As our interactions with the digital world happen increasingly through mobile, wearable and embedded devices, the way we interface with computers is also changing. E-textiles, or electronic textiles, are fabrics with electronics integrated within them. They allow body movement, or other kinds of environmental change, to be sensed but instead of using the hard silicon, copper and plastic of traditional sensors they do so through soft and flexible materials.
In this project, you will develop an e-textile based wearable for sonic interaction design that includes e.g., a t-shirt that can create different sounds depending on the movement of the performer. You will use an audio based microcontroller like the Bela board/trill board and create the wearable using sewn on electrodes.
Students suitable for this project should be interested in audio processing, craft and textile, acoustics, and software and hardware development. They should also have competent software skills.
Undergraduate
As this project requires fundamental knowledge in digital signal processing, at least one of the group members must have passed MECHENG370 Electronics and Signal Processing and MECHENG313 Design of Real-time Software Systems (i.e. the team must have at least one Mechatronics student).
Experience with MATLAB and C++ will be desirable.
Acoustics Lab (City 422.154, Lab)