Interactive installation Sean Follmer, Luís Brandão, Fábio da Costa

Untitled Sock Project 2010

Dev Camp '10 project

This installation was built during Dev Camp '10. It is a project that was developed by Pol Pla and Sean Follmer (both hailing from Boston, Massachusetts) in cooperation with the Portuguese duo Luís Brandão and Fábio da Costa, who are currently finishing their Master Artificial Intelligence in Amsterdam.

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Sean is showing how the installation works - Photo is taken at the Sensor Fest opening. Robert Keil

With: Sean Follmer

The goal of the installation is to create a beautiful sock-shaped knit-piece through a cooperative blowing process. The construction can be manned by as many as 3 participants at a time. Each of these users can blow on a pressure sensor through a colored straw that is presented to the players at face-level. When blown upon each sensor will measure the amount of pressure exercised. The sensor that receives the highest amount of pressure at one time will then transmit a signal to the coloring station. The yarn used in the knitting process will be colored into the color of the straw/pressure sensor measuring the power. Because the machine is also powered by the blowing the color can change at any given time. After the yarn has passed through the coloring station it will be used by the circular knitting machine to form a multi-colored sock shaped knit piece.

The nature of the installation gives it both a competitive as a cooperative element. Players interacting with the construction can both work together in creating the most beautiful coloring pattern or have a blowing contest resulting into a multi-colored sock that documents the players long capacity.