My project consists of LED lights incorporated into clothing accessories, in this case a hat, that responds to a trigger in the sole of shoe that responds to added pressure. Initially I'm interested in developing this light system on the most simple level, meeting the stipulation of touch through the pressure trigger in the shoe. But then, by incorporating the Arduino I'll explore how I can pre-program this system to respond to levels of sound and patterns of touch.
I plan on using this shoe-hat LED accessory for the purposes of complementing a live performative piece. A stand-up comedy act, or musical performance, for example, may be enhanced through the manual or pre-programmed/automatic use of colored light.
Eventually I'd like to transition to sound as the trigger and, in a separate idea, sound as the output from a touch sensation trigger.
Jamie, I think the way that this gets used in performance will be really interesting to develop... it seems like awareness is important: what does the audience understand about the shoe, what does the performer understand about the hat (especially thinking about your ideas of a comedy act)... Are the wires hidden, or are the apparent... I also think the shoe switch on its own will be an interesting trigger to have at your disposal -- it could be used in all kinds of ways.
My intention is to conceal the wires as well as possible. But you're right, the comedic situation varies greatly depending on if the mechanism is blatantly apparent to the audience. That may actually be even funnier if my prototype is going to be quite crude anyway. But for now, I'll stick with running the wire up the back of my pant leg and back of my shirt to the hat. This allows for the performer to play dumb when the light is triggered, as if he is not in on the joke himself.
I'm struggling with the shoe switch right now; it's tough to design something that will consistently make the connection when I'm walking around in the first place.
Thanks for you're input. I agree that the most interesting element of this project is the performative aspect