scenarios
initial thought: a secret undergarment that contains identifiable features when it's concealed or obscured, but turns up blank or with a 'decoy' appearance when it is exposed. for example, perhaps you can feel safe wearing a personally edifying but publicly embarassing undershirt, but if for any reason your sweater has to come off (temperature, force, circumstance) the shirt will not reveal its secret appearance. i guess i can try doing this with thermochromic ink or photochromic ink, but can also be something like a pattern which becomes incoherent or illegible with induced wrinkling, spinning, or vibration.
where to go from here?
secret messaging. i hate to go down the path of 'hug shirts' or 'warmth from a distance' or things like that. they're cute for a second, but then there's this weirdness emanating from the fact that a computer (yes, admittedly instructed to do so by a human, but only if you trust it as so) is hugging you and not a real person. you can argue email is also 'text on a screen' that is reflective of a real person typing it (almost all our communication is mediated), but it can carry the nuance and personality and control of the other that haptic experiences cannot (imho) recreate. cellphone vibs are potentially okay because the buzz tells you a real person is there waiting to talk to you. you also dont want monitoring systems, like getting a vib everyone time your loved one enters and exits their home.
secrets you share: something that you pass along, like an accessory, that keeps a collective secret. all those who have it in their hands for some amount of time add to the secret.
heee. you could have secret asynchronous notifications that appear only in very secret situations. for example, perhaps the inside lining of your pants turns purple if you have a new voicemail from a certain special someone (which you'd only see if you're de-pantsified). or the inner lining of one's bra. or the inside surface of a belt. secret messages in very secret *places*. on the body.
or secret *spaces*. it's only visible if you're safe in bed. or safe in the bathroom. or safe in this very hidden corner of your grandparents' attic. this haven of security. for example, maybe your pjs only have a special pattern when you're tucked in your bed, but if you bring the same pjs to sleep at lab or sleep somewhere else, they're not noticable in that secret way. it gives a special relationship to you, in clothes, in a particular location. this might be plausible only if it's you + your spaces (you can define the relationships explicitly), or if gps is really reliable and you can safely display particular things in particular areas or radius.
not only is it secret display, but also function? one guy that was surveyed wore ladies' long underwear only because the store was out of men's small sizes, and they were still warm and fit well. it can be a secret silhouette or design. for example, a bra that can turn into a unisex tank top, or briefs that can turn into boxers. now it's starting to sound like 'looks like a pump, feels like a shoe.' ai ya.
here's a scenario. someone whispers you a secret, or IMs you, or txt msgs, something that is yours alone and not meant to be shared with anyone else. you already have a mechanism to remember it, replay it in your head, save it on your cellphone, encrypt it, etc. thinking about.. 'omg i can't wash this shirt -- justin timberlake brushed against this shirt!'. or joking not to ever wash the right hand that prince charming kissed. that sort of secret event that transformed the item in the eye of the wearer, but not without any noticeable or perceptible change to outsiders. it might be nice to have something that melds this physical occurence with a secret display. example: your father hugs you and says, 'im so proud of you.' this might be a really really memorable thing. on the inside of your shirt, it might carry the traces of where you were touched or embraced, with an internally recorded date/time. recorded audio? just a breath? maybe only the sight of the trace (which fades to obscurity, but can be recalled easily) can act as simple and effective indicator of that interaction.
time for class.
where to go from here?
secret messaging. i hate to go down the path of 'hug shirts' or 'warmth from a distance' or things like that. they're cute for a second, but then there's this weirdness emanating from the fact that a computer (yes, admittedly instructed to do so by a human, but only if you trust it as so) is hugging you and not a real person. you can argue email is also 'text on a screen' that is reflective of a real person typing it (almost all our communication is mediated), but it can carry the nuance and personality and control of the other that haptic experiences cannot (imho) recreate. cellphone vibs are potentially okay because the buzz tells you a real person is there waiting to talk to you. you also dont want monitoring systems, like getting a vib everyone time your loved one enters and exits their home.
secrets you share: something that you pass along, like an accessory, that keeps a collective secret. all those who have it in their hands for some amount of time add to the secret.
heee. you could have secret asynchronous notifications that appear only in very secret situations. for example, perhaps the inside lining of your pants turns purple if you have a new voicemail from a certain special someone (which you'd only see if you're de-pantsified). or the inner lining of one's bra. or the inside surface of a belt. secret messages in very secret *places*. on the body.
or secret *spaces*. it's only visible if you're safe in bed. or safe in the bathroom. or safe in this very hidden corner of your grandparents' attic. this haven of security. for example, maybe your pjs only have a special pattern when you're tucked in your bed, but if you bring the same pjs to sleep at lab or sleep somewhere else, they're not noticable in that secret way. it gives a special relationship to you, in clothes, in a particular location. this might be plausible only if it's you + your spaces (you can define the relationships explicitly), or if gps is really reliable and you can safely display particular things in particular areas or radius.
not only is it secret display, but also function? one guy that was surveyed wore ladies' long underwear only because the store was out of men's small sizes, and they were still warm and fit well. it can be a secret silhouette or design. for example, a bra that can turn into a unisex tank top, or briefs that can turn into boxers. now it's starting to sound like 'looks like a pump, feels like a shoe.' ai ya.
here's a scenario. someone whispers you a secret, or IMs you, or txt msgs, something that is yours alone and not meant to be shared with anyone else. you already have a mechanism to remember it, replay it in your head, save it on your cellphone, encrypt it, etc. thinking about.. 'omg i can't wash this shirt -- justin timberlake brushed against this shirt!'. or joking not to ever wash the right hand that prince charming kissed. that sort of secret event that transformed the item in the eye of the wearer, but not without any noticeable or perceptible change to outsiders. it might be nice to have something that melds this physical occurence with a secret display. example: your father hugs you and says, 'im so proud of you.' this might be a really really memorable thing. on the inside of your shirt, it might carry the traces of where you were touched or embraced, with an internally recorded date/time. recorded audio? just a breath? maybe only the sight of the trace (which fades to obscurity, but can be recalled easily) can act as simple and effective indicator of that interaction.
time for class.
posted by christine at 2:14 PM
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