Soft Sensing: Materials As Sensors

When working with electronics we most often think about sensors as parts or components with clearly defined size, shape, and tactile properties. But what happens when we as designers start to consider sensors as materials rather than objects? How do we design with sensors that can be squishy, sticky, or slippery? And how do our designs change when we can sprinkle a sensor like fairly dust, spread it like paint, or knit it like yarn? This session will explore the softness of sensors both in physical form as well as in concept. Leveraging practices and research from the world of electronic textiles and material science, we'll discuss ways to identify and utilize the conductive and resistive properties of materials that can be used for sensing.

Worksheet and resources can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pCPHpkyGrKH3V_OoZd0mBZ8QPHjMqXRy