Final Project

Soft Speaker References + Info

Care Processing Unit, Liza Stark
“an interactive quilt embedded with reconfigurable textile speakers, each one storing an audio remembrance.“

I like that the components of the quilt are modular - and the embroidery is beautiful. She used beads to insulate conductive thread.

Jess Rowland
This artist has done many projects with flat speakers - mostly using copper paper. This one is so cool - it’s a flat speaker and you can choose where to play sound from by holding a magnet over it.

Broderies Sonores, Claire Williams
Instead of playing an audio file, this artist uses the vibration of the fabric with round magnets to create sound.

KOBAKANT

Fabric Speakers: examples with conductive thread + fabric
Embroidered Fabric Speaker Kit: explanations and diagrams of how it works
Process: more examples and process info
Another diagram and tutorial

Flat spiral coil inductor calculator: not totally what this does but it looks like it might be helpful in the future

First Attempts

I found out too late that the shop does not have the board I amplifier I need, so I could not set up an actual soft speaker. I could, however, start making the fabric part. I worked with what I had at my desk.

Conductive yarn on felt
I used the yarn that I put in the polysense bath 2 weeks ago to make the spiral. I tried to make it as tight as I could, and used couching stitches with some sewing thread. This took way longer than anticipated.

Adhesive conductive fabric on felt
I’ve had a bunch of this adhesive conductive fabric at my desk forvever and wanted to find a way to use it. I cut it into tiny strips and created a rectangular spiral out of it. Not really sure how well this one will work.

In-class workshop

I brought both of the above speakers to class to test out but neither of them worked. The yarn had too much resistence, but it worked as a sensor. The tape one just didn’t work at all. Not really sure why but it might have something to do with the connections between each corner.

testing the resistence of my yarn speaker

took a pic of Liza's circuit so I could recreate it later.

made another speaker with contact paper - this was harder than i expected.

Day 1: making the circuit + first experiments

audio jack: i used this cord that I got from an adaptive gaming workshop

learned that to use the 5v pin you have to solder the metal pads on the bottom of the board.

forgot to document the rest of building the circuit but I snipped an alligator clip in half and soldered two terminal screws into the amp.

slightly dangerous soldering for the audio cables.

knitted a swatch and embroidered a spiral onto it.

This is the one I made in class - it worked very well until it stopped. I have no idea why - I started hearing "pops" instead of music.

Day 2: debugging + weaving

I emailed Kari asking for advice about the popping noise - she said those kinds of noises are usually a current problem. I reconstructed the circuit, used alligator clips to connect the audio jack to the breadboard instead of sticking the stranded wire straight in the breadboard, and used a breadboard to mount the amp instead of having it off the board. I also changed the power back to 3.3v instead of 5v. This worked (for a little while...).

Woven speaker #1

I then tried weaving, using this adorable mini loom I got as a present but hadn’t used it. My hope was that the increased tension and fewer holes would create a good speaker. I used the cotton string that came with the kit and teal yarn (not sure of weight or material). I sewed a spiral out of conductive thread once I took it off the loom, using the cotton thread as a guide.

This worked! Not as well as the contact paper one, but it worked.

Woven speaker #2

I then made another woven speaker, but this time I used 2 rolls of cotton yarn (medium weight). Instead of sewing the spiral after taking it off the loom, I did it while it was still attached. I tested it while it was still on the loom, predicting that the tension would make it better than the first one I made. Sadly, I just heard that popping noise. Not really sure why.

Crochet speaker

Using a 4.5 mm hook and the same medium weight cotton yarn, I crocheted a small circle. I sewed a spiral using conductive thread, trying to keep it as tight as possible. This worked out much better than I expected!