Hi! I'm Lee Jones from Carleton University and I'm presenting Punch-Sketching E-textiles: Exploring Punch Needle as a Technique for Sustainable, Accessible and Iterative Physical Prototyping with the E-textiles.
So with e-textile tool kits there's a tension between gaining e-textile knowledge and reusability.
So for example, in the workshops that I have taught on e-textiles, a lot of people, especially beginners, will sew something in and realize there's an error and then get frustrated by the fact they have to cut the entire thing out.
On the other hand, if we use more reusable kits, such as alligator clips and wires. You don't really gain the e-textile knowledge of what it's like working with threads.
Also in e-textiles, there's a tension between creativity and reusability. So for example, the ones that use threads, you can be more expressive and that's the fun of working with the e-textiles. You're not only doing a functional thing. You're also making a decorative item.
For related work we looked at several different areas related to drawing sketching and e-textiles.
So the first one was looking at sketching as the process with an HCI so how sketching can be used to convey ideas and by doing a quick sketch, you can quickly come up with a concept and then share it with others.
Stitching in HCI, so stitching is really unique an HCI in that it's both functional and aesthetic so it has a dual purpose.
And e-textile prototyping tool kits also come in a wide variety of shapes and forms. So, for example, there's more expressive ones like the lily pad that uses the threads.
And there's also more block toolkits like wearable bits where you can put things together and then take them apart. But they're less expressive.
And finally for inspiration. We looked at sketching circuits. So a lot of tools that, for example, have conductive pens or conductive stickers, where you can connect things together and really draw something out really quickly and then it's a functional prototype.
Combining those all together, we looked at punch needle as a possible solution for this where you can punch something in, but then also pull it out really quickly.
So how punch needle works is that it has these loops on the bottom. Wo the loops keep the thread in place, but if you pull it at a certain angle you can take it out really easily.
So in this example, you can see the loops. On one side it looks like a stitch but on the back if you flip it over, then you can start to see how it's held in place. The nice thing about working with the punch needle is that it's easy to fix mistakes, undo, and redo.
So, for example, like the LED issue that I mentioned earlier, in this case, all you would have to do is wind up your thread and not the full way just to fix the first LED
And then continue your circuit until you're done. And then finally, when you complete the entire thing. You can actually pull them all out to reuse all threads and components.
So this is really powerful when we think of learning because people can punch something in, fix their errors, but if it's just an exercise, they could pull it out for the next one.
For this project we did three different studies. The first one was interviewing fiber artists about punch needle tools and the techniques that they use in their work.
Our findings from these interviews was that punch needle is very easy for beginners to learn, they don't require workshops or
A lot of practice with the technique in order to get it down. So the first time people punch is usually the time it works.
And the other part that we found was that punch needle is very pictorial so it's good for sketching. It's good for drawing something out. So rather compared to like knitting or weaving, or other types of techniques or even embroidery punching those one where you're actually just drawing
Our second study was with beginners comparing sewing circuits and punching circuits.
We had four participants for this where their tasks was to sew a line. Sew a simple circuit. Sew a parallel circuit and take the circuits apart for reusing components and they did these four tasks, both with sewing and with punching so we can compare them.
What we found was that participants had in both cases to juggle peripheral attention. So there were things that would draw them away from the actual activity of making their circuit.
With sewing, they were constantly having to flip it over. Make sure there weren't knots that things didn't bunch on the other side. With punching, they had to focus on whether they were accidentally pulling the thread out from the other end.
Our second finding was that something was wasteful so they couldn't reuse the components from sewing it would just cut them out.
And and they could maybe use the components, but they couldn't use any of the threads or the usual consumable items.
From this, they found that sewing was really good for permanence. So if you want to have something in place and have it really be sturdy you want to sew it.
But they really like punching for prototyping. So they liked how they could quickly fix things on the way. And a lot of them recommended that they would first want to punch and then sew, so the idea is their steps would be first
to punch out their idea and then once they had their idea solidified, then they would want to sew it. So it's not one or the other, necessarily. It's more like where it should be in the process.
Our third stage was interviews with occupational therapist to talk about the difference between the two tools. So what does it like to sew versus it was like to punch.
The main thing that they talked about was the difference between how you would hold a sewing needle and how you would hold a punch needle. So, for example, a sewing needle
This is a very fine motor grasp where you use two fingers and you're doing a lot of like dynamic movements.
With punching you could hold it with more like a pencil. So a tripod grasp, or a fisted grasp. So it has more variety
And finally, it's easier to adapt by adding cuffs or accessories onto this tool. Whereas with sewing sewing needle, you have to go through the fabric. So you can't have any additions to it.
A lot of our OT participants said that on top of using cuffs you could could also use a lot of DIY methods.
With a punch needle. So for example, you could add foam tubing, duct tape, clay, moldable glue, play dough, pipe cleaners or pencil grips. As one OT participant said "my glue is my best friend". So a lot of DIY materials can be used with the punch needle to adapt it as needed.
They also talked about how because you didn't have to flip it over all the time. It's easier to stabilize for having a one handed activity. So by having the frame, and by having it somehow stuck to the surface, it means that someone could do the entire activity with one hand.
Based on talking with the the fiber artists, our experience trying it out with folks and then also the interviews with the occupational therapist, we developed a recommended toolkit of how punch needle could be adapted specifically for e-textiles.
So we recommend a tension frame that can be used with one hand.
Aida cloth for the base material. Double sided tape, if you need to put things down for accessibility reasons. So, for example, to hold a specific LED or component in place.
We also used the stitch pen from We R Memory Keepers because it has the spool on top which solved the issue that we found with
participants having to focus on whether they were accidentally holding the other side of the thread.
For accessibility, you can include cuffs like the adapted easy hold
And then we found that Karl Grimm thread really held in place well when punching
Finally lily pad LEDs have nice big through hole so it's easier to punch through them.
We think that the needle is unique in that it can be included in expressive kits, but also ones where you could easily undo and redo things
There's also opportunities for more accessible kits. So the fact that we can adapt onto a punch needle. It doesn't have to be the the purchased form factor. You can add more on to it.
You can also use the punch needle for making fuzzy interfaces. So this has new opportunities for the types of interfaces we can teach
And finally, as people get more used to the punch needle, it's also something you can use to punch in 3D. So for example, this is
A jacket that one of participants developed and then I punched it out to do the project, the entire thing was punched in 3D.
Punch-Sketching E-textiles offers new opportunities for how people can
Be expressive with e-textiles, while still being able to undo and redo their work. Thank you.