"Vironment": An Art of Wearable Social Distancing

“Vironment” is a series of art pieces, social commentary, technology, etc., based on wearable health technologies of social-distancing, culminating in a social-distancing device that takes the familiar world of security and surveillance technologies that surround us and re-situates it on the body of the wearer (technologies that become part of us). This piece also introduces a conceptual framework for (1) the sensing of the self together with (2) sensing of others and (3) sensing of the environment around us. Keywords—wearables, health, wearable computing, signal processing, signal reconstruction, high-dynamic-range (HDR), self-sensing, vironment, invironment, environment, sonar, wearable sensing, facial recognition, surveillance, sousveillance I. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION INVIRONMENT is a new concept defined in contrast to the environment. Whereas the environment is our surroundings, the invironment is us, ourselves, and in particular, includes that part of us that we consider to be ourselves, e.g. our shoes, clothing, eyeglasses, and the like, along with a certain space, or social-distance around us, often defined in the context of wearable computing[1], [2]. The concept of invironment is of particular relevance in the era of health pandemics and pandemic awareness as global society asks questions about health, safety, wellness, and the individual’s right to utilize technologies to assist in these areas[3], [4], [5], [6]. Technologies for health and wellness are rapidly becoming viewed as extensions of one’s body, which raises questions about human rights to technology, the human condition, and We wish to thank AMD, SwimOP, and Swim Drink Fish the extension of “the self [7]” into the space around the body. Specifically, with the introduction of social-distancing, questions arise regarding the area in which “the self” exists and where “the self” ends. In further inquiry of these concepts, a series of interactive art pieces are constructed to highlight the good and bad of socialsistancing, i.e. some of its benefits, downsides, and absurdities of social distancing, based on the idea of a social-distancing necklace, inspired by the commonly worn spiked necklace shown in Fig. 3. We develop wearable computing systems which promote and consider the health practice of social distancing from a health and wellness perspective, a realistic sociological perspective, and a technological perspective. Surveillance is well-known in the areas of smart buildings, smart streets, smart cities, etc. from an “Internet of Things” (IoT) perspective. This is the traditional situation in which sensors exist in the environment around us. More recently, “wearables” (wearable technology) has emerged as a new discipline in which sensors are affixed to people rather than things [8], [9], [2], giving rise to “WearableAI[1]” (Wearable Artificial Intelligence”). What is most important about wearable technology is not so much the proximity to the body, but, more importantly, the ability for this technology to function as an agent of the mind and body’s freewill and self-determination over own one’s own destiny, i.e. “sousveillance”[10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17] (inverse surveillance, sensors-on-people) and self-sensing e.g. Quantified Self-Sensing (QSS)[18], [19], as outlined in Fig 1 of the ITTI paper[20]. Here, we present a series of art pieces, social commentary, technology, inventions, etc. which raise questions deeply connected to the paradigm shifts of social-distancing and wearable computing and how they interact. II. SELF AND TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, AND ENVIRONMENT In the past cities were more important than countries in terms of boundaries, e.g. walled cities thousands of years ago. Next countries emerged as important. Finally in the era of global pandemics, we’re seeing world governance, and the reduced autonomy of countries. What matters now is clothes, i.e. our individual selves become in some sense the boundary of greatest importance. So in regards to “crossing borders”, we’ve witnessed the evolution from cities, to countries, to clothes. Vironment is an exploration of the following three elements: • Self and technology (e.g. the combination of human and ar X iv :2 11 2. 00 09 3v 1 [ cs .C Y ] 3 0 N ov 2 02 1 machines, “cyborg”, “humachine”, augmented human, etc.); • Self and society (interaction between humans, augmented humans, etc.); • Self and the environment (interaction between the augmented human and the natural or built environment, e.g. cyborg-city interaction, etc.)[21]. III. VIRONMENT 1.0/SOCIAL-BUBBLE Vironment is a series of art installations, design interventions, and inventions aimed at understanding and reconstructing social distance as the sometimes soft and fuzzy boundary between the invironment and the environment. Through these creations arises a deeper inquiry into the relationship between the body and the spacial sphere around the body, which together form much of the concept of “self”. The design pieces presented here explore the extension of the self into the environment, an area of space which has become of utmost social significance in the era of health pandemics as individuals individuate and define themselves by the “social bubble” that exists around them. One piece we name “Vironment/Social-Bubble”, or, simply, “Vironment 1.0”, is shown in Fig 2. It is based on the use of a ball commonly used as a water-based amusement ride, called the “waterball ride” or “water ball ride”. In the context of a vessel surrounding the rider, when used on water, it represents an example of the interaction between humans, water, and technology. (The field of “WaterHCI = WaterHuman-Computer Interaction” originated in Ontario in the 1960s and 1970s, and relates to the concept of “Fluidic User Interface”[22]). Here we explore the use of such a ball anywhere, such as on land, and not just on water only. Vironment 1.0 takes the idea of social-distancing quite literally. Many of the parks in our neighbourhood post signs warning us to keep our social distance of two metres or six feet. Vironment 1.0 is a two metre diameter plastic bubble in which a participant is placed, and the bubble is filled through a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter connected to a blower supplied by a solar-powered battery system. The filter and blower assembly was constructed from an automobile heater blower and runs on a small 12 volt battery which is charged by solar power. Two individuals crossing paths will be forced to maintain a proper 2m social distance. This demonstrates an ideal situation for an individual wishing to avoid contact with pandemic diseases by providing the wearer with clean, filtered air and a visible “social bubble” barrier. Also demonstrated is the inherent impossibility of social-distancing in some situations, as the individual in the bubble cannot fit through doorways, or even walk down a narrow sidewalk whilst encapsulated in an impenetrable social bubble. This piece (Vironment 1.0) raises questions about what space “belongs” to an individual. Does an individual encompass only their brain? Their whole body? The brain, body, and the clothing on the body, and maybe also some of the space that surrounds the body and its clothes? This is a vital 0 1 2 3 -2 -1 -3 1 2