Master's Thesis: Aware Surfaces
This thesis describes the design and construction of pressure sensing matrices for capturing human location and activity data from large surfaces in a space such as the floors, walls, tabletops, countertops, and furniture. With the ability to operate either alone or connected to others in an assembly, each sensor module is 0.3m x 2m, contains 512 force sensitive resistors, and has a refresh rate of about 8Hz. Each module was made with conductive inkjet printing and PCB fabrication, creating a low-profile sensing surface with robust signal-collecting circuitry. Several experiments were conducted on an assemblage of three modules to assess parameters such as response time, sensitivity, measurement repeatability, spatial and pressure resolution, and accuracy in analyzing walking data as compared to a camera. Applications that could employ such a system are explored and two visualizations were prototyped that could ambiently provide data and trends to a user.
For more information about the process of creating the final prototype, please see the Surface Sensing Page
Thesis Sensor Specifics
I created several shapes including a foot with an arch and flat sole, a triangle, circle and square to load under 40lbs and 80lbs. I also stood on my system with and without shoes to record the output. Two visualizations are presented, triangular and square. The triangular visualization was a representation of the true sensor position and shape. The square visualization assumed each triangular sensor was a square pixel.
Thesis Sensor Media
Upper left: person lying down, upper right: person sitting up, middle left: chair, middle right: person sitting in chair, bottom left: person seated, bottom right: person doing an arch.
