Leah Buechley is working towards a PhD in computer science at University of Colorado at Boulder. She works on combining elements of craft and technology in her projects. The beaded LED bracelets are woven on a traditional bead loom but rely on conductive thread and flexible Lithium-ion batteries. Her most recent bracelets are designed to be aesthetically pleasing when the electricity is either on or off. The bracelets are able to communicate with each other and bluetooth enabled devices. They are additionally outfitted with an “accelerometer” that can sense and interpret the movement of the users wrist. Different wrist movements, whether the wearer’s hand is up or down, and the speed at which the wrist is moving all influence the pattern of lit LEDs. Check out this link for a movie that clearly shows the responsive nature of this device: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/%7Ebuechley/movies/bracelets.mov
I am drawn to these bracelets primarily because of the artist’s attention to their aesthetic quality while creating an interesting, functional device. The bracelets are a good example of applying technological expertise to decorative everyday objects. They are also interesting to think about in relation to our current switch project in that the interactive bracelets can rely on some sort of action whether the movement of a wrist of the proximity of another device to activate the LEDs.