EmOwl: Emotion Owl
EmOwl, short for emotion owl, is an electronic stuffed animal that was created to help children with autism express themselves with motions rather than with words. Users wear a Myo armband that detects muscle movements and the LED lights inside light up different colors depending on the movement.
Problem
The assignment was to incorporate a Myo armband, a bracelet that detects certain gestures, into a tool of creative expression. We decided to focus on children with autism who often have trouble expressing their emotions. These children can often lash out or build resentment instead of directly expressing how they feel. It is frustrating for both them and their caregivers.
Our Solution
The Emotion Owl is made out of felt sewn together with a machine and by hand, it has ten LED lights in it that light up five different colors corresponding to hand gestures read by the Myo. The Owl has a pocket in the back to fit an Arduino and power block that control the LED lights and connect to a computer through bluetooth which in turn connects to the Myo bracelet. The armband came pre-programed to read certain hand signals after calibrating to a user. We used this input from the bracelet in our Arduino code which mapped a read gesture to a color for the LEDs. Raising and lowering your arm changes the color's intensity signaling how strong you are feeling the emotion. Additionally it has a vibrating motor to simulate a heartbeat to help calm children down, just as a mother's beating heart does when they are held.
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Visually representing emotions can be easier than voicing them aloud for some autistic children. The goal of EmOwl is to provide comfort while also allowing children to express themselves with actions and colors. Seeing the realtime color of their emotion can be soothing as it is a tangible representation of how they feel. It shows that their emotion is valid and can be shared with others. They can bring the owl to caregivers to help express themselves. It helps both the child better and the caregiver better understand and work through emotions.
We took inspiration from the popular movie Inside Out which addresses complicated emotions when deciding on which emotions to represent and which colors they align with.
In Collaboration with Mackenzie O'Gara
This was a fully collaborative project, the two of us worked on every aspect together. When necessary we were supported by NuVu coaches.