The Garment
The Garment is a sound-responsive, remote-controlled wearable that I designed, built, and programmed for my wife and collaborative partner violinist Audrey Wright. It is made from over 6,000 hand-assembled parts including 3,174 LEDs, 2,639 electronic components, 95 custom PCBs, and 47 batteries. It connects to a tablet and two peripheral battery-powered spotlights. During live performances I use the tablet to select from a library of visual routines designed to accompany the specific pieces being performed.
The Garment takes the multi-sensory experience found in traditional brick-and-mortar performing arts venues ( i.e. the lights, sounds, costumes, theatrics, etc. ) and distills it down into something untethered, mobile, and performer-centric. Its structural design aims to be ergonomic to the performer’s body movements while its visual routines provide a sense of dual modality to viewers - complimenting the music not overpowering.
Kicad and Fusion 360 were used to design the PCB’s and 3D printed parts and JLCPCB was used for their fabrication. All electrical components were sourced from Digikey, LCSC, and Amazon. The entire system was programmed with the Arduino IDE. Many thanks to my mentor and technical consultant Daniel Hienzsch of Rheingold Heavy and design consultant Jenny Lai of Not Aligne.
The Primary Control Unit
The Primary Control Unit is comprised of two stacked PCBs: the Primary Panel and the Data Distribution Panel. It is ergonomically positioned on the front right shoulder of The Garment allowing it to capture sound at close proximity to the violin while not prohibiting cross-chest arm movement. It runs at 3.3V and is powered by a 3.7V Lithium Ion Battery.
The Primary Panel
The Primary Panel houses a condenser mic, pre-amp, audio analyzer, and an ESP32-S3-WROOM - which is the primary MCU of the system. In addition to capturing audio and processing the visual routines, the Primary Panel’s MCU acts as both a Soft Access point and server - emitting a WiFi signal and hosting a webpage used to operate The Garment remotely. Here, Websockets are used to handle the real-time communications between the remote and the Primary Panel’s MCU while UDP is used for communications with the spotlights.
The Data Distribution Panel
The Data Distribution Panel (DDP) is stacked under the Primary Panel and essentially serves as a SPI-UART bridge. It houses four Atmega328p MCUs + RS485 transceivers which drive the four bus lines connected to the Back Panel below. Here, each bus line connects to either 11 or 12 Display Panels on the front or back of The Garment. Every cycle, the four DDP MCUs receive an array of values from the Primary Panel’s MCU via SPI. This array dictates the brightness of every LED on The Garment. The DDP MCUs are programmed to only handle a section of the array pertaining to the Display Panels on their bus line. Once the array has been received, the DDP MCUs pump out their section of values to the intended Display Panels in unison. However, because the entire system runs at 3.3V, a max baud rate of 90,000 can be achieved with the Atmega328p MCUs on the DDP and Display Panels. So having the four bus lines running in parallel helps speed up the distribution.
The Display Panels
The front of each Display Panel hosts a ring of 64 white LEDs with 5 protruding, single-colored LEDs ( red, yellow, green, blue, & pink ) incased in a translucent pearl resin - giving the entire panel an abstract flower feel. The circuitry on the back includes an Atmega328p MCU, a RS485 transceiver, two shift registers, five MOSFETs, a 3.3V LDO, a power switch, two pogo pins, and four male connection pins - which connect the Display Panel to its Back Panel. Sandwiched between each Display Panel and its Back Panel is a 3.7V Lithium Ion coin battery held in place with a 3D printed holster. The two pogo pins press against the positive side of the battery while the connector pins connect the Display Panel to ground and its transceiver to the RS485 bus line running through the Back Panel. The Display Panel MCUs are programmed to accept an array of values addressed to them from the Data Distribution Panel. If at any time their MCUs stop receiving data, they go into sleep mode.
The Back Panels
The Back Panels serve multiple functions. In terms of structure, they anchor to the fabric thus providing a base for the battery holster and Display Panels to attach. In terms of power, they complete the battery circuit for each Display Panel while also serving as the common ground for the entire system. Note the ad hoc use of copper tape to help maintain connection with the battery. In terms of signal, the RS485 bus line passes through them allowing the Display Panels to easily tap in. In order to snake the bus lines around efficiently, seven different back panels were designed with differently angled connection points. The connecting wires are woven through non-plated through-holes to prevent tearing / detachment due to movement. The example below is of the most commonly used Back Panel of the seven. Here, jumper resistors can be used to adjust the input/output direction of the bus line.
The Textile
The Garment is made out of neoprene - the same kind of material found in wetsuits. It was chosen for its rugged durability, slight elasticity, and cushion feel -making it a great structural support for all the electronic components while still forming well to the body. Being made from non-conductive rubber material is also a plus. Velcro straps make it easy to take on/off and a side pocket hides the battery powering the Primary Control Unit.
The Spotlights
The Garment is paired to two peripheral spotlights. Each spotlight consists of two PCBs, a 3D printed insert, a 3D printed battery case, a 12V Lithium Ion battery, and a vintage Fotolite. The 3D printed insert is comprised of two parts that screw together inside the Fotolife’s reflector. The front part holds a PCB with a 9w RGB LED and the back part holds a PCB with an MCU and constant current driving circuitry. The 3D printed battery case holds the battery and mounts the the Fotolife’s stand. During live performances, the spotlights connect to the Garment’s WiFi and receive a constant stream of RGB values via UDP.