paradigm Shift

Alec Perez-Albuerne and Evan Teperman

Alec:

A wearable set of tracks and into which a PopSocket can slide, allowing a phone to slide up and down the track fluidly. The phone sliding in the track uses its camera to send video to another phone in a headset. By connecting movement and sight, the user now has to think before they move in order to stay oriented.  

The project is a wearable set of tracks and into which a PopSocket can slide, allowing a phone to slide up and down the track fluidly. The phone sliding in the track uses its camera to send video to another phone in a headset. To use the tracks and headset, all the user needs is a phone with a PopSocket, to fit in the track, and another phone with video chat capability, for the headset. The headset is designed to cut off all light from the outside world and presents only the video coming through the phone so that the phone on the track acts as the user's eyes. The rigid material of the wearable forces the user's upper body into a fixed position. The mobility of the phone in the track forces the user to move their body as a whole through, accessing different levels, postures, and body formations in order to position the camera correctly. The project addresses the fact that often those with disabilities and their efforts and strength are underestimated. By stripping an able-bodied person of their ability to move normally the hope is that the user will gain a new appreciation for those who deal with disabilities daily. The project makes the user question their own habits of movement. The hope is it will also make the user ponder how to further assist those who have disabilities.