CALLIGRAFEEL BRUSH PEN
Calligrafeel is a mindful brush pen. It differs from regular brush pens in that during every stroke this pen writes, it disseminates a subtle heat from its body, which can be felt by the writing hand. The heat is kept on while the pen holds the stroke and it stopped when the pen is lifted off the paper.
Design
The on and off of the heat is controlled by the measurement of the distance sensor attached to the head of the pen. The detailed mechanism of the sensors and control system can be found in figure above.
Heat is chosen to be the embodied experience over haptic feedback because 1) gentle heat is naturally comforting, and 2) the rising and fading of heat is less disruptive than haptic feedback and thus can gently shift the writer’s attention and create mindful experience. Höök et al., in the paper Somaesthetic Appreciation Design (2015), describes a similar challenge in “finding the balance between guiding attention but not grabbing it” when designing for embodied experience, and heat was also chosen to be the solution for a similar purpose of providing “subtle guidance”.
Calligrafeel Brush Pen features three main advantages:
Comfort - The sheer warmth makes calligraphy a more comforting experience than it already is.
Pace - The gradual rising up and fading down of warmth regulates a slow and steady pace of writing. The writer can apply strokes in a rhythm in accordance with the heat, which allows the writer to stay in the moment, enhances patience, and allows time for carefully planning the strokes.
Focus - The sensation of the hand partially shifts the attention from the texts being written, the external, to the bodily experiences, the internal. The awareness of both the internal and the external helps with self-reflection on the experience, because the constant shift and balance of attention is by itself a mindful reflection on the relationship between ourselves, our body parts (hand), our extended body parts (pen), and our created persona (writing).
Poster
Prototype
Calligrafeel Prototype
A physical prototype is made to demonstrate the embodied experience of this design. Its main components include
a regular brush pen
a distance sensor - determining if the pen is in “writing” state
a heating pad - wrapped against the pen to disseminate the heat
a temperature sensor - protecting against over-heating
an Arduino - implementing the control system
a LED light - visually signifying the on and off of the heat
Reference
Kristina Höök, Anna Ståhl, Martin Jonsson, Johanna Mercurio, Anna Karlsson, and Eva- Carin Banka Johnson. 2015. COVER STORY: Somaesthetic design. Interactions 22, 4 (June 2015), 26-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2770888