APD Week8 Play and Body

Theme

Play and Body

Context

Our bodies are actual living, feeling beings. We experience and interact in a physical space that is home to tangible items and our bodies (Hornecker 2011). This week's theme is related to the body, and I was very impressed with the first Cardboard war example in class. Cardboard boxes are very common in our daily life. Such an ordinary recycled product is so malleable that it can change into any form, such as weapons, clothing, art and so on. Nowadays, children are addicted to online games, which harms their body health, such as myopia, obesity and so on. I remembered that when I was young, I used to play with handmade toys, not just clicking on the screen, but interacting with toys with many parts of my body, such as flying kites, chasing and running after imitating planes and so on. Our bodies are actual living, feeling beings. So this time, I also hope to make a toy so that children can relax their bodies away from the electronic screen. So I came up with the idea of using cardboard boxes to make objects that can interact and play with body parts, such as arms, which reminds me that Spider-Man, Iron Man and Wolverine all create weapons through arms. I just want to make a claw that retracts.

Methods

First, I got inspiration from DIY Carboard Craft. Second, I searched for cardboard works related to arm interaction and found an interesting production short film about Wolverine's PAWS. With the help of my camera, I tried to start imitating. I think a lower level of difficulty could be created, where the more difficult materials like syringes and catheters could be replaced by knots, which would be convenient. PVA glue is used at the joints of the objects to make the cardboard stronger. Finally, cover the top with a baffle to increase the fixed effect of the claw.

Reflection

The purpose of this experiment is to help recover the joy of lost childhood toys through imitation works, which is a sense of entertainment experienced through the body, which is impossible to compare with electronic products. The human body is limited, so we will continue to exercise, and sometimes even imitate the body posture of some animals to learn their skills. I also like superheroes, and occasionally fantasize that my palm can spit out spider silk or grow claws like Wolverine. So this time, I also take this as inspiration to make self-shrinking claws to fulfil my childhood dream of superhero.
At first, the Device did not design the syringe to attempt complicated injections, which would have made the toy too heavy and lightweight. For this reason, I added a rope instead of traction.
However, perhaps because of the material, the claw buckled from repeated plucking, eventually causing the claw to get stuck or bent when the rope was pushed and pulled. Considering the experience of the game, this rope traction design may seem imprecise and imperfect. A later version may restore the injection design of the syringe, refine and refine the claw and create a protruding track, possibly using more materials. In this experience, I only considered the toys worn on the hands. I think more creative designs can also be made for other parts of the body, such as the torso and legs.

Reference

Eva Hornecker. 2011. The role of physicality in tangible and embodied interactions. interactions 18, 2 (March + April 2011), 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1145/1925820.1925826
Brains techKnowlogy, X- MEN WOLVERINE claws fully automatic DIY tutorial, Youtube, viewed on 18 Sept.
https://youtu.be/LSiyyxohsXk

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/ti17XFP4KJs