widget functionalities, and corresponding 'positions' or 'emerging geometries' can can occur. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the ideas:

Functionality	Posible Physical Position	Priority to Implement (on a 1-3 Scale)	Required Hardware Overview
CLOCK	Wrist-sized object so it can potentially be worn as a watch?	1	Array of 60 LED lights/embedded screen? alternitavly, 12 LEDs in a circle such as here
TIMER	Any	3	Lights of any number to show time drcreasing (at least 3) and a vibration to indicate time has run out. Also touch inputs to set the amount of time for timer.
DIGITAL PET	Any	3	Eyes and Smile with lights, feeding and playing with it, haptic feedback.
GAME	Any	3	Could fit into the components of other functions if it has some sort of inputs and outputs.
MAGIC EIGHT BALL	Any	3	LED light array to convay message, touch inputs of some sort
DECORATIVE PATTERN	Necklace organization	2	LED light array to display digital decorative geometry, music visualizer.
WEATHER FORECAST	Any	2	LED light array to display the weather

update: design revamp

Hardware Electronics

Functionality	Arm combination	Functionality	Required Hardware
CLOCK	1 + 4	1	+ 12 RGB Lights + GPS tracking to know the time
TIMER	2 + 3	3	+12 RGB lights to display countdown +3 buttons (one is enter, one is + and one is -)
DIGITAL PET	Any	3 + 4	+12 lights +3 buttons
GAME	Any	5 + 6	+10 lights +2 buttons (catch and reset)
MAGIC EIGHT BALL	Any	3 + 4	+10 lights +2 buttons (weekly and day weather)
DECORATIVE PATTERN	1 + 6	2	+12 lights +button to switch modes
WEATHER FORECAST	Any	2 + 5	+LED light array to display the weather +2 buttons to switch from day to week display +wifi module to figur eout the forecast

I have decided to use the SEED XIAO micro processor, which means that despite the 12 lights, Wifi module, three buttons, and mode switching, vibration, and speaker will all need to fit within the 10 pins the XIAO offers. This will require some strategic approach to the hardware.

I purchased these lights here, which have built in circuts and can be condtrolled in bulk yet are individually accessible.

I also got this speaker here, which will only use one of the XIAO pins for the output.

I aquired this wifi module here, which will connect tot he time and weather and such.

PCB Design and Fabrication

My mold I designed earlier finally got printed and was ready to be test-cast!

Casting and Moldmaking

As a way to get stated on working on this project I first modeled an approximate geometry in Rhino - the details of the form need to be figured out later - and attempted to make a mold. I want to try 3D printing this mold as it will be cast in silicone which is flexible and might be able to easily be removed from the hard mold. I want to primarily see if the layers are an issue and if the silicone will release from the mold.

My mold I designed earlier finally got printed and was ready to be test-cast! I used some silicon I had bought very cheaply on Amazon.

Although the molding process was overall sucessful, at first the two molds refused to hold together, despite all the tape and hot glue the sillicon flowed right out. Thus I decided to cast the two seperatley and then later attach them.

Moving onto the final iteration of the mold, I tried to make a ledge that would slot into itself in order to ensure that I could cast it in one piece. I added indentations for things like the clips and where the buttons would be, as well as holes for th wires to exit the sillicon when the casting was being performed.

While the electronics aspect of this project was frustrating in its own way, the casting was by far the most inexplicably and unexpectidly difficult. The morning of the final presentation I tried to cast the sillicon, however I had eyeballed the ratios incorrectly and so the entire thing had to be scrapped.

I decided to be persistant and try another cast another time the next day.

Final Product

video link in case the above doesn't work

What Worked

A lot more of my project worked than I was originally expecting. The clips ended up working despite the difficulty and number of iterations that were required to get than portion functional. In addition I think the overall form was very sucessful in its goal of being a playful 'blob'