We live with nature all of the time. Too often we ignore, or more harm nature. How can we express our affection, rather than our cruelty? The Huggable Nature is a workshop for community to create kinetic, audio, and robotic interfaces from craft materials and hacked toys that allow them to show their affection towards plants, trees, rocks and other objects of nature. Currently, there are three prototypes as examples in progress.
The first example is a huggable interface to embrace while watering our nature. It consists of two gloves in the end of lean and narrow fabric with two water sprays each side. Each glove connects with fabric circuit, so squeezing water spray makes close the circuits. Once the circuit is closed, it generates divers sounds and the angle of hug changes pitches of sounds effect.
Secondly, with a kissable interface we record voice messages to our nature that playback when the wind blows and the objects of nature are feeling lonely. Like we use voice mail and text to friends almost every day, we can apply to object of nature to make them happy. A kissable interface constitutes big fabric lip shape with old toy component built in voice recorder and player. Conductive thread connects fabric lip to handmade wind sensor composed of conductive fabric and metal ball in customized box. When wind comes, metal ball moves around inside the box and makes closed circuit to play recorded voice messages.
Lastly, a heart shape interface makes small robots as imaginary friends come alive and amuse our nature. It works on wireless communication between fabric heart symbol and two handmade robots operated by small motors. When we press a heart symbol, it sends signal to small robots alive as nature¡¯s imaginary friend.
These interfaces are examples in our community workshop. We do not look at our community as simple group of people. Community also includes the objects of nature as living organism next us. Through these works we believe the public would learn how important to take care of our nature while they have fun to talk about how to express their affection and create several interesting prototypes to reveal their affection to objects of the nature.
More and more natures are tortured by air pollution, less sunshine, or soil contamination. Huggable Nature lets us give them affection instead of pain. The more people express affection to their nature, the nature will be happier!!