LinGen -

A sustainable human-powered device

Project description

The LinGen is a human-powered device with no batteries whatsoever. The energy needed to power the system comes from the human interactions with it.

This deliverable is the result of my master's thesis of the Interactive Media Technology program at KTH Royal Instiute of Technology.

Tools/Using

Arduino

CAD modeling

3D printer

Soldering

Advanced electronics

Ableton Live

Role

Interaction designer

Developer

Physical prototyper

UX reseracher

Team

Solo project under the supervision of associate professor Anders Lundström at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

The LinGen is composed by two main systems: the sender and the receiver.

The sender is the part in direct contact with the user. By moving the rod (back and forth, faster or slower, up and down), the user generates energy that powers the system. This different kinds of interactions are encoded and sent wirelessly to the receiver. 

At the receiver's, the information is decoded and mapped to a music program (Ableton Live). Such program interprets the users’ movements and reproduces some sounds and visual animations accordingly.

The LinGen generates energy thanks to the electromagnetic induction working principle. Coils and magnets are the main ingredients. By sliding the rod inside of the coils, an alternating current is generated that has to be lately converted to a direct current.

Important insights from user testing

• Weak interactions with the visual feedback since the mapping between user's movements and images are quite unsynchronised. 
• Using linear movements could resemble plying a violin but may bring some obscene connotations to sex or masturbation as well. 
• There is no intuitive way to interact with the device. A previous explanation on how to do it had to be done.

If you are interested in knowing more details about the thesis project, you can download the full paper on the following link: "Exploring electromagnetic induction as a power source for interactive human-powered devices".

The project was suppervised and directed by Anders Lundström who was at the time a KTH researcher and he is currently an associate professor at Umeå University. Anders is undergoing exciting researches on this field (among others) which you can follow on his profile page.