Andrew Benson

I just finished building, or rather stitching together my first complete wearable device, the Whisper audio wristband. I have researched and experimented with soft electronics, interactivity, sensor technologies, and conductive fibers for some time now, but this is the first standalone device that I have created that incorporates all of these concepts. Whisper was conceived as a simple wearable audio device that would be lightweight, comfortable, and provide an engaging and simple interface that was capable of producing interesting noises. I had recently been working on AVR code for sound synthesis for my Whispering Islands installation, and saw this as a good opportunity to try and create an interactive and wearable unit. The synthesis is done using an AVR ATTiny45 chip programmed to run a simple FM routine using a 256-point sine wave table. Carrier frequency is controlled by the brown button-knob, and the FM modulator frequency and amount are controlled by the pressure sensitive fabric pads. The tiny speaker will resonate with certain settings, creating some occasional loud squawks. Otherwise, the device creates some quiet, but subtly wonderful sounds.