Final Project: Video Playing Plush Bear

December 07, 2010

For my final, I decided to create a plush bear prototype that belongs to one of the characters in my thesis’ narrative. My thesis project explores the nature of associating memories or experiences with inanimate objects and how we form greater connections with them.

The bear in pieces.

I used Arduino and MAX/MSP in order to create a simple video player. Using Arduino2Max, I was able to get the Arduino board to communicate with MAX/MSP by generating a range of numbers (using a flex sensor and a force sensor) that could then be manipulated.

The bear template.

The template put together.

Fleece and a Jersey type fabric.

Programmed LilyPad Board.

The plush bear that I created belongs to a character from my thesis’ narrative component and houses one of her memories. The memory will play only when the bear is squeezed. How hard or soft the bear is squeezed will affect the rate at which the video is played back. The right arm can also be flexed either backwards or forwards to affect the video’s saturation.

I combined elements of what I learned from this class (making plush toys) with skills that I had just recently picked up on my own. This project, although very painstaking, has been incredibly rewarding in terms of helping me learn basic physical computation.

Sewing a foot pad.

Placing the wiring for the flex sensor in the arm.

I have two iterations of the plush bear. The first one got ruined when I thought it would be a good idea to try and fuse the stuffed head and stuffed body together using an iron and fabric tape. That prototype’s head is now as thin as a pancake.

Prototype 1.

After that bump in the road I decided it would be best to start from scratch and make a new bear. This most recent prototype is fully functional in terms of the coding, but as for looks, well…I plan to make at least 2 or 3 more plush bear prototypes for the final in May.