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Divergence

Divergence is a wearable EMF detector that provides haptic and sonic feedback of the electromagnetic sources that surround us.

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Divergence is inspired by sci-fi aesthetics and real physics and questions the way we perceive our surroundings. It deals with the question of how to create physicality in order to demonstrate and sense the invisible forces that surround us. For that reason, this project proposes the creation of a wearable EMF detector that provides the human body with the ability to feel and hear the electrically and magnetically charged particles that propagate around us in the form of waves. The wearable consists of a soft-circuitry garment with an embedded Adafruit Flora uC that provides haptic and sonic feedback of the electromagnetic sources that surround us. The haptic feedback is experienced in the form of vibration patterns and the sonic feedback in the form of tones that variate in pitch depending on the strength of the signal. The detection takes place through the creation of two embroidered coils incorporated in sleeves of the garment that serve as “antennas” for sensing EM fields.

Divergence is a project curated by Shulea Cheang, part of the Eleonore 2014 Residency The Soft, the Hard and the Wet that has been developed at STWST in Linz, Austria on June 2014.

For the full documentation of the work that was realized during the residency check out the Stadtwerkstatt blog:
http://donautics.stwst.at/lab/story/divergence

More info at: http://afroditipsarra.com

Schematics and code available at Github: https://github.com/afrdt/Divergence

  • 1 × Adafruit Flora wearable uC
  • 1 × LilyPad Simple Power power switch with li-po battery pin
  • 1 × Enameled Copper Wire to make the coils
  • 1 × Conductive Thread (Stainless Steel) low resistivity conductive thread
  • 1 × Resistive Tape 3.2 K Ohms per linear meter/yard

View all 11 components

  • Arduino code

    Afrdt08/18/2014 at 14:48 0 comments

    /* Divergence: A wearable EMF detector with haptic and sonic feedback

    * By Afroditi Psarra http://afroditipsarra.com

    *

    * July 2014

    *

    * Circuit:

    * Adafruit Flora

    * 2 handmade copper coils connected on analog pins A7 and A9 and grounded with 3.6 M Ohms resistors

    * 1 vibration motor on digital pin 10 (PWM pin)

    * 1 mini jack - soundOut connected to digital pin 12 via a low-pass filter with a 47uF

    * and a zipper slider < 100 K Ohms (the zipper uses the uC internal pullup resistor

    */

    #define soundOut 12 // sound output connected to digital pin 12

    #define vibe 10 // vibration motor located on the chest connected to digital pin 3

    #define coilRight A7 // coil antenna located on the right wrist connected to analog pin A7

    #define coilLeft A9 // coil antenna located on the left wrist connected to analog pin A9

    #define NUMREADINGSRIGHT 15 // raise this number to increase data smoothing

    #define NUMREADINGSLEFT 15 // raise this number to increase data smoothing

    int senseLimitRight = 125; // raise this number to decrease sensitivity on the right probe(up to 1023 max)

    int senseLimitLeft = 125; // raise this number to decrease sensitivity on the left probe(up to 1023 max)

    int probeRight; // probe readings from the right coil

    int probeLeft; // probe readings from the left coil

    // variables for smoothing

    int readingsRight[NUMREADINGSRIGHT]; // the readings from the analog input A7

    int indexRight = 0; // the index of the current reading from the right coil

    int totalRight = 0; // the running total pf the right coil

    int averageRight = 0; // final average of the probe reading from the right coil

    int readingsLeft[NUMREADINGSLEFT]; // the readings from the analog input A9

    int indexLeft = 0; // the index of the current reading from the left coil

    int totalLeft = 0; // the running total of the left coil

    int averageLeft = 0; // final average of the probe reading from the left coil

    void setup() {

    //Serial.begin(9600); // initialize the serial communication (for debugging-calibrating only)

    pinMode(soundOut, OUTPUT); // initialize the mini jack/speaker as an output

    pinMode(A11, INPUT_PULLUP); // use the internal pullup resistor on the same pin as above

    pinMode(vibe, OUTPUT); // initialize the mini jack/speaker as an output

    }

    void loop() {

    coilProbeRight();

    coilProbeLeft();

    // Serial.print(averageRight);

    // Serial.print(" ");

    // Serial.println(averageLeft);

    delay(1);

    }

    void coilProbeRight() {

    probeRight = analogRead(coilRight);

    if(probeRight >= 1){ // if the reading isn't zero, proceed

    probeRight = constrain(probeRight, 1, senseLimitRight); // turn any reading higher than the senseLimit value into the senseLimit value

    probeRight = map(probeRight, 1, senseLimitRight, 1, 1023); // remap the constrained value within a 1 to 1023 range

    totalRight -= readingsRight[indexRight]; // subtract the last reading

    readingsRight[indexRight] = probeRight; // read from the sensor

    totalRight += readingsRight[indexRight]; // add the reading to the total

    indexRight = (indexRight + 1); // advance to the next index

    if (indexRight >= NUMREADINGSRIGHT) // if we're at the end of the array...

    indexRight = 0; // ...wrap around to the beginning

    averageRight = totalRight / NUMREADINGSRIGHT; // calculate the average

    }

    int vibeIntensity = map(averageRight, 32, 768, 0, 255); // map the average to pwm values

    analogWrite(vibe, vibeIntensity); // make the motor vibrate depending on the average

    int freq = map(averageRight, 32, 768, 880, 60);

    int dur = map(freq, 880, 60, 10, 1000);

    tone(soundOut, freq, dur);

    }

    void coilProbeLeft() {

    probeLeft = analogRead(coilLeft);

    if(probeLeft >= 1){ // if the reading isn't zero, proceed

    probeLeft = constrain(probeLeft, 1, senseLimitLeft); // turn any reading higher than the senseLimit value into the senseLimit value

    probeLeft = map(probeLeft, 1, senseLimitLeft, 1, 1023); // remap the constrained value within a 1 to 1023 range

    totalLeft -= readingsLeft[indexLeft]; // subtract the last reading

    readingsLeft[indexLeft] = probeLeft; // read from the sensor

    totalLeft += readingsLeft[indexLeft];...

    Read more »

  • Circuit Schematic

    Afrdt08/18/2014 at 11:47 0 comments

    Although my initial idea was to use two vibration motors - each one of them corresponding to the left and right probe, after doing some testing, I soon realized that the motors were drawing too much current from the circuit and they were creating background noise to the sonic output. So, I decided to bypass the right motor (as the circuit was already sewn, there was no room for adding extra components that could regulate it).

    This is the final circuit schematic:

  • Low-pass filter with zipper slider

    Afrdt07/12/2014 at 07:58 0 comments

    My next step was to create a zipper slider that would be used as a low-pass filter between the microcontroller and the mini-jack to provide the user with some kind of volume control for the headphones (and also filter any possible noise). After experimenting with different materials and techniques I decided to go with Kobakant's "zipper slider", but instead of using resistive thread 66 Yarn 22+3ply 110 PET (4 K Ohms/20 cm resistance) and Lame Life Saver conductive thread, I have used Plug and Wear's resistive tape (3.2 K Ohms per linear meter/yard) form one side of the zipper and Spark Fun'sConductive Thread 60g (Stainless Steel) (28 Ohms/30 cm resistance) on the other side. The side with the resistive tape is hooked up in the microcontroller and programmed to play a square wave 800 Hz tone, using the internal pull up resistor of the board, while the side with the conductive thread passes through a 47uF capacitor and ends at the speaker. Unzipping produces a higher pitch and when the zipper is completely open you get the highest pitch (in this case 880 Hz).

    This is the code that I used for testing:

    // Low-pass filter that uses a zipper slider instead of a potentiometer

    int speaker = 12; // speaker connected to digital pin 12 (on Flora, D12 and A11 are the same pin)

    void setup() { 

    pinMode(speaker, OUTPUT); // initialize speaker pin as an output pinMode(A11, INPUT_PULLUP); // use the internal pullup resistor

    }

    void loop() { 

    tone(speaker, 880); // play a square wave of 880 Hz

    }

  • Testing the coils

    Afrdt07/12/2014 at 07:52 0 comments

    For testing the coils I based my code on Aaron Alai's EMF detector project and Collin Cunningham's EMF experiments. I tested various resistors for their sensitivity and also calculated the resistance of the conductive thread that would be used for the soft circuit and decided to use a 3.6 M Ohms resistor on the ground connection of the coil and connected the other end to an analog pin. I tested the values that I got by printing them on the Serial Monitor and then added a speaker to have a sonic feedback of what was going on. I used a "smoothing" technique of creating an array an calculating the average value (as the previous authors suggested) in order to filter any unwanted noise to the results and then I mapped the values to a range of frequencies between 20 and 880 Hz and their respected durations between 10 to 500 milliseconds. The frequency mapping as can be observed in the code is inverted so that the higher the signal the higher the pitch and the lower the signal the lower the pitch. I got quite some interesting results as when I moved the coil closer to my mobile phone and the laptop I was getting lower frequencies and when I moved it closer to the plug where my laptop's transformer was I got higher and higher frequencies.

    This is the code that I used:

    // DivergenceCoil

    // code on Flora

    #define NUMREADINGS 15 // raise this number to increase data smoothing

    int senseLimit = 15; // raise this number to decrease sensitivity (up to 1023 max)

    int probePin = A7; // analog 7

    int val = 0; // reading from probePin

    int soundOut = 12;

    // variables for smoothing

    int readings[NUMREADINGS]; // the readings from the analog input

    int index = 0; // the index of the current reading

    int total = 0; // the running total

    int average = 0; // final average of the probe reading

    void setup() {

    pinMode(soundOut, OUTPUT);

    Serial.begin(9600); // initiate serial connection for debugging/etc

    for (int i = 0; i < NUMREADINGS; i++)

    readings[i] = 0; // initialize all the readings to 0

    }

    void loop() {

    val = analogRead(probePin); // take a reading from the probe

    if(val >= 1){ // if the reading isn't zero, proceed

    val = constrain(val, 1, senseLimit); // turn any reading higher than the senseLimit value into the senseLimit value

    val = map(val, 1, senseLimit, 1, 1023); // remap the constrained value within a 1 to 1023 range

    total -= readings[index]; // subtract the last reading

    readings[index] = val; // read from the sensor

    total += readings[index]; // add the reading to the total

    index = (index + 1); // advance to the next index

    if (index >= NUMREADINGS) // if we're at the end of the array...

    index = 0; // ...wrap around to the beginning

    average = total / NUMREADINGS; // calculate the average

    int freq = map(average, 0, 1023, 880, 20);

    int dur = map(freq, 880, 20, 10, 500);

    tone(soundOut, freq, dur);

    Serial.print(val); // use output to aid in calibrating

    Serial.print(" ");

    Serial.print(average);

    Serial.print(" ");

    Serial.println(freq);

    Serial.print(" ");

    Serial.println(dur);

    delay(1);

    }

    }

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Discussions

pihalo7656 wrote 07/15/2021 at 19:16 point

good idea. I'll test it for my goth harness product. Can you share the source file.

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Egor Zharkov37 wrote 01/23/2017 at 19:08 point

that would feel elektromagnitnae wave should just put in ear magnet 2x2mm. With the aid of it you can hear the different waves

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Egor Zharkov37 wrote 01/23/2017 at 19:08 point

that would feel elektromagnitnae wave should just put in ear magnet 2x2mm. With the aid of it you can hear the different waves

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D wrote 09/01/2014 at 02:59 point
This is a great project, I have been wanting to feel and visualise different signals and light for some time.
I think it would be amazing to walk down the street and see/ or feel the magnetic fields around you coming from power lines and the like or a permanent rainbow painting the world around you.

very cool.

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J Groff wrote 07/11/2014 at 03:19 point
passive energy harvester? just add MPPT chip

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OneShot Willie wrote 07/10/2014 at 02:22 point
I'm thinking that this would be great to know who was sending signals my way... couple this with a little SDR, and you could notify the wearer of a much wider spectrum, or the ones they're interested in...

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Aleksandar Bradic wrote 07/06/2014 at 19:17 point
Love the idea! Instead of "immersive" VR, why not build things like this - that help you "immerse" deeper into the real world. Looking forward to seeing how it shapes up!

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