Duo-Wei Yang
Georgia Institute of Technology
Resinscope
August - December 2019
Digital Craft, Interaction Design, Prototyping
During Fall 2019, I designed an interactive device that would examine the aesthetic properties of resin with a kaleidoscope. In order to create my project, I went through various experimental phases to learn resin craft. Additionally, I experimented with potential ways to create a project that would enhance resin in some ways. I used epoxy resin and silicone molds with embeddable materials (i.e. beads, cotton, paint) along with Arduino components to create the final project.
The Design Process
Analyzing resin
The main focus in the early stages of this project was to research on the properties of resin and decide what elements to focus on. For example, there are many types I could choose to experiment with (various types of resin are easily available to anyone). There was also various angles I could design my project around, which include historical context, social/cultural context, or perhaps from an environmental perspective.
My personal interest in resin came from my interest in various arts & craft hobbies. Resin is a popular material to use in jewelry-making, which I had prior experience in. As a result, I was interested in experimenting with how various materials would look like embedded into epoxy resin, which is a popular type used in jewelry.
I started off testing out with resin kits from hobby stores, often in unconventional ways. My lack of propriety includes:
• Not using silicone molds
• Causing air bubbles to form by mixing too fast
• Not wearing rubber gloves (dreadfully sticky) or goggles (often advised)
• Washing measuring cups with water
Some observations I made were:
• Additional materials (i.e. glass, beads, flowers) will add significant volume, so less resin than expected is needed
• Resin can get hot after a while due to chemical reaction
• The final product is practically impossible to change or reshape
Exploring possibilities
There were several possible approaches I was interested in to execute this project. The first one was expanding Prism, the infinity room device I had created in early 2019. I was curious on how Arduino lights would look encased in resin. The possibilities of manipulating its light with altered resin (i.e. shape, color, other embedded items) was an intriguing prospect to me.
Another concept I thought about was some type of wearable. As I stated before, I have experience in jewelry-making and thought that it could be interesting to create some sort of lightbulb-resin hybrid earrings that could be turned on and off by the wearer. However, this idea wasn't super fleshed out and my advising professor thought there were other better ways, so it was quickly disregarded.
The third main idea was some sort of game with resin. In order to create epoxy resin that will solidify, you need to measure equal parts of A and B slowly together. I thought mixing it over a board with various materials like metal, glitter, paint etc. could be an interesting social/playful experiment. However, the cost for the amount of resin needed was an issue and it wasn't the most appealing or solid concept for me. It seemed like the infinity room idea was the most promising one.
Sketch concepts on a resin-infinity room project
Refining and making the idea
Although remaking the infinity room idea was interesting, it also felt like a rehashing of concepts. My professor and I discussed about previous digital projects relating to mirrors and reflection. One object came up in our conversations, which was the kaleidoscope, which is a playful object that uses reflection to create all sorts of imagery.
I bought a kaleidoscope online and disassembled parts of it so I could replace the colored fragments with my own resin. I also attached a Neopixel ring to the end in order to have different colors that would shine into the resin, creating different effects. I also attached a slide switch onto the kaleidoscope to allow the user to control how bright the light was.
The most crucial part of the project was the resin components. I settled on making different types of resin spheres that would fit the end of the kaleidoscope. I tried making other shapes in the process, but they were difficult to look at through the kaleidoscope in a natural way. The materials embedded in the resin spheres were:
• Cotton
• Nail polish and paint
• Beads and glass
• Metal charms
Overall, I found this new interpretation of an "infinity room" to be a success, as it was a different medium from what I worked on before and concentrated on magnifying the properties of resin. It didn't hurt that I learned new techniques on a hobby I was interested in for a while!