Kumiko Kushiyama: Thermoesthesia

  • ©,

Artist(s):


Collaborators:


Title:


    Thermoesthesia

Exhibition:


Medium:


    Interactive art object, original thermal sense display

Size:


    27" x 39" x 31.5"

Category:


Artist Statement:


    This new temperature display technology is designed to support touch expression in the emerging computing-ubiquitous, informa­tion-intensive society. When a person touches the soft interface in an architectural environment, the system reveals information that is helpful in everyday activities.

Technical Information:


    The basic concept of the project is to add actual thermal proper- ties, such as cool or warm, to each part of the images projected on a screen. We used 24 Peltier modules for the thermal display. Each module consists of stacked two 40 mm x 40 mm Peltier devices. The upper surface of each module, which is touched by users, is cooled or warmed by switching the current of the Peltier modules with a PC and electric switching circuits. The thermal display range of the device is from 5 to 45 degrees C.

    Furthermore, the photo-sensor based touch-panel system uses infrared LEDs, installed 2 mm above the screen, to detect hand posi­tions. This system allows users to interact with the images that have thermal properties.

    The real-time interactive program was developed using C and the openGL library. Nakaya diagram was utilized to generate various forms of snow crystals, in accordance with air temperature and humidity.