Title: Digital Critical Toy Project
1Digital Critical Toy Project ENGL 794 Gloria,
Brendan, Hugh
The Nechrometer
2- The Nechrometer is a fitness package based on a
hacked NikeiPod kit. - Its purpose will be to help persuade people to
live more active lifestyles. - Its primary motivational factor is not to track
fitness progress, but rather to remind people of
the eventual time of their natural deaths. - Fear of death, rather than the desire to be
healthy, is the ultimate call to action, and this
simple method of reminding people of their
mortality will drive people to increase their
lifespan and put off the inevitable for as long
as possible.
3 The Nechrometer will rely on two systems 1.
Users will install a program on a home computer
that calculates their future natural time of
death. This program takes into account
various lifestyle factors such as smoking,
alcohol intake, average daily diet, and exercise
habits as well as the users current age and
gender, to calculate an estimated date of expiry.
This time is then uploaded to the Nechrometer
via serial connection. Â
4 2. Users will wear a Nechrometer (hacked
version of the NikeiPod sports kit) that will
monitor activity levels. The iPod will
convert these levels and display a large
countdown timer which counts down to the users
estimated death date. More time will be added
to the clock if the user lives an active
lifestyle Time will be taken away if the user
is inactiveÂ
5- The NikeiPod kit consists of three components
- an iPod,
- a wireless receiver that plugs into the iPod
- a piezoelectric accelerometer/transmitter
thats mounted on the shoe. - the device features the following
- Pace monitor (minutes/km)
- Calories burned/Hour
- Distance travelled
- (Blood pressure/ Heart rate monitor in future
iterations)
6- The Nechrometer will display a countdown timer,
but will also offer occasional feedback based on
performance fluctuations (compared to statistical
data influencing length of life). - accessible via the iPods Extras Menu
- top numbers define the number of Years, Months,
and Days remaining, while the bottom numbers will
describe the number of Hours, Days and Seconds
remaining - the numbers displayed will fluctuate depending
on various factors that the user would input to
initialize the program, and depending on the
amount of real time activity/exercise the user
engages in
7- Technical info
- The iPod transmitter was designed to activate a
piezoelectric sensor to monitor the shock of your
foot hitting the ground with each step (a kind of
pressure sensor). - This transmission is picked up by the iPod
receiver - The transmitter broadcasts raw data in the form
of pace, calories burned, and distance travelled - University of Washington students intercepted
this serial connection between this transmitter
and receiver, and designed a device that allows
them to track the wireless communications
employed by this NikeiPod kit.
8- The Receiver Hack
- This is the USB to serial NikeiPod adapter.
- This device allows you to connect an iPod
receiver to your computer over USB. - The user can then 'listen' for transmitter data
using a Visual Basic program, or by connecting
the adapter to an Arduino board or other
microcontroller
9- Assembling our Nechrometer
- Connected the TX and RX (transmit and receive)
pins on the iPod serial adapter to the matching
pins on the Arduino board. Also connect the 3.3 V
and Ground pins on the adapter to their
respective equivalents on the Arduino. - Connected the Nike receiver to the serial end
of the adapter. - Installed Nike on iPod
- Put Nike transmitter in shoe
- Â Â
10- Viewing Raw Data
- On the computer, run the Nike Serial Hack
software (as administrator, if you are using
Windows Vista). - As of right now, we can only view raw data and
upload it to the computer, but in the future, we
should be able to analyze the workout performance
data to generate appropriate feedback comments
regarding your estimated date of expiry. - If the proprietary software used by Nike is
hacked, you may even be able to modify existing
audio messages and layout of data on the iPod
itself. - Â Â
11- The Arduino Version
- Built a simplified version of the Nechrometer
- Basic input/output framework
- Feedback transmitted via electrical disruptions
from exposed wire (no sensors) - Data received and interpreted with modified
Arduino code based on a simple counter - Â Â
12- Questions
- What are the foreseeable pros and cons of being
constantly reminded of your mortality? - Do you agree that the awareness of mortality is
not innate in humans rather it is a result of
our techno-social development? - Would you wear the Nechrometer?
- Â Â