DAWN FAELNAR

O.S.T.R.I.C.H. (Outer Space, Terrestrially Resonated In Cloaked Haptic-experiences) is a capsule collection of wearable earth suits that brings the experiences of different celestial phenomena down to earth. Inspired by the NASA space suit EMU, O.S.T.R.I.C.H. enables individuals to hear cosmic occurrences by feeling—mimicking the experience of witnessing these events in the vacuum of space. Earthlings nowadays are quite excited about the very real possibility of commercial space travel. This prospect, however, still does exclude the majority of Earth’s population, who may be keen on the idea but are unable to participate for a variety of reasons. By simulating various planetary atmospheric conditions recorded during official space missions, O.S.T.R.I.C.H. aims to give those who have to stay grounded the opportunity to experience the cosmos—and the chance to better understand our universe—while staying on Earth.

To expound on the project description, people on earth in this day and age are so excited and focused on the notion of commercial space travel and how a ‘lucky’ few can very soon claim to be Mars colonists and regular space travelers. Engineers, artists, and scientists are tirelessly conceptualizing and developing useful wearables for astronauts and other future explorers—yet this still isolates the majority of earth’s population, who may be equally excited about the idea of commercialized space exploration but are unable to qualify for certain reasons (health, financial, mental, et cetera).

With this in mind, one of the most important aspects of O.S.T.R.I.C.H. would be its accessibility and ease of use. It aims to be affordable, flexible, valuable, and of course, attractive enough for earthlings to try in lieu of actual space travel. The entire capsule collection of O.S.T.R.I.C.H. would ideally be comprised of multiple earth suits, each one home to an extensive array of haptic experiences of live data from planetary and other extraterrestrial phenomena. With these suits, even those who are not able to leave their spaceship earth could still have the opportunity to experience what lies beyond the atmosphere.

Many have asked how this primarily artistic project could potentially benefit scientific research. I believe it is crucial for the further advancement of cosmic research to study other data types beyond radio signals—which are currently the only type of data that can realistically be recorded in the vacuum of space. Approaching data in this way opens the door to many possibilities such as the potential discovery of informative patterns that were previously unnoticed and/or unexplored; exploration of how a more haptic experience (as opposed to other sensory experiences) could lead to new discoveries; and translating data using previously uncharted and unconventional methods to advance research (which has been proven to be useful in many other cases).

Data Sonif ication, for example, is a relatively recent research method which is now widely considered and accepted by many disciplines due to the successful findings and innovations that resulted from its utility. Adam Hadhazy explains some of its benefits in the research article, Heavenly Sounds [1]:

‘Converting the energetic hail of cosmic radiation into audible tracks has produced better understanding of the solar wind and other astrophysical events—along with musical enjoyment.’

He says that with data sonification, ‘we can listen in on the universe’s hidden melodies’ because the sequence of detected particles can be converted into vibrations that fall within the human hearing range [1]. By transforming inaudible data into audible information (e.g. the beeping of a heart-rate monitor), humans can better understand what had previously been invisible and incomprehensible.

Many kinds of astronomical data have since received this sonification treatment, ranging from solar wind particles streaming off the sun, to gamma rays blasting across billions of light-years [1]. According to Hadhazy, these audible translations have opened new scientific frontiers, ‘aided public outreach, and allowed the vision-impaired to experience the universe’s proceedings.’ [1]

DETAILS AND GOALS

The described haptic experiences are mapped onto the spine of the earth suits. There are thirty-one nerve segments in a human spinal cord (fig. D)—so for O.S.T.R.I.C.H. Jupiter, there are thirty-one vibration motors to address each segment.

One of the spinal cord’s main functions is to transmit information to the brain, which means any information (nerve impulses) that reaches the spinal cord through sensory neurons are transmitted to the brain. I thought it to be the perfect metaphoric messenger to receive then send the cosmic data out to the rest of the body. The circuit map and schematics are sketched below (fig. E). With a better budget and resources, the haptic experience can be enhanced by utilizing either stronger motors all around, or a larger number of motors for each mapped segment. Further enhancements could also include the addition of temperature feedback that corresponds to the represented celestial body.

As mentioned in the project description, the data used to create the O.S.T.R.I.C.H. experiences were aggregated from those collected by both official space missions and amateur astronomer explorations. With a little bit of digging, there is a fairly deep selection of astronomical data that is readily accessible and publicly available. A couple of the most useful resources to this project were the NASA Space Science Data Coordinated ArchiveI and the Radio JOVE Project Data Archive.II

The latter, while also initiated by the National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration, is a solar and planetary radio astronomy archive specifically aimed at, and participated by, teachers, students, amateur astronomers, and all other interested individuals. Since its conception in 1998, the Radio JOVE Project has enabled the general public to learn about radio astronomy by building their own data-gathering equipment from inexpensive kits, and by using remote radio telescopes that are accessible via the internet. The project also encourages par- ticpants to collaborate through interactions and data sharing on the archive.II

Scientists as well as artists have been sonifying these types of data for years, sometimes even culminating in fun and accessible projects such as a Halloween playlist of “Spooky Space SoundsIII” comprised of howling and whistling sonifica- tions made from planetary data. The idea was for O.S.T.R.I.C.H. to convert this assortment of sonified data, and later raw data, into meaningful tactile frequen- cies—in order to initiate a world of experiences and data exploration that is yet largely uncharted.

Using a combination of programs—MaxMSP, Arduino, Maxuino—and with some help from fellow Interface Culture researcher, Stevie Sutanto, I was able to successfully translate a selection of raw data from the archives mentioned above into numbers that were more easily understood and adapted into haptic frequencies (fig. J). Due to my limited programming and non-specialist data analysis skills, and the limitations of inexpensive coin vibration motorsIV, I resolved to create a representational version of the larger O.S.T.R.I.C.H. collection and used smaller data samples to illustrate the project’s message. So for this iteration of O.S.T.R.I.C.H. Jupiter, I sampled a selection of data collected of the planet’s atmospheric conditions—bow shock occurences, some lightning, and powerful plasma waves produced by Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede—and mapped each sample to a range of 0–255 (analogous to an 8-bit sound resolution) 255, being the force/voltage equivalent of the highest radio frequency found in the data and consequently, the strongest possible amplitude of the motors. This helped make the data sets overall more manageable without com- promising the comparisons between them (fig. K).

The mapped data was then programmed onto Adafruit Flora boards (fig. I)—which control the previously illustrated hardware—and integrated into the rest of the earthsuit design (fig. F). The suit itself was created with an exoskeletal design, so that it may easily be layered over the wearer’s exisiting underclothes should they choose to do so (fig.V). The ultimate goal would be to incorporate a more adaptable material so that the suits could fit a variety of sizes and body structures to further uphold the message of inclusivity. I started experimenting with this adaptability by exploring fabric manipulation methods, and applied this to the control sleeve of the suit (fig. L). The sleeve is one of the most important parts of O.S.T.R.I.C.H. Jupiter since this is where the wearer could toggle between experiences, using capacitive touch sensing. (V) They can do so by simply touching a finger to designated spots on the sleeve. Lastly, a noise-and-vision cancelling headset completes the suit, both for haptic sensory enhancement and to further mimic experiencing the data in the vacuum of space.

CHALLENGES AND FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Needless to say, O.S.T.R.I.C.H. is still a constant work in progress—one that would benefit greatly from external collaborators who have special training in areas that I am unfamiliar with. These collaborators would include experts in planetary data and related programming, in bespoke tailoring, and in astrophysics [far beyond my own training]—and it would no doubt bring O.S.T.R.I.C.H. to its full potential should such specialists be able to contribute their valuable skills and knowledge to the project. It would also be a great improvement all around if access to more detailed and live working data could be made available for the development of much improved and more genuine haptic experiences.

Additionally, access to more substantial funding would enable the incorporation of much better materials, and the creation of more earthsuits for the collection. Some foreseen improvements, other than those already mentioned, include hardware parts with even greater flexibility (fig. N) and washability, better and less intrusive sensory-cancelling options for the headset, higher quality conductive [and all-around] materials, and custom PCBs for the wearable earth-suits.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT / PROCESS DOCUMENTATION

BIOGRAPHY

Dawn Faelnar is a transmedia designer, artscientist, creative director, and advocate of multi/cross/inter/transdisciplinary collaborations and STEAM education. Since graduating from UCLA [BA Design|Media Arts, minor in Neuroscience] and Kunstuniversität Linz

[MA Interface Culture], and with more than a decade of exposure to design development and the interactive arts, Dawn has been extensively involved in multidisciplinary media projects throughout the globe.

As co-founder of the interdisciplinary collective TH1NKBLENDER and former creative director at the UCLA Art|Sci Center, her research and practice often involve collaborations with engineers, filmmakers, scientists, musicians, educators, and nonprofit organizations. Through diverse mixed-media work, Dawn explores the relationship between artistic and scientific innovation, and how they can be made accessible through design, as they converge within the coexisting physical and extraterrestrial worlds. Her penchant for combining digital with analog, and aesthetic eclecticism with serious socio-environmental undertones, stems from the ultimate goal to better our universe.

Originally from Los Angeles (US) and Cebu (PH), Dawn has exhibited her work from North America to Central Europe, including at the world-renowned Ars Electronica Festival. Currently, her practice and research investigate experimental transdisciplinary encounters, innovations, and spaces for the future.