PERSONALDEBRIS  

Pod Massager by farah sit @ risd

Farah Sit, at the school of design has won an award of distinction from I.D. Magazine for Pod Massager a scarf-like massager made of electric screw parts. {via}

From I.D. Magazine:

“In a year of war and uncertainty, this project tapped into a widespread desire for creature comforts” observed Kalman of Farrah Sit’s portable massaging device. The brief, for a course called Appropriate Technology and Sustainability, was to design a product using all or some of the mechanical and electrical components of a handheld, battery-operated screwdriver. With help from Brown University engineering student Abby Thomas, Sit machined and press-fit an off-centered weight onto a small motor, encased and wired it to batteries, then sheathed it in rubber to distribute the vibration. Noting that most handheld massagers on the market are impersonal products made from bulky injection-molded plastics, she housed her massaging motor in a form more appropriate to its function: a soft, comforting scarf. The pea-green textile, which Kalman seized and draped over her own shoulders, can be wrapped around the body or slung over the back of a chair.”

Lucy Dunne - Overt Massage Shirt

Feels Good - from New Nomads by Philips Design

The project reminds me of the one of the garments created by Philips Design. The website that was once available at the Philips Design site is now defunct, but the book is available from 010 publishers. Feels Good is a cream kimono with a conductive embroidered spine at the back. The fibres are able to disperse an electrostatic charge which creates a tingling sensation, supposedly relaxing the wearer. The level of charge can be set via a remote control device hidden inside a pocket, or biometric sensors.update: joey sends me the current link to the new nomads pages online and the description for feels good. thanks!

update: lucy tells me about her project, Massage Shirts which look at “the relationship between personality and desire to conceal or display technology.” there are three shirts, each one containing the same technology, (small motors that massage the wearer) but with different degrees of visual integration into the garment. the photo pictured above provides an overt visualization of the activity of the garment. if you follow the link to her site it looks as if the overt garment has small pods with beading inside that presumably shake around when the garment is activated.

this entry was posted 09/10/2004 at 10:37 am and is filed under FASHION.TECH, ART.DESIGN, RESEARCH. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.